Let’s talk for a moment about our favorite ways to say sayonara to the year that was and to welcome the New Year. Something bubbly is always a good idea and this year instead of focusing on a lavish sit-down dinner, we are all about delightful bites and planning out a charcuterie board menu, brimming with different cheeses too. A charcuterie, antipasti, or cheese board are the perfect kind of things to pull together to snack on if you’re staying in and playing board games or if you’re hosting a dressy gathering and need something easy that’s also easy on the eyes! That’s where this bacon jam appetizer particularly shines.
Once we tasted Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, we knew that it would make sweet music cooked down with our Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Mission Dried Figs and we were right! This fig bacon jam is kind of addictive in the best possible way. Sure, you could eat the bacon jam appetizer as part of a starter or you could add it as a condiment on a sandwich (a sharp cheddar grilled cheese would be amazing!), but back to the charcuterie board menu. Curl a few slices of ham and turkey to tile on the board. Add crackers. Some different kinds of salami and figgy bacon jam and you are done.
If you’ve never made a bacon jam before, they typically cook low and slow for hours to ensure the onion and bacon are soft and jammy. We wanted to flip that script and save time using our electric pressure cooker—it takes around 40 minutes of mostly passive time for jam. Did we mention this fig bacon jam would make an incredible edible gift too? We found the recipe below easily tucks into 3 half pint glass jars. Store the bacon jam in the refrigerator where it will keep for 2 to 4 weeks or you can freeze it for longer storage.
Fig & Shallot Instant Pot Bacon Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon chopped
- 1/2 pound shallots peeled and roughly chopped
- 10 ounces Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Mission Figs stemmed and chopped
- 2 1/4 tsp salt kosher
- 1 dash black pepper
- 2 tsp sherry vinegar (or 1 teaspoon each Champagne vinegar and balsamic vinegar)
Instructions
- Cook the bacon until crispy. Reserve bacon fat.
- Transfer bacon grease to your electric pressure cooker and turn onto Saute feature, stirring figs and shallots for 6 minutes. Crumble the bacon into the pot and stir together.
- Cover and set the release valve to seal, cooking on high pressure for 3 minutes. Carefully adjust the release valve to vent. Once the steam has fully escaped, open the pressure cooker and stir.
- Stir in the vinegar. Transfer the fig bacon mixture to a food processor and pulse until chunky for more of a relish or about 10 pulses for jam. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
