Solve all of your holiday entertaining woes with these epic sweet and sour Devils on Horseback with Gochujang Gastrique!!
Hi! It’s me, Paige! I’m the one who started this ye olde blog 3.5 years ago. You may have noticed that there’s been a bit of radio silence around here lately, and for that, I’m sorry. You see, there’s been a lot of life changes going on around here and I’ve had a little trouble finding my footing.
The good news is that I’m back and I plan on sticking to a regular upload schedule with amazing content. It IS the holidays after all, and you need all of the recipes you can get! I’m here for you! Today, I’m sharing these Devils on Horseback with Gochujang Gastrique!!
If you’re a child of the ’50s, you may recognize this little appetizer. The specific ingredients vary, but they’re basically stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. I’ve heard of these little guys before, but the first time I had them was recently at the restaurant Linger in Denver, Co.
Let’s just say that it was basically a religious experience. After I got home I made it a personal mission to recreate them. The first batch was a flavor fail, but the second one was just right! The key to balancing the super sweet dates and the salty bacon is the gochujang gastrique.
It sounds complicated, right? WRONG. It’s basically a tangy and spicy candy drizzle that gets poured over the finished little devils. Drool. I’m going to be making a triple batch of these for one of my Christmas celebrations and I’m pretty much counting down the days.
What’s your go-to holiday appetizer? I for one would take a plate full of finger foods over ham, mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole any day. Be sure to check out my Apricot Glazed Lamb Meatballs with Pistachios for another mouth-watering appetizer!
Devils on Horseback with Gochujang Gastrique
Ingredients
- 12 Medjool dates, pitted
- 2 oz herb chevre
- 4 strips of applewood smoked bacon, cut in thirds crosswise
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp gochujang sauce
- sea salt for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Spread open the slit in the date. Take about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of goat cheese and press into the date. Take care not to overfill them. Wrap each filled date in a one-third-slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the bacon is fully crisped.
- While the dates cook, prepare the gastrique. Combine sugar and water in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook without stirring until the liquid reaches a light blond caramel color, 5-8 minutes, swirling gently to help mixture cook evenly. Add red wine vinegar all at once (mixture will boil very rapidly). Continue to cook until sugar is re-dissolved, about 3 minutes.
- Add gochujang to the pan and reduce until slightly syrupy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Pat the dates on a paper towel to remove excess grease once cooled slightly. Pour slightly cooled gastrique over the top of the dates, avoiding the toothpicks as much as possible.
- Sprinkle the tops of the dates with sea salt and serve after they've cooled for a few minutes.
Jane
Saturday 17th of February 2024
Very tasty recipe. The gastrique made it taste restaurant quality!
Emanuel Grella
Saturday 11th of July 2020
I’ve made this recipe two times now . The biggest problem I have is that the goat cheese inside the date will separate and loose it’s creaminess. I was thinking about cooking the bacon before putting the wrapped date in the oven.