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We like bacon, we really do. Those thick strips of pig know how to jazz up a dish, don’t they? It’s the summer, and all we can smell on the streets of Los Angeles are bacon wrapped this and bacon wrapped that. Specifically, we’re referencing the street vendors we adore who shell out bacon wrapped hot dogs. Yeah, they’re the best! But we digress…when we think of bacon, we think of smokey, hickory, grill-y flavor. It’s the olfactory essence of its character that makes bacon stand out. We wanted to make a mini grilled dessert treat using bacon, so we racked our feeble brains to see what was still floating around in there. You know, there are always recipes that you see out there on this wide ‘net and vow to make. Well, we were drawing a blank, so we had to come up with something. These two bite sweet meal enders were the ticket.
We didn’t expect that these would turn out as good as they did. We knew that the separate ingredients on their own–apples, gorgonzola, bacon, puff pastry–were always great, but sometimes combinations don’t turn out the way you think they should. This far exceeded our expectations. Even though there were enough to feed several people, we are greedily ashamed to admit that each and every puff was demolished by only three people. Shame disappeared quickly as we high fived each other for yet another delicious victory. What can we say? We’re easily excited. You’ll be doing behind the back, over the shoulder, double helix spin high fives too when you try them. Oh yeah, and we submitted these for NPR’s Grilled Dessert contest!
Sweet Apple and Bacon Puffs with Pomegranate Glaze – Serves 6 to 8
2 medium apples, cut into 8ths
8 slices bacon, cut in half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 ounces gorgonzola
8 ounces pomegranate juice
1/2 package puff pastry, thawed
Toothpicks, soaked in water
1. Roll out puff pastry. On a lightly floured surface, slice into 16 rectangles. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake according to package directions in a preheated oven. Remove from oven and pop a hole into the top of each one with your finger. Set aside.
2. As puff pastry bakes, place the butter in a sauce pan over medium flame. Once hot, add apples and all of the spices, brown sugar and salt. Stir well and cook until apples just begin to soften, approximately 4-6 minutes. Remove apples from the sauce pan and place into a separate container to cool slightly.
3. Pour pomegranate juice directly into the spiced brown sugar that was just used to flavor the apples. Stir well, turn heat to medium high and cook for 7-10 minutes or until the glaze is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. (Test this by dipping in a heat safe spoon or spatula and running a super clean finger through the liquid. If the line stays clear and none of the glaze runs through it, you’re done!)
4. While glaze reduces, spread bacon strips down on a flat surface. Top each one with an apple slice and a bit of gorgonzola. Wrap bacon tightly around apple and cheese, pinning it closed with a toothpick.
5. On a preheated grill, place bacon wrapped apples directly on the grill and cover with the lid. Cook, turning when necessary, until bacon is done, approximately 8-10 minutes.
6. As apple bacon parcels finish cooking, lay puff pastry pieces onto the grill, cover again and allow to heat until warm. Top each puff pastry with the apple bacon, remove toothpicks and serve drizzled with pomegranate glaze.
Click HERE for the printable recipe.
UPDATE 6/29/09: We found out that this submission to the NPR contest was deemed one of the three finalists! Excitement abounds! Listen to NPR’s Weekend Edition on Sunday, July 5 for the official announcement. Keep your fingers crossed.
UPDATE 7/5/09: OK, so we didn’t win. Oh well. We’re happy to have made it to the final three. Check out the others here on NPR’s site!
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I couldn’t argue more ….
Love bacon!
B A C O N – do I need to say more?”
In the Homer Simpson fashion of things Ummm B A C O N, and believe you me if I could run and make this I would!
Bacon for dessert???? Must try! This looks great.
Gorgonzola and pomegranate glaze sound great! Lovely mix of ingredients.
Why oh why have they not invented an device for teleporting food?! I want to jump through my screen and devour these right now. Bacon! Yes, please!
Good luck on the contest … sure looks like a winner to me, Duo.
Absolutely delicious, but ya know, I think I might serve these as an appetizer instead of as a dessert. I’m sure they could go either way. Love the bacon creativity. LOVE bacon! Great idea. I’m not going to be surprised if I make these for a gathering soon.
What a great combination of flavors. There’s one thing I would have done differently, though, and that is I would *not* share these with two other people even if that means I had to hi-five myself (which is weird).
