Bacon and Onion Jam

This sauce is sweet, salty, smoky, and savory. You’ll want it on all your burgers and sandwiches. Try it on thick grill-toasted Italian bread with a fried egg on top. I have tried this using different vinegars, cocoa or dark chocolate, allspice, other types of vinegar, honey, Worcestershire, chipotles in adobo, and raisins. They all work. The recipe here is my go-to for simplicity and balance.

Makes 2 cups

Takes 2½ hours

• 1 pound bacon
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• ¼ cup inexpensive balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup, any grade
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme or rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Splash of hot sauce (optional)

1. Cut the bacon into ¼- to ½-inch slices and cook in a frying pan over medium heat until it gets a bit curly and golden, but is not fully cooked and firm. If necessary, cook it in two batches. Brown bits will likely stick to the bottom of the pan. Scrape them loose with a spatula. Remove the fried bacon with a slotted spoon and let it drain on paper towels on top of newspaper.

2. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat, trying to leave behind the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. (Save the fat for frying broccoli or other veggies, but don’t pour hot fat into a plastic tub or it may melt.) Add the onion and cook until translucent, but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 cup water, the vinegar, syrup, sugar, thyme, black pepper, and bacon and stir. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce is a thick, gloppy, jammy, sweet, luscious goo, 1 to 2 hours. Turn off the heat and let the sauce cool.

3. Taste and add more sugar or a splash of hot pepper sauce, or both, if you wish. Spoon it into a bottle, screw on the lid, and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature or warm.