OK, so this sounds so weird…but it is oh so good. I had the idea of a bacon relish in my head, so I started Googling recipes for ideas and I happened on this “Bacon Jam” idea. Of the recipes out there, I chose SeaSaltwithFood‘s recipe as inspiration because she used chipotles and I had some leftover from the Cavegirl Chili I made this morning.

I originally wanted something interesting to put atop my unbunned burger, but after smelling the wonderfulness coming from the crockpot, I had a vision of this mixed in with ground beef before forming meatballs…maybe even on the side of my morning scrambled eggs. The possibilities are endless!

1 pound uncured applewood-smoked bacon
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup high-quality maple syrup
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
1 teaspoon of adobo sauce from the chipotles
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons maple sugar crystals
1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals
1 cup water

Cut bacon in quarters and cook in a skillet until you have medium crispness…don’t overcook. Remove bacon and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Reserve 1-2T of the bacon grease. Discard the rest.

In pot, cook the bacon grease, onions and garlic until onions are light brown. Add remaining ingredients stirring between the addition of each ingredient.

Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours. (Some recipes call for 6 hours on low in a crock pot…but I haven’t tested this theory yet). If the mixture starts to get too thick, just add a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Use an immersion blender to blend mixture in the pot. Blend until preferred consistency. I like it a little chunky.

Transfer mixture into a sealed container. Enjoy!