I don’t know why you guys think these weren’t going to turn out as well as they did. Just reading the name of the dish made me hungry! Hmmm bacon!
I love this! What a fantastic hors d’oeuvre! I bet it would be great with a fig tucked in there, too.
Bacon does indeed make things better. It comes second to pasta, for me at least. LOL. Those look like awesome appetizers. Mmmmmmmm…
Bacon. Piggy yum. Seriously, bacon. Le Sigh.
Awesome, bacon and apple is such a good combo.
WOW–Do these look incredible! Bacon does make everything better and I love the combo of flavors you have going here.
Great combo of flavors! Who can blame you for devouring them all? I sure would have.
Great combo of ingredients with bacon and apples and gorgonzola – of course these little tarts turned out wonderful!
who are you kidding that is VERY exciting!! Man these look good!!! nothing beats a little bit of bacon
I would love to try these!
bacon truly does make everything better…
I want to pop everything into my mouth. bacon rules! Pork fat rules! YAY bacon!
very nice – how could you go wrong w/ bacon?? i think it pairs so well with sweet stuff. it’s my fave when i’m eating pancakes w/ maple syrup.
These are little bites of heaven!
Indeed, everything does taste better with bacon! I try to be good and use turkey bacon, but even still I feel guilty!!!
I should make this at a next party. Looks great.
Aww you’re hurting me. That sounds divine *searches freezer frantically for pizza*
Wow… sweet apple and bacon puffs with pomegranate glaze. I just love the sound of that… I bet it tastes even better.
Agree! Bacon makes everything better! Great use of ingredients here!
All I needed to see was the word “bacon.”
Hubba hubba hubba.
Great recipe!
I’m so glad you like bacon.. because this dish rocks!
just perfect for summer. me and my family also love bacon very much
and i love the idea how you guys have used it. yummy!! sound fabulous.
cheers!!
Y’all have done the damned thang with these gems. Now lemme round up some of my boughetto friends to try them out. Bwwaahaahaaa! Me can’t wait til November to see ya!
Bacon
Bacon
Bacon
BACON!
I was actually saying while typing.
Brilliant!
You had me at bacon…
Yum!
My hubby loves bacon so I’ll have to direct him to this post so he can drool away.
No doubt bacon makes much better and always put me in happy mood
Cheers!
Gera
Bacon indeed makes it better but you have taken it a step further with puff pastry! GREG sippitysup
You have definitely hit the HOME RUN with this one.
Excellent & easy yummie recipe! great appetizers! Yummie all the way,…!!!!
those are some incredible flavors put together!!!!
OMG. That’s all. OMG!
Bacon really does make everything better.
You HAVE to win with that one! Sounds excellent
Very cool appetizers for a fancy dinner party!
OMG, apple, pomegranate glaze, puff pastry…oh yes, bacon does make it better…it makes everything better! What a great recipe – another one to bookmark! You guys rock!
what a creative dish! I love it!
I heard of chocolate-covered bacon, and bacon chocolate chip cookies… those just sound crazy to me. But this dish actually seems like a natural flavour combo. Great job!
Love it! It is true, bacon makes everything taste better
It is great idea for appetizer…puff pastry yummie.
Michael definitely agrees about bacon
These look good – especially w. the gorgonzola!
Sounds mouth-watering good. Good luck with the contest submission!! This sounds like such a great summer grilled dessert, I bet you’ll win!!!
Wow! Great idea. Bon chance in the contest!
LL
sounds delectable. i love bacon. how does one get pomegranate juice by the way? (we live in the 3rd world, i dont think you can get it in cartons)…
Definitely an excellent canapé and an alternative to sausage roll hehe!! Good one , thanks for the share. jinhos doces xx
One time I had dinner with a vegan, and he even said bacon makes everything taste better. I secretly wanted my BLT sandwich. But that’ another story. I’ve done bacon wrapped apples before but never thought about adding the puff pastry. Great touch.
Bacon does make all things better. Those bacon puffs look good!
Well they looked like winners to me.
Ooooh bacon. Bacon. Who needs anything else? Might taste a lot better with cheese too. Ohhh Cheese.
Wow Amir! I’m soooooo going to make this sometime this summer.
YUM!
These are fantastic! It’s no wonder you were in the Top 3 – congratulations!!!
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