Three cheers for BACON JAM

When we visited with Executive Chef Daniel Gibb at The Chalkboard (p. 88), he shared with us the recipe for the downtown restaurant’s bacon jam. Gibbs uses the jam as a component in his beef Wellington, one of The Chalkboard’s signature dishes. That dreamy dish — tenderloin rubbed with coarse mustard and bacon jam, coated with duxelles and wrapped in puff pastry — is best left to the experts. But we gladly took the recipe for the jam to share with TulsaPeople readers.

Bacon jam is wonderful on a charcuterie board with crackers, glazed nuts and cheese. It’s also delicious smeared on bread for a grilled cheese sandwich, spooned onto English muffins with poached eggs or used as a spread on avocado toast. Or use it as a hamburger topping for what’s becoming an almost classic combo.

THE CHALKBOARD’S BACON JAM

1/2 cup olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

10 ounces bacon

1 cup molasses

1 cup Marsala cooking wine

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

8 ounces heavy cream

In a pan, heat oil and saute onions until soft. Add bacon and cook for 5 minutes.

Add molasses, Marsala, red wine vinegar and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and pour ingredients into blender. Blend until smooth. Add cream to get desired consistency and color.

It’s all about the toppings for this burger. Fire up the grill for this one.

BACON JAM BURGER Serves 4

1 pound ground beef

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons pepper

4 hamburger buns, toasted

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4 slices sharp cheddar cheese

4 slices Gruyere cheese

Lettuce, tomato and onion, if desired

Bacon jam

Heat grill to medium-high heat. Divide ground beef into four patties, then coat liberally with salt and pepper. Grill burgers to preferred temperature.

Spread toasted buns with mayonnaise. Add hamburger patties, cheese and a generous spoonful of bacon jam.

Add any condiments you like. — NATALIE MIKLES

SMALL BATCH, BIG TASTE

In 2019, Daniel Contreras , pictured, teamed up with his cousin Phillip Stanford to create Fat Candy BBQ Sauce, a smallbatch operation featuring three flavor profiles: Original, Sweet and Spicy, and Oklahoma Heat. The latter is particularly popular with its dose of cayenne and red pepper flakes. Fat Candy sauce is thin, with a sweet stickiness to it from the molasses and brown sugar base. It has hints of a sauce familiar to many Tulsans: Knotty Pine BBQ. “I grew up on Knotty Pine BBQ Sauce. There was always a big bottle of it in the refrigerator,” Contreras says.

Contreras sold loads of his sauce at the 2022 Tulsa State Fair. It also can be found at OkieSpice and Trade Co. in Sand Springs and at Hill Co. in Skiatook. Orders can also be made by phone at 918-520-2681 or by emailing fatcandybbq@gmail.com.

Shop goods rooted in local land

Think of Grassroots Larder, 1325 E. 15th St., Suite 107, as a sort-of indoor farmers’ market. This much-anticipated storefront on Cherry Street is a one-stop shop for locally sourced groceries, grab-and-go meals, in-house made pastries and an espresso bar serving Topeca Coffee.

This neighborhood shop offering sustainable and specialty food products is the only retail location for the market’s sister company, Grassroots Ranch. Grassroots Ranch’s pasture-raised, grass-fed meats and eggs are for sale at Grassroots Larder.

Grassroots Ranch’s philosophy for regenerative and sustainable farming practices is also part of the mission of Grassroots Larder.

“We are thankful to provide shoppers a unique shopping experience in their immediate community and we are excited about the impact we can have on the local economy,” says Pamela Weigle, Grassroots Larder’s general manager.

The Larder — open Tuesday-Sunday — sells many products from artisan and smallbatch local companies, like Ali Made Foods, Roark Acres Honey, Yucca Lane and Amelia Creamery. — NATALIE MIKLES