Southern Review – Bacon Marmalade

It’s no secret that The Hungry Southerner has a passion for all things pork, especially bacon.  Recently we’ve developed a love affair with a wonderful little 4oz jar of deliciousness better known as Bacon Marmalade.  It was a pure accident that we met, I discovered Bacon Marmalade through a fellow blogger, Liza de Guia, at Food Curated.  I quickly contacted the Bacon Marmalade website, and waited patiently for our 3 precious jars to arrive.  We did a short preview to help manage our own excitement and three of the “Hungry Southerners” set off to figure out what to do with our Bacon Marmalade. Here’s our review of a Southern Food, born out of a happy accident.

To better understand what, you need to know how; Bacon Marmalade is made by rendering down a pound or more of bacon, in its fat, then adding brown sugar, vinegar, onions, and what Chef Ross Hutchison, the creator, calls secrets.  Whatever those secrets are we like it, we just weren’t sure what to do with our Bacon Marmalade. As unique as Bacon Marmalade is it has a very rich flavor profile that can easily overwhelm your palate, so pairing it with the right piece of food makes all the difference.  To figure out where Bacon Marmalade shines, in a “Southern Kitchen”, the three of us were each given a jar, a few weeks of time and simply asked that everyone give it a shot reporting back their thoughts.

Upon first inspection your tongue is met with bold flavors of caramelized onion, burnt smokey bacon, distilled vinegar, and a very briny reduced brown sugar.  The smell reminds me of bacon fat and onions that have been burned in a cast iron pan, it’s pungent to say the least.  All those strong flavors means Bacon Marmalade needs to be paired with something bold, so leave your goat cheese and crackers at home, it will crush a mild cheese in a heart beat.  Instead grab the butter and biscuits, and a great gravy recipe, or man the grill.  Bacon Marmalade sings over the open flame, everything from grilled onions covered in Bacon Marmalade, to corn, eggplant, red peppers and on and on (grill the vegetable and at the last minute apply the Bacon Marmalade).  No surprise but pork chops glazed with bacon marmalade, are out of this world; it brings an amazing sweet smokey salty tasty you can’t get anywhere else.  We even built a pimento cheese recipe, substituting a good bit of the vinegar and sugar, with Bacon Marmalade.  The pimento cheese took on this amazing smokey brine to it, with a punch from those crispy bits you’d normal scrape from the pan; a one of a kind Pimento Cheese, impossible to replicate.  Need more convincing? We used it in green bean and potato salad, in a corn bread recipe, on burgers, in cheddar & chive scones, and in a chicken roulade.

Once we got the hang of Bacon Marmalade’s unique flavor, we really had a great time coming up with unique ways to use it with our everyday Southern foods.  At $9.00 a jar, plus shipping (unless you live in the New York area where it can be found locally) its price is a little steep for a 4 oz jar.  We do know there is a great amount of labor involved, and in those 4 oz jars, there is almost 1/2 lb of bacon, but it still makes this a special occasion item.  Even though a little goes a long way, if you plan on cooking with it, you’ll find yourself creating some very expensive dishes.  With that said, we’ve never tasted anything like Bacon Marmalade, and can’t imagine not having a jar handy in case a special moment arises.  Like a special bourbon, fine wine, or expensive cheese you pay the price for that extra quality, and Chef Ross has made a quality product that is unique, and exciting for us to enjoy.  We give Bacon Marmalade a 4 out of 5  Strips of Bacon, a true Southern specialty.  I hear there is a spicy version out there….  Stay Hungry Y’all!

-The Hungry Southerner

Bacon Marmalade

Chef Ross Hutchison

http://BaconMarmalade.com

To Request a Jar:

bacon@baconmarmalade.com

Sweet Bacon Marmalade Glazed Pork Chop

• 1 Pork Chop – bone in
• 1/2 cup quality bourbon (Knob Creek)
• 12 oz Coca-Cola
• 2 tbs salt
• 1 tsp fresh black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbs Bacon Marmalade

In a gallon sized freezer bag combine bourbon, salt, pepper, brown sugar, Coca-Cola and garlic and mix together and put the pork chop in the bag removing as much air as possible.  Allow to marinate from 8 hrs up to 24 hrs.  When ready to prepare bring grill or cast iron pan up to high heat, cook pork till internal temp is 155 (turning once) and remove.  As soon as the pork is removed from the heat, cover the pork with the Bacon Marmalade and allow the meat to rest 10 minutes tented in aluminum foil.  Server with grilled onions covered in Bacon Marmalade.  Enjoy!

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