RCP: Devils on Horseback

A very retro snack that has been mentioned here, but I couldn't find a recipe for it. This has gone over very well as an appetizer at wine parties, especially with Champagne or sparkling Alsace. This is based on a Chowhound recipe by Jill Santopietro.

Devils on Horseback

30 pitted prunes
1 cup Port or Madeira (I've used both)
1 Tbsp sugar, preferably dark brown
10 thick slices smoky bacon, cut crosswise into thirds (the original says thin, but I think fairly thick works better)
30 toothpicks, soaked in water for at least 15 minutes

Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C). Combine the first three ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar disolves. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the liquid thickens to a syrup. Let cool. Reserve the syrup for another use, such as prune Kir Royales .

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a cake rack on it.

Wrap each prune with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place them on the rack and bake 7 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 7 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. Let cool slightly before serving. (Warm is good, hot is not!)

Sounds like a snack for armagnac!

[Jenise]

I've never had prunes treated this way--sounds wonderful, and much better to me than dates wrapped in bacon because prunes are naturally tangy and less sweet.

Ah the 70s
We used to make them with stuffed green olives inserted in the prunes.
A friends's mum called them crocodiles ( a term she used for foods outside her comfort zone)

I just made this recipe. More or less a disaster, probably largely my fault. Will explain later but imagine HOUSE FULL OF SMOKE. ALARMS BEEPING. CAN'T SEE ACROSS ROOM. You have to have a good kitchen hood for this one. And I do not. I made a few mistakes but no time to explain now, I am taking these to a party so then we will decide -- mitigated versus unmitigated.

May I guess?: You had them too close to the flame and they caught fire... and the drippings caught fire....

Thanks for the warning, Frank. Our range hood is the whole house fan, so it's good if we understand the potential smokiness of a dish before we start making it.

I just made this recipe. More or less a disaster, probably largely my fault. Will explain later but imagine HOUSE FULL OF SMOKE. ALARMS BEEPING. CAN'T SEE ACROSS ROOM. You have to have a good kitchen hood for this one. And I do not. I made a few mistakes but no time to explain now, I am taking these to a party so then we will decide -- mitigated versus unmitigated.

I don't understand what the problem was. I've made them several times without using a hood and with no smokiness to note. Perhaps you broiled them instead of baking them?

No, baked at 470, pan in lower part of oven. But yes, the sweet syrup dripped down on the tin foil, dried out to sugar, and started to burn. Then the bacon drippings added to the burning. There were no flames I could see but a ton of smoke.

Anyway, mitigated. People liked them and ate them all up. I made a variety of mistakes in putting the dish together, some day I may tell that story. One is that I started yesterday morning without reviewing the recipe. The reason I wanted to try this is that we had a jar of prunes, already hydrated, that I wanted to use up. So I plopped them into a container with a cup of Port to marinate. Obviously you want to start with dry prunes so that the hydrating liquid is the Port. They picked up a little flavor -- when I read the recipe I realized that heating these prunes too much would make them fall apart. I microwaved the marinating prunes to get them warm and then poured the Port back in the bottle and took it to the party. If you do it the right way the prunes are probably not quite so drippy. Not only were the prunes popular at the party but people drank up all of the rich pruney Port.

Ted, I'm not blaming you for this, I think in a different kitchen and with better technique this could work out well. And starting with dried prunes, they would pick up way more Port flavor and taste even better. I don't think I'm going to do this again though, and I thought people should know how it worked at my house.

I'm a fan of the original - Angels on Horseback, utilizing oysters, more than fruit stuffed things, but I wonder if dried apricot might not be less,.....incendiary?