Bacon Jam

I'd seen and heard of this a few times on various Food Network shows and figured it's worth a try. Mom was making burgers for my brother's birthday, so I thought this would be a great chance to try it out as the spread for the burger. This is a recipe that has lots of versions available, all fairly similar and this is the one I decided to follow for the first attempt.
http://leitesculinaria.com/82690/recipes-bacon-jam.html

I liked that it had ingredients that I already had in the pantry, it had the option for stove-top or slow-cooker, and that in the comments were suggestions for changes to the recipe that others had already tried.

Original Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium yellow onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3/4 cup strongly brewed coffee
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

My adjustments:
- I didn't have maple syrup, so I used maple-flavoured bacon for the full pound, regular bacon for the 1/2 pound
- I had light brown sugar in the pantry
- The "strongly brewed coffee" was an extra scoop of grounds than I would normally make

Directions: 
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
(All that bacon is quite a pile, literally. I ended up cooking it in two batches.)

Transfer to paper-towel-lined plates to drain.

2. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings from the skillet (reserve the extra for another use). Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.

3. Add the coffee, vinegar, brown sugar, and syrup and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the skillet.

4. Add the bacon. Reduce heat to a bare simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid almost completely evaporates and turns syrupy, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. (Warning: this will really make your kitchen smell like vinegar for a day or so.)

 5. Let the bacon concoction (this quoted directly from the original recipe, love it!) cool slightly before transferring to a food processor and pulsing until coarsely chopped.

6. Spoon the bacon lusciousness (their word again!) into individual jars or other resealable containers and refrigerate for up to 4 weeks. Rewarm gently over low heat prior to use.

I had used an old salsa jar that has a button seal on top. When I put the jam in the jar it was still slightly warm and I put it directly into the fridge. I heard the jar seal a little while later, lucky me!

I turned out sweeter than I had expected with a definite maple flavour from the bacon. It's definitely a sweet and savoury combination that worked well for the hamburgers. I also thought it was also quite good on crackers for a snack. Some friends thought it could be interesting as a topping for cheesecake, so if we ever get around to trying that I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

~Lisa