Wrap different foods in bacon to cook and maximize their flavor.
Bacon is fattening, but it certainly is delicious. Everything in moderation, including bacon, is the key to a balanced diet. Bacon, when used as the primary ingredient in a dinner dish or even as a flavoring agent, transforms the entr e, side dish, salad, soup or gravy into a satisfying and flavorful treat. While only a minimal amount of bacon is required to flavor other foods in recipes, bacon emerges as the primary ingredient due to the delicious taste. The aroma alone stimulates the appetite.
Instructions
1. Wash large peeled and deveined shrimp with the tail left on --- approximate size 10 to 15 per lb. --- under cold running water.
2. Cut a slit down the back of the shrimp, using a sharp knife, approximately ½-inch deep. Do not cut through the entire body of the shrimp if possible.
3. Slice off the stem end of the pickled jalapenos and use a small measuring spoon or similar utensil to reach into the pepper and pull out the seeds. Rinse out the inside of the jalapeno pepper.
4. Cut the jalapenos into approximately ¼-inch slices and beginning at the tail, place a jalapeno slice in the slit in the back of the shrimp. Place another slice end-to-end to the first and continue until the jalapenos fill the slit from head to tail.
5. Place strips of hickory double-smoked bacon on a cookie sheet and place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Bake the bacon until it is half-way done. Remove it from the oven while it is still limp and pliable. Remove the bacon strips from the cookie sheet and allow them to cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve the cookie sheet covered with the bacon grease.
7. Wrap each shrimp from head to tail with a single layer of hickory double-smoked bacon. Wrap the bacon around the shrimp and over the jalapeno peppers.
8. Insert a skewer through the middle of the body of the shrimp from just above the tail and out the head. Insert the skewer through 2 to 3 other shrimp in the same manner for a meal-sized portion.
9. Return the bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers to the oven and cook for approximately 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until the shrimp assumes a pink color and the bacon is fully cooked.
10. Remove the hickory double-smoked bacon-wrapped shrimp from the oven and lay them on a paper towel. Do not blot the bacon grease or turn the shrimp skewers over to blot the other side. The bacon and the bacon grease are the primary flavoring ingredient in the dinner dish.
Tags: bacon grease, cookie sheet, hickory double-smoked, shrimp from, approximately -inch, back shrimp, bacon-wrapped shrimp
