Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Since my bacon-loving friends were coming over on New Year's Day and this recipe is so easy, I decided to give it a shot. Everyone agreed they were really good and I think they were a little surprised to discover there was a water chestnut in the middle. It's true, water chestnuts aren't usually front and center, most of the time they're sliced in a stir-fry or chopped up in dip. I loved the crunchy texture of the water chestnuts with the saltiness of the bacon and the sticky sweetness from the brown sugar. Feels like a happy new year already.

BACON-WRAPPED WATER CHESTNUTS

Yield: 16

1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

8 slices bacon, cut in half crosswise

1.       Marinate the water chestnuts in soy sauce for 1 hour.

2.       Drain.

3.       Roll each chestnut in the brown sugar.

4.       Wrap each chestnut with a piece of bacon.

5.       Secure with a toothpick.

6.       Arrange on a cake rack in a shallow baking pan. Can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to bake.

7.       Bake at 400º F. for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

8.       Drain on paper towels.

from food.com by Merlot

water chestnuts

I tripled the recipe (well, I meant to, but only had time
to wrap about 2/3 of them before my friends came over).

water chestnuts, soaking in soy sauce

I turned the container over a few
times so all of them could get soaked.

draining soaked water chestnuts

rolling in brown sugar
(I made sure to really pat it on there good.)

bacon cut in half

wrapping with bacon

toothpick inserted

I just know that bacon pops are going to be the next
big thing...is there some way I can copyright that idea?

wrapped and ready to go in the oven

on a tray, ready for the bacon-lovers

It kind of looks like "the battle of the bacon", complete
with sword fighting (of course in the end, none of them made it).

up close

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