Mea Culpa. With little racing here in my area of Texas, I'm having fun with my avocation. Enjoy!
Red Onion and Bacon Jam with Cherries
There are a ton of Bacon Onion Jams on the web, but this is my take on it. It features those bountiful cherries again. Great as a side/topper for steaks, pork or chicken, hot dog topper or just on a cracker as a snack. I’m not a big fan of adding artificial sugars if I can use natural. Except for the bacon and vinegar, the other ingredients have plenty of natural sugar. BTW: Sugar is the congealing agent for all jellies and jams.
The taste profile for this is Sweet, Sour and Savory. Sweet from the Cherries. Sour from the vinegar and cherry juice. Savory from the bacon and onion of course. Most markets have an organic juice section that sells straight cherry juice rather than the sugar loaded stuff. Straight cherry juice is very tart and adds to the flavor of this jam.
This is a tasty dish that can be used in many ways. Best of all, it’s very easy to make and store. It freezes very well. It’s good for about a week in the fridge though I've kept it longer. Do whatever makes you feel safe. However, serve it at room temperature to get the full taste.
Ingredients
2lb - Thick cut bacon. Cut into lardons (¼” strips across the grain)
2 - Large Red Onions – Cut in half then thinly sliced
20 - Ripe Cherries, pitted and cut in half (add more if you like!)
1C - Organic cherry juice – see notes above
¼C - Balsamic vinegar
Method
Pan fry the bacon lardons until they are crisp. The effort here is to remove as much as the fat from the bacon as possible. Once added to the jam, they will soften again as they absorb moisture from the mixture.
Remove lardons and drain on a paper towel. Set aside. Remove all but 5 TBLs of bacon grease from the pan. My Mom used to keep an old soup can on the counter and poured off the bacon grease for later use. Love my eggs fried in bacon fat. 
Add the onions to the fat and over medium-low heat, cook them for 20-30 minutes. They will be softening and releasing their sugars. This is what is called caramelizing. Most folks think caramelizing means browning the onion. Do Not Do That. This dish wants the onions soft, but not burned brown.
When the onions reach that stage, add the balsamic vinegar and stir to blend. Add the Cherry juice and raise heat to medium. Cook to reduce/evaporate the juice until there is a jam/jelly like consistency. Pretty thick. If for some reason, it doesn't thicken well, mix 1 Tsp flour and 1Tbl water together and stir into mix. Take off the heat and stir in the bacon. Serve.
BTW: I baked some sweet potatoes and mashed them. Then added the Red Onion Bacon Jam with Cherries and mixed it together. Yummy!
