Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Creamy Goat Cheese

Home cooking can be elegant and gourmet!

Haven't made any serious dinner for a while at home, since mom has been my very dedicated personal chef recently. I feel like trying some new recipes. I also happen to have one of my friends coming over for dinner tonight, so might as well use him as a guinea pig. :)

This dish is actually quite easy to make, but does kick the home cooking a notch towards gourmet cooking. :) Compared to other gourmet dishes that usually demand a lot of time and efforts to prepare, this dish has a pretty high ROI.

And, it's delicious, just like anything that has bacon in it.

Ingredients

* a small regular goat cheese
* 12 pitted dates
* 6 slices bacon cut crosswise into twins
* Special equipment: 12 wooden tooth picks

Directions

1. Microwave the bacon between two paper towels for about 4-5 min till it's wrinkled and a lot of fat coming out
2. Stuff 1 piece of cheese into each date
3. Wrap one piece of bacon around each date and secure bacon with a toothpick if desired.
4. Arrange dates, bacon seam down on a frying pan.
5. Pay fry it for a few min till it's browned all over
6. Drain on a paper towel or parchment.
6. Serve immediately.

Tip: Most of the recipes out on the web do not require the microwaving part of the bacon. I like the microwaving part, because it makes easier to get rid of the excessive fat and to reduce the time required to pan fry the bacon-wrapped dates later on. So, a good calories and time saver over all.