Maple Bacon Jam And Brie Panini

Bear with me, the recipe is worth it!  A while back, I found this great site called Foodbuzz.  It was like facebook for food bloggers.  It helped us connect with each other, trade recipes and help promote others doing what we do.  Then Foodbuzz decided to take a perfectly great thing and ruin it.  It is now kind of a newsletter of what's hot right now. :/  Why am I ranting about this now, many months later?  Well, this recipe was from a fellow blogger and I noted the web address through Foodbuzz.  That page no longer exists and I can't find the recipe with a Google search.  I really tried and went through pages and pages of the search.  So, I can't give credit where credit is due and provide a link for the source of the recipe.  If through some quirk of fate, the person who posted this or someone who knows the person who posted this, reads this, PLEASE let me know so I can use a link to your recipe.  OK!  Blogger stuff aside and the part most of you want, the low down on the recipe.  Things to keep in mind: 1) 2 teaspoons give the jam a good kick, not unpleasant for me, but alone it was too hot for the others in my family.  2) the jam is also very sweet.  I loved it (yes even by itself), so I was very liberal with it on the sandwich and consequently, made it too sweet or spicy for my separate family members.  So basically you need find the right proportion of jam to bread and cheese for you, but it is worth it.  It was a 5 for me, even with the slight proportion issue.  The boys started at a 4 but brought it down to a 3 by the end as they found it either too sweet or too spicy.  Both the boys would be ok with a little less jam and/or a little more brie.  (as there are no measurements for them in the recipe your guess is as good as mine)  There will be lots of jam.  For the three sandwiches we made I used a 5" round of brie. (I threw out the package)  and I have enough jam to make at least 6-8 more sandwiches.  I was pretty liberal with the jam on the first round and won't do that next time.  I am now thinking of what else I can do with the yummy stuff;),

Maple Bacon Jam And Brie Panini

1 lb thick cut bacon diced
2    yellow onions diced
2 ea garlic minced
1/2 c  red wine
1 T  butter
1/2 c  brown sugar
1/2 c  real maple syrup
2 t  cayenne pepper
Italian Bread
Brie

Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until
crispy, but not burnt. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel.
Drain the bacon grease, leaving about 1 tbsp left in the pan. Add half
the red wine to the pan (this will de-glaze the panmeaning all of those
yummy little bites of bacon stuck to the bottom will come off). Add the
butter,        onions and garlic. Saute on medium heat for about 20
minutes. If you find that the onions are cooking too quickly or burning,
turn the heat down lower! You want the onions to be caramelized in
this recipe low and slow is the only way to go. If you rush it, you
will end up with burnt, crispy onions and that is not the flavor we are
going for. Once the onions are cooked add the brown sugar, syrup,
cayenne pepper and the rest of the wine. Let the mixture cook down
(medium-high heat) until it is a sticky almost syrup like consistency,
about 5 minutes. Mix the bacon back in. Let jam cool.
Cut bread in half. Place sliced Brie and top with Maple Bacon Jam.
Butter the top and bottom outer layer of your sandwich. If you do not
have a Panini press, its ok! Neither do I. I just placed my sandwiches
in a pan on medium-high heat. Flatten sandwiches (using your hand) and
cover. After 2-3 minutes flip your sandwich. The crust should be brown
and crispy and the Brie should be melted!