Bacon Marmalade

This unique and delicious take on bacon jam combines crisp bacon, caramelized onions, and the zest and juice of Seville oranges.

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Brunch, Preserves, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Canadian, Miscellaneous, North American

Keyword bacon, bacon jam, seville orange

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 178kcal

Ingredients

325 g thick cut bacon chopped
800 g sweet onion diced (about 5 cups, or 2 large onions)
1 seville orange (juice and zest)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 cloves crushed
1/4 cup water

Instructions

Remove the zest from the Seville orange and set aside (see note). You should have about 1.5 tbsp. Once you've finished zesting the orange, cut it in half and squeeze out the juice. Strain the seeds and set the juice aside - you should have about 1/3 cup (80 ml).
Heat a large cast iron skillet (or other heavy-bottomed pan) over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until the bacon is a just a little bit crispy (about 6-7 minutes - longer if your pan is smaller and the bacon is crowded). Once the bacon is finished, remove it from the pan and set it aside to drain on a plate with some paper towel. Pour off the bacon fat and reserve 1.5 tbsp for the next step.
Add the onions to the pan along with 1.5 tbsp bacon fat. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and just starting to brown a little. Add the orange zest, orange juice, spices, brown sugar, and reserved (drained) bacon. Stir to combine.
Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and allow the onions to caramelize. This should take between 20 and 30 minutes. Stir occasionally (every 5 minutes or so) to ensure that everything is cooking evenly. If the pan begins to look too dry or the onions look like they're in danger of scorching, add a splash of water and/or little bit more bacon fat. Once the jam is thick and an even golden brown colour, remove it from heat.
For a coarse, chunky jam/marmalade, you can leave the mixture as is. If you want to make the mixture into a spread (as I did), transfer the contents to a small food processor and blitz until the bacon and onions relatively small but still distinguishable. You want a spread with nice crispy and soft little bits, rather than a smooth paste.
Serve bacon marmalade warm with toast, eggs, cheese, or just a spoon. Leftovers (if there are any) will keep in the fridge for several weeks and can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Notes

When zesting citrus, the easiest tool to use is generally a microplane. I dislike using box graters, as it's difficult to avoid grating into the bitter white pith. That being said, you can always go this route if you're careful. If you have a cocktail citrus zester (i.e. the ones with a line of small holes for peeling strips of zest), it can be a surprisingly quick and efficient way to remove the zest as well, though you'll have to chop the resulting strips of zest with a knife before using them.

CROQUE-PETITE

If you're looking for a serving suggestion, try my 'croque-petite' sandwiches/appetizers. Simply slice some baguette into rounds, then top with melted smoked gouda (melt under the broiler to toast the bread), fried sunny-side-up quail eggs, cracked black pepper, a bit of chopped parsley, and a dollop (~1 tsp) of bacon marmalade. Want to make it a bigger sandwich for one? Simply scale up the quantities, use larger slices of bread, and fry a chicken egg instead.

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