Belated bacon jam

Last winter I got a lesson in making bacon jam. Thanks Tanya! Somehow I never got the photos put here.


Ended up with three jars of deliciousness.

Instant fruioatmeal flambé

We had some packets of instant oatmeal that were getting a little dated, so I decided it would be good to use them up, and replace them in out pantry. But the idea of plain oatmeal wasn't cutting it for me so fresh from the local Hollywood liquor, I thought what could be better on a chilly day than some instant fruioatmeal flambé? 

We had apples from our tree that needed processing, so I ran them through our peeler, corer, slicer and started three apples sautéing in 2 Tbs of butter in a large skillet, while a kettle heated the water for the oatmeal. To the apples, I added a couple Tbs of brown sugar, some cherry flavored craisens, and some walnuts. Our apples don't put off a lot of juice, so when the pan got dry I'd add a couple tablespoons at a time of apple syrup. (Unfiltered apple juice reduced in a large pot for a long time until is thickens). When the apples were just about ready, I put on some orange liqueur and vodka over medium heat and turned the apples up to high heat. Once the liqueur started to bubble and the apples were good and bubbling (without burning!) I added the liqueur to the pan and let it catch flame and cook for a moment. Then stirring the plan and adding a little more apple syrup and turning off the heat, I mixed up the oatmeal and hot water from the kettle. Mixed the two mixes together and placed servings in bowls. I deglazed the apple pan with milk that was poured over the fruiotmeal, and served.

Chocolate "syrup" from scratch

Chocolate "syrup" in the mason jar

I needed some chocolate syrup to experiment with Irish cream. So I found a recipe and made a go of it. What I ended up with was tasty but in no way a "syrup". At best you would call it a paste. Still seems to work as long as it gets fully incorporated. Wouldn't work very well for chocolate milk (without heating).

Bring to boil in saucepan:

• 3/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 dash salt
• 3/4 cup water

Boil 2-5 minutes until thick, store in fridge. 

Well, I never really got a "boil" and so I gave up and took it off the heat after 5 minutes. I had to keep stirring to keep from scorching. I glopped it into a mason jar and stored it in the fridge. It worked fine in chocolate milk as long as I processed it with the milk in my Vitamix. 

Next time: I am going to try Alton Brown's recipe. It has you make a simple syrup first, then incorporate the cocoa. It also uses a small amount of corn syrup which may help keep it from seizing up. And it calls for Dutch Process cocoa, which is probably worth trying.