Bacon Marmalade

In a large skillet, render the bacon over medium low heat until crispy and fat is completely rendered, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain bacon from fat (save drippings for another purpose) and place bacon on paper towels to drain. Once cooled, finely chop the bacon and set aside.

In a 2 quart heavy sauce pot, combine the vinegar, brown sugar, chili powder, paprika and garlic and boil until you see nickel – sized bubbles breaking across the top.

Make a slurry with the pectin, 2 tablespoons of water, sugar, and 1 teaspoon of the calcium water that you  make using the packet that comes with the pectin. Stir this slurry into the jam and stir until thickened and blended. Stir in the bacon and set aside to cool. If jam seems too thick once it has cooled, you can add a bit of water to thin it.

Makes about 2 cups

* For testing purposes, we used Pomona’s Universal Pectin, which comes in powdered form in an envelope in a small box along with a packet of monocalcium phosphatel. The monocalcium phosphate is mixed with water and is used to activate the pectin. If you cannot find this in your area, you could use a small amount of liquid pectin, or you can simple skip the step using the pectin, and allow the marmalade to have a looser texture, which would be fine since this is just used as a spread on the cornbread muffins.