Featured
Soul Warming Recipes!
Big Green Egg
Featured
Hot & Spicy!
K’s Choice
Peppery Chicken Curry
Fonq
FM
Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates
I made these for a friend of mine. She’s a huge fan of sickening sweet foods. Something I’m not. Quite the opposite, really.
I didn’t want to deprive her of her beloved dates all together, but I wasn’t gonna eat them like this for sure. To counteract the somewhat overwhelming sweetness (and that’s putting it nicely), I stuffed them with cream cheese—to which I added a fresh note—and then wrapped them in bacon to add some saltness.
Bacon rights all the wrongs in the world. You do know that, right? Good. Just checking.
Guess what! While I wouldn’t touch plain dates with a 10 foot pole, I actually liked these.
Ingredients:
12 dates
3 tbsp cream cheese
1 tsp dried parsley
3 mint leaves
12 thin slices bacon
black pepper
Optional: honey
Directions:
Sticky little critters. There were 12 in my box, but don’t let me keep you from doubling the recipe.
Use a small pairing knife and slice them open lengthwise. Open it up and remove the pit.
The cream cheese. I used Philadelphia for this; it’s nice a thick and keeps its shape when baked.
Add parsley (ran out of fresh leaves) for an earthy tone, finely chopped mint for some freshness and ground black pepper to liven it up.
Fill the dates with the cream cheese.
This was the moment I started to get enthusiastic. It did look delicious.
Wrap each date in a slice of bacon.
Place the dates on a grilling rack with dripping pan underneath.
This is optional, but I like what honey does to bacon so I brushed the tiniest amount of honey on top of the bacon.
Put them in a preheated oven and bake at 375˚F (175˚C) for 20 minutes, until the bacon is nice and crispy.
I wouldn’t eat five of them, but one or two is a nice little tapas snack for those times I’m craving sweet foods.
| Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates | |||||||||
| Ingredients |
3 tbsp cream cheese 1 tsp dried parsley 3 mint leaves 12 thin slices bacon black pepper Optional: honey Directions |
|
Add parsley (ran out of fresh leaves) for an earthy tone, finely chopped mint for some freshness and ground black pepper to liven it up. Fill the dates with the cream cheese. Wrap each date in a slice of bacon and place them on a grilling rack with dripping pan underneath. This is optional, but I like what honey does to bacon so I brushed the tiniest amount of honey on top of the bacon. Put them in a preheated oven and bake at 375˚F (175˚C) for 20 minutes, until the bacon is nice and crispy. Meal type: |
snacks, potluck, party foods |
Servings: |
12 |
Copyright: |
© kayotickitchen.com |
|
9 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Glad to see you had the cracked black pepper in there. As soon as I started reading the beginning of the recipe, my mind was already jumping ahead to something spicy to balance out the sweet/salty vibe. Of course I was going the direction of chopped jalapenos, just cause they’re my favorite! May have to try this out and let you know how it comes out. Now my mission is to try to find some dates here in Phnom Penh!
Cheers!
I was on the fence about going for dried chili flakes or black pepper. Gonna a try them with chili flakes as well! Will give a nice balance between salty. spicy and sweet, I think.
I do something similar but use goat cheese. The tangy bite of goat cheese (sometimes with a bit of minced fresh basil) is nice foil to the sweet dates. But I ADORE dates any way I can get them. And figs, too!!
Yum! My mum used to make these for just about any party we had in the seventies & early eighties. Then they got out of style, never understood why though!
these are a favorit3e of mine. I LOVE them, however sometimes i am too lazy and do resort to buying them at Costco. but I love the idea of goat cheese in them.
These. Are. Fabulous.
You totally should have brushed these with maple syrup instead of honey. Fantastic idea though!
These are similar to one of my favorite tapas. The restaurant that makes them stuffs them with an almond and blue cheese instead and drizzles balsamic reduction over the top. The blue cheese and balsamic really tone down the sweetness. TO DIE FOR!
I make these all the time for clients parties in Texas. I stuff mine with Pineapple wrap in bacon then roll them in Tony Chachere Cajun spices… sweet with spicey kick! I broil them crispy too…sooo good!