BrunchItYourself: Baaacon Jam!

(This BrunchItYourself Post is brought to you by Emily. Melissa served as Taste Tester and Photo Snapper. However, she tasted too much before she remembered to snap photos.)

Wait, what, bacon jam?! Yes, it exists. Yes, you can make it at home, easily. And yes, it is delicious. [No offense to any non-pork eaters out there.] A little like spreadable gold, it's an item that is a bit expensive to make but worth every penny. Actually, let me clarify - the main expense in this recipe is the bacon itself. Personally, we babes enjoy the Niman Ranch bacon that can easily be found at Trader Joe's. The price is a reasonable middle ground between your Hormel bacon and your deliciously house-smoked The Meat Hook slab bacon.

But where does this small obsession begin? One fateful night, I had a book club-dinner with two fabulous friends at Village Tart. The side of Brussels sprouts with bacon jam called out to me even before a friend insisted we get them, as she had dined there before and loved the dish. All three of us ordered this side and it was love at first bite. From there, my brain was stuck on the idea of not even replicating the dish as much as the bacon jam. A big BrunchIN seemed like the perfect place to debut my attempt.

Google gave me a few starter recipes, and with the help of my crockpot, the bacon jam comes together easily, with patience in the slow cooker time.

Your New Favorite Thing to Spread on Everything (AKA Bacon Jam)

2 pounds bacon, sliced
5 yellow onions, julienned
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup maple syrup
hearty pinches of:
paprika (hot or sweet Hungarian is fine)
red pepper flakes
cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
freshly ground black pepper
optional: 1/2-2 tsp vanilla extract (see Note)

Before slicing onions and bacon, set your slow cooker on high (basically preheating it). I used a 5-6 quart one, room to spare in the pot is fine. Dump the bacon and onions into a crockpot (I used a larger 5-6 quart one) once chopped. Let these cook on high for about two hours, and then add in the spices, vinegar and maple. My recommendation is to continue to cook on high, watching the crockpot every four hours. If need be, turn down to low. Let cook for a minimum of 12 hours. You're basically looking for a deeeeep dark brown color without full-on burning it.

Once cooked, let cool slightly and drain the mixture. Reserve the fat and 'juices' and blend the mixture slightly. I recommend using an immersion blender for ease, but a blender or food processor works as well. I prefer the jam still a bit chunky and 'rustic' but pureed enough to spread easily. Add some of the liquid back as needed to get it to the consistency you prefer.

Now time for tweaking. Taste the bacon jam. Additional maple, vinegar, some salt or any of the spices is fine to add. Basically, you want to ensure the flavors are "bright", especially after cooking for so long. The jam should have a tang, a sweetness and the obvious bacon flavor.

Note: I highly recommend adding vanilla at the very end of the process. While making the bacon jam for the Brunch Experiment, we discovered that the addition of vanilla calmed down the obvious savory factor of the jam. It does not scream vanilla, but simply balances things out. Take out one spoonful of jam. In the rest of it, mix in 1/2 tsp to start. Taste some of the un-vanilla-ed spoonful and then the big batch. If the change in flavor isn't obvious, add another 1/4-1/2 tsp and taste test again. There is a point in the vanilla addition that your taste buds will be able to tell an obvious, positive difference.

Serving Suggestions: As mentioned, you can spread this on anything. But one combination my friends and I can highly recommend is on a cracker with goat cheese and honey. It is a fantastic appetizer combination, and translates well to bread pudding as well. Mix into roasted Brussels sprouts! Put it on a burger or sandwich. The options are endless, but I guarantee that if you bring bacon jam to any event, you won't have problems getting rid of it. We served this as part of our Babe's Bread Pudding at the recent BrunchBattle: The Brooklyn Brunch Experiment, and got raised eyebrows and subsequent nods of approval. 

If you enjoyed this recipe, let us know in the comments what your own results were, along with any comments or requests for future BrunchItYourself posts. Thanks, and happy brunching!

BrunchIN: Veggie Frittata for a Rainy Day Brunch

So not every brunch that we ladies attend is a "sponsored" BWB meal. One such brunch occurred last Sunday. A last minute invite to the welcoming brunch party for Jessica, a newly transplanted Seattleite, proved to be just what the doctor ordered for a drizzly Sunday afternoon.

