Author Notes: Have been finessing this recipe and changing the fillings and fruits for a few years now. I believe the original source was from Gourmet magazine, but not sure, because I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to stuff dried fruit with something and wrap it with bacon!!!Sometimes, for a Mexican theme, I will stuff the apricot with fresh (soft-kind) chorizo, no cheese and add ground cumin to the maple glaze. For a milder flavor, I eliminate the cayenne in the glaze but add fresh finely chopped rosemary or sage to the glaze and then stuff the dried fruit with a tangy goat cheese. Dried dates will work too, but I am not fond of them whole, as they remind me of beetles! —loubaby
Serves: 8
Ingredients
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1
pound (16 strips) quality smoked bacon
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6
tablespoons pure maple syrup
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1/8 – 1/4
teaspoons ground cayenne
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16
large dried apricots or figs, stemmed
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16
pecan halves, toasted
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1/4-1/3
pounds sharp blue or gorgonzola cheese
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bacon on parchment paper-lined sided cookie sheet; bake 20 to 25 minutes until partially cooked.(you want to be able to wrap the apricots later after bacon cools and not crack.)
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While bacon is cooking, combine maple syrup and cayenne and set aside for glaze. Open hole of each apricot or fig; stuff each with a pecan half and some cheese to fill generously. Wrap one strip of bacon around each pieces of fruit (so enclose the filling) and skewer with a toothpick. Place on a parchment lined sided cookie sheet ;
brush with some maple syrup glaze and bake 10 minutes. Turn each piece over; brush with more maple syrup glaze and cook another 10 minutes til bacon is crisp. Serve with any remaining maple glaze or make additional for dipping.