Bacon Brie Biscuit Bites

....with onion jam, but that didn't work with my alliterative title. 

Happy Monday of a holiday week!  Mondays are just SO much nicer when you get a day off mid-way, right?  

As you know, I'm on day one of unemployment, and since we haven't defaulted on our mortgage yet I'm feeling OK about it.  I also have a grody cold, but that's another story. 

What are you doing for New Year's?  Anything?  Are you one of those ones that really goes for it, or do you get takeout Chinese and sit on the couch and watch Ryan Seacrest?

We're kind of both.  I love to go out on NYE in theory, but by the time I start getting dressed I get tired and usually drunk by 7pm and then want to stay in and go to bed.  THIS YEAR, though, our friends Addie and Rick are getting married!  On New Year's Eve!  You remember them - they got engaged at our baseball stadium, so a NYE wedding seemed fitting for these two.  It's going to be GREAT, and a wonderful excuse to actually look nice until midnight on New Year's.  We're super psyched. 

In case you do get to cook tomorrow or in the next few days for a party, this is my humble suggestion:  biscuit bites with brie and bacon topped with caramelized onion jam.  STOP IT.  You don't even understand about these flavors.  We've got sweet bisuit, salty bacon, creamy jam, peppery ... pepper, and sweet yet savory onion jam. All together in one bite.  Kind of a perfect marriage, like the one we'll be witnessing tomorrow night.

Full circle, people.  You're welcome.  ANYWAY, for these lovely concoctions you need biscuits, preferably store bought from a jar, onions, sugar, salt/pepper, brie, and bacon.  If you hate brie sub another cheese! Choose your own destiny. 

NOW.  We need to disclaim that the one annoying thing about this recipe is that caramelizing onions properly takes some time.  It's a big pet peeve of my friend Amanda's that some recipes falsify that you can get it done in 20 minutes.  You can brown onions in 20 minutes, but the low/slow cooking is what makes onions really sugary and truly caramelized.  The GOOD thing about the process is that you don't need to over about supervising the onions as they caramelize.  When I made these for our friends Chris and Michelle on Saturday Jay and I cleaned nearly our entire house while the onions were working - one of us just walked by every 10 minutes or so to give a stir to the onions, then kept working.  You can also make the onion jam up to 4 days in advance and keep it in the fridge - if you do that this app is a total cinch. 

Whether making the jam a few days before or on the day you'd like to eat this, we're going to start with the bacon.  Because onion jam cooked in bacon fat = totes legit.  Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces.  

Place the bacon in a large skillet in one layer over medium-high heat.  We're going to cook the bacon but not make it totally crispy - you want a bit of chew left.  

After 3 minutes or so, flip the bacon and let it cook on the other side, then remove the bacon to paper towels to drain - stick the towels in a tupperware in the fridge if you're making the bacon way in advance. 

While the bacon is cooking, thinly slice the onion. 

When you remove the bacon to drain, add all the onion to the pan with a tablespoon of sugar.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and toss the onions with the bacon grease and sugar. 

Now, we walk away.  For rizzle.  We want the jam to be very slightly sizzling but the onions shouldn't brown on the edges - adjust the temperature as needed to achieve this.  Toss the onions every 10-15 minutes for an hour or more until dark golden and the consistency of jam.  This is the onions after half an hour.  Still have a way to go!

About 30 minutes before you'd like to serve these, preheat the oven to the biscuit package directions and remove the biscuits from the can.  This was a challenge for us. 

Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or sprayed with cooking spray.  note:  if you buy Grands or some other kind of large biscuit, flatten the biscuit slightly with your hands and cut each one into 6 pieces.  even my small biscuits could have been cut into 6ths, so don't be bashful about mashing the dough. 

Spray the TOPS of the biscuit pieces with olive oil or cooking spray, then sprinkle all over with salt an pepper.

Now, bake!  I baked these 2 minutes less  than the can said; since they're in smaller pieces they cook a bit faster.  While the biscuit pieces are cooking, cut the brie into small pieces - a thin slice about the same width as the biscuit quarters. 

When the biscuits and jam are done and the bacon and brie are prepped, we're ready to assemble.  Grab a piece of bacon and brie, and place it on top of a biscuit piece.  

Spoon a teaspoon or so of the jam right on top, and secure the whole thing with a toothpick. 

And that's it!  Cute, perfect little bites of wonderful.  Now, if you time the jam and the biscuits so that they're done at the same time they'll be hot and soften the cheese slightly and you can eat these right away as is.  If you make the components in advance, you can assemble these whenever you'd like and stick them in the fridge on the same baking sheet you used for the biscuits.  Then, stick them in a 375F or so oven for 5-10 minutes to soften the cheese just a bit before serving. 

When you're ready to serve, put out extra onion jam - it goes great with crackers, bread....or extra for these bites. 

These are GREAT, friends.  They're good hot, cold, warm, you name it.  I prefer them warm with the cheese not totally melted, and they go FAST, so don't worry about trying to keep them hot!

Make these ASAP - I promise you won't regret it. 

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