Saturday, December 21, 2013

Spanish Style Bacon Wrapped Dates



I love these little babies. You get the salty goodness of bacon and then the sweet from the dates, a creamy bit from the melted, gooey cheese and then the crunch of the almonds. Note: you won’t need the whole half pound of cheese, but it is so good for snacking on that you will want it.

Ingredients:
22-24 Medjool dates, pitted
12 slices of bacon, cooked halfway through
½ pound Manchego cheese, cut into little pieces (about as long as the dates)
25 or so smoked almonds
Toothpicks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray liberally with cooking spray.
Cut the partially cooked bacon slices in half. Stuff each date with a piece of cheese, 1 or 2 smoked almonds (depends on how big the dates are) and push gently to close. Wrap each date in ½ slice of bacon and skewer with a toothpick. Lay the stuffed dates on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, turning them over after 10 minutes. Pour yourself a lovely glass of sherry (I like Oloroso, and Amontillado is also very nice—“For the love of God, Montressor!”) and feel swanky.

A tip or two: put the almonds near the top of the date and then place the bacon over the top like you are placing a blanket over it—center of the bacon strip over the top middle of the date. This makes it easy to skewer the toothpick near the bottom and catch both sides of the bacon, while not being stopped by the hard almond.


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