Bacon Wrapped Chestnuts...Fast

Last year, for the first time in my life I went to Thanksgiving with a friend instead of to family.  Which means that I got to try some other traditions and got to share some of mine with people who had never tried rainbow jello. 

One of the things the hostess did that I really liked was set out some appetizers about an hour before dinner was ready for those of us who were helping cook to snack on while we cooked.  My family doesn't really know about appetizers, so this is an area I'm always learning about.  One of her appetizers was something I'd never seen before.  Bacon wrapped chestnuts.  Well, I always say that bacon makes everything better!

I wasn't positive if they were really that good or if I was just really hungry, so of course I had to try making them myself! I tried several different recipes, and then, as always combined my favorite things from all of them.  Most of the recipes I found are very similar, but there were a few variations.

One of the things I didn't like was how long they took to bake.  After all, I can't tie up a whole rack of the oven for an hour on Thanksgiving!  I also didn't love the amount of bacon grease that stays with the treats as they bake.  For one batch, I ran out of raw bacon, so I wrapped a few chestnuts with precooked bacon instead.  I prefer my bacon very crunchy, so I really liked the result, plus they cook faster and have less grease.  Since the bacon is already cooked they could be baked in a good toaster oven and not tie up the oven at all.


Another dislike was how messy they can be.  I don't know about you, but I am neurotic about getting food on my shirt in a social situation.  I think this stems from my teen years when I ate an eclair at a party: I took a bite and all the pudding squished out the other end, right onto my shirt.  I had trouble with how sticky my fingers got snitching these goodies while cooking.

So here is my recipe, with my solutions to those problems.  This makes a small pan for a small party, but if you are feeding a large group, double it.

Printable recipe

1 package thick cut pre-cooked bacon
1 can water chestnuts, drained
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup ketchup
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (make sure it's gluten free)
1 Tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha chilli sauce
toothpicks

Soak toothpicks in water for a few minutes

Preheat oven to 375

Line a square baking dish with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.

Cut bacon strips in half.

Mix together in a small bowl the brown sugar, ketchup,  Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and sriracha sauce.  Set aside.

Wrap each chestnut with one of the half slices of bacon.the ends should overlap.  Insert a toothpick through all the layers.  I stop right after it pokes out the bottom.  When all the chestnuts are wrapped and skewered, it's time to sauce them.

Dip each chestnut in the sauce and arrange them in the pan so that they don't touch if possible.  Doing it this way rather than pouring the sauce over them keeps the toothpicks from getting saucy.  Bake for 20 minutes (if you like it really crisp, you can bake it another 5-10 minutes).  Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

The sriracha sauce might scare you if you don't like spicy food (I do).  I felt like it added a pleasant kick without being very spicy.  If you are nervous about it, you can cut it in half or omit it completely, but I really recommend giving it a shot.

Gluten Free Mozzarella Sticks

I took my oldest son out a couple weeks ago to celebrate his 15th birthday.  He ordered mozzarella sticks with his dinner.  I sat there the whole time smelling them and sighing, I couldn't even taste my gluten free steak, my mouth wanted those mozzarella sticks!

They were always my favorite appetizer, the only one I would order at restaurants and I almost always served them at parties.  After dinner with my son, I just had to have some again!  And in fact they turned out so well, I have had them several times since then.  They actually work better if I freeze them, so I made some big batches that I can grab a few out and fry when the mood hits me.

I used to try to avoid fried foods, and always eat low fat.  I only ate fried foods as a special treat when eating out, but since my diagnosis, I can't eat them out anymore, so I've started making some of them at home.  I give myself permission to eat something, as long as it's gluten free, if I'm really craving it.  There are enough things in this world that I can't eat, I don't want to say no to anything I can!  As long as I don't eat donuts, fried chicken and mozzarella sticks every day, it's okay.

Today at the store I found these cute little mozzarella pearls

 I decided to use them instead of the traditional sticks.  I told my kids they were mozzarella bites, and my youngest kept mispronouncing them "Monsterella Bites" Since we are only a week from Halloween, that works works for me!  A great snack at your Halloween party and they seem to go further.  My kids were happy eating 5 or 10 of these tiny bites.

(printable recipe)

1 lb Fresh mozzarella cut into sticks

2 large eggs

¼ cup milk

1 ½ cup Gluten Free Bisquick

1 cup finely ground bread crumbs

1-2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Oil or shortening for frying

Put ½ cup Bisquick into a large plastic bag

Combine the rest of the Bisquick with the bread crumbs and Italian seasoning in a large, deep dish.

Put the cut mozzarella sticks into the bag and gently toss until coated (if you are using low moisture mozzarella dip it in the milk first).

Remove the sticks from the Bisquick and place them in a container with a tightly fitting lid (Tupperware works great).  Pour the milk over the stick, put the lid on the container and turn upside down and back a couple times until they are all wet.

Take the sticks out of the milk and put them back in the flour back, tossing again to coat.  

Discard all but about 2 Tablespoons of the milk and then beat the eggs into the milk.  Remove the sticks from the bag and dip them into the egg mixture then put them in the bread crumbs.  When there are several sticks in the bread crumbs they can be tossed gently back and forth until coated.

Fry in HOT oil in small batches, about 375 degrees for 1-2 minutes, until the cheese starts to leak out. 

Serve hot with your favorite marinara sauce.

*Most home use deep fat fryers do not go that high, so it is best to use a frying pan on the stove.  Only fry a few at a time, you need to put them in and remove them quickly.  If you have a metal basket to put them in and take them out with it works best.