The aforementioned charming hostess greeted us at the door, smiling and quick to offer drinks to cure our rain-drenched selves. A glance at the overflowing tables of food confirmed that this Brunch IN was worth the trek.

Clockwise from the top, we have delicious Baked Bacon, Emily C's outta this world Mac-n-Cheese, Blue Cheese Stuffed Prunes, Emily H's Roasted Vegetable Frittata (recipe below!). Also shown are cookies, chocolates, and croissants courtesy of Niki, scones and Chocolate Babka (both quite tasty!) from Moishe's, Chocolate Donettes from Patrice sharing the plate with Devin's homemade French Toast Sticks (with Mint Whipped Cream and Apple Compote accompaniments), and finally, Jessica's Corn Souffle. There was also two huge, overflowing bowls of Murray's bagels, a variety of cream cheeses, and a crackers and cheese plate to round it out. Whew.

Roasted Vegetable Frittata
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
1 bell pepper, either fresh (and roasted) or canned roasted
8 eggs
1/3 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream
1/2 small wheel (about 2 oz) goat cheese
1 cup or one heaping pile grated cheese - I used gruyere and parmesan
Parsley, thyme, scallions - or your herbs of choice, chopped
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes - to taste

All vegetables listed are interchangeable - this frittata is great for leftover vegetables you may have had in the fridge from a previous meal, dinner out, whatever you like and is in season, preferably. If using leftovers OR if you roast the vegetables the night before, this truly is an easy recipe to throw together the morning of a brunch!

Cut the onions in half and each half into thin half moons. Warm a skillet (nonstick is fine) with a little olive oil on low to medium-low. Add the onions, a pinch of salt and black pepper, and basically let these cook for at least 45 minutes, up to an hour. Stir every 5 minutes or so, and right at 30 minutes, add the 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. To make sure these cloves don't brown, I keep the heat as low as it can go. When you're almost ready to pull the pan off, add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a heavier splash of vermouth or white wine. Scrape off the bottom of the pan, let cook for a few more minutes to dry it out a bit, and voila.

Once you start the onions, move on to the broccoli. Preheat the oven to 450. Chop the broccoli into small florets, and cut the stalks into rings. Spread out on a large baking sheet and drizzle on olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat, and roast for 20-40 minutes. Basically, every 10 minutes, take out to stir. You want the stalks to get browned and almost cooked, but not mushy. Brown is important, though, so resist the urge to stir.

For the roasted bell pepper, you can easily use a jarred, pre-roasted pepper, or you can be like me and roast one right on the gas flame of your stove. Or in the oven. (Learn all about both techniques here  and here.) Once roasted, cut into thin strips.

Now assembling the frittata! Throw the heavy cream and goat cheese into a small saucepan on low. Let the goat cheese melt into the cream, and then pop the pan into the fridge for a few minutes. Whisk the eight eggs in a bowl, and carefully add in the flour and baking powder and whisk thoroughly to combine. Finally, whisk in the slightly cooled cream/cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Liberally grease/PAM a heatproof (read: all metal) large skillet and place on a medium stove. Once pan is a bit warm, spread onions, broccoli, and red peppers evenly across the bottom of the pan. Top with half of the eggs, add all of the grated cheeses and chopped herbs, and add the rest of the eggs. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

We passed the time chatting and lounging around the bright, open living room, complete with a big screen TV, comfy white couches, and a small outdoor patio. Space is an important factor of hosting Brunch INs, or any large meal really, yet it is an element that many city-dwellers simply lack. Another testy factor to consider is the neighbors; a large group of people having a good time tends to get pretty loud, and walls are comparatively thin. That said, the brunch went smoothly. Only after a whopping 4+ hours did guests begin clearing out, amongst pleas to stuff our faces with the leftover food, and a buildup of noise complaints from the neighbors.

This was definitely a pleasant experience that we can't wait to partake in again. A big thanks to Damien the organizer, Jessica the host, and every one of the awesome guests we met there. We've got plans to host our own BrunchIN soon, so keep tabs on the Babes who Brunch!