Wolfgang Puck Has A Lot of Dates For The Oscars: Recipe

Wolfgang Puck is making his 20th meal for the 2014 Oscar winners, losers, and all their guests, too. He’ll serve his admirers, many of whom have indulged in his delicious treats in the past, at the Governor’s Ball, being held, per usual, after the Academy Awards comes to a close.

So what’s on the menu?

For starters, