Bacon Chutney

The time has come at last to make an attempt at bacon jam, or bacon chutney as some may call it. I'm not entirely sure which will be more accurate, because it is on the stove as I type and I haven't finished fussing with it.

Let me first introduce you to Bacon Jam, a splendiforous concoction created by the folks at Skillet Street Food. Skillet is a lunch cart in the form of an Airstream trailer that moves around Seattle. I have only visited once, but my roommate brought home some of their Bacon Jam and I fell in love. I knew immediately that I needed to make my own, and today is the day.

For starters, I'm not trying to recreate the original. I don't think I could even if I wanted to. I am taking my inspiration from the brief description they include on their website:

…..what the heck is bacon jam?...

well, we’ll tell you…….we take a big bunch of really really good bacon, and render it down...add a bunch of spices..onions, etc..and let it simmer for about 6 hours…give it a quick puree, and blast chill it…and you have bacon jam..

So I started with two pounds of bacon, rendered it down, sauteed a large chopped onion, added some sweet peppers and garlic, then some herbs and spices and a couple chopped tomatoes. At this point it has been cooking on low for about 4 hours with the lid on. I just took the lid off and I'm going to give it another hour or two. After that I will give it a taste and maybe tweak the flavor. I'm looking for a balance of sweet and savory, with a bit of smokiness.

developing.....