Friday, January 24, 2014

Deceptively Delicious Bacon Yummies

 Do you like church cookbooks as much as I do?  I always picture all of those church ladies agonizing over submitting their best recipes for inclusion in a published tome.  This recipe is from the Atonement Lutheran Church Cookbook. It has no provenance.  I wish it had. I'd really like to know just who it was who came up with the idea of wrapping a half of a piece of bacon around a saltine, and then baking it in the oven for more than an hour.  Who thinks up such things?  Clearly some quick-thinking cook with drop-in guests and a bare cupboard.


Well, thank goodness for that resourceful cook because these are deceptively delicious, hence my improvement upon the name. They are easy, tasty, always a hit at parties, but they are certainly not pretty. The last time I served them someone looked at the plate, then back up at me with a quizzical, can't-you-do-better-than-this look and said, What are these?  Crackers with bacon wrapped around them?"  Yup, guilty as charged, I replied, That, and a sprinkling of good quality Parmesan.
People first take a small bite as though they're about to consume something  laced with cyanide, or as if they are unwilling dupes in some sort of colossal culinary joke.  Once the first morsel is consumed, a look of complete shock crosses their face, while at the same time their hand passes over the serving platter scooping up as many as they can hold.
What can I tell you?  They're great!
They can be assembled a couple of hours prior to baking, and bake a good long time, giving you plenty of opportunty to mingle with your guests. I generally try to serve these well into the party (read: Halftime) when the initial plates of goodies are looking pretty bare.
You can substitute club crackers for the saltines for a more buttery taste, but for me, nothing beats the goodness of a good old saltine.

Deceptively Delicious Bacon Yummies
32 saltine crackers
16 strips bacon
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 275°F.
Cut slices of bacon in half.  Wrap one half piece of bacon around each cracker.  Place each cracker, bacon seam side down, on a broiler pan and sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese.  Bake in preheated oven for 60-75 minutes or until golden and crisp.  Serve hot.  Amazingly delicious and addicting.

3 comments:

~~louise~~ said...

I adore church cookbooks, Pattie. I really should dig out some of mine. As you say, they are "real" recipes most of the time. I remember seeing this method before but for the life of me I can't remember where.

I may have passed over it because it doesn't sound appealing. Kudos to you for giving it a try. Now, I know I must try it at least once.

Thanks for sharing, Pattie...Off to Pin it!

Anonymous said...

Patti,
They sound yummy. Coming from my new blog.
Saying hello...

Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick said...

I bet your Bacon yummies will be a big hit with all bacon lovers. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

Cheers,
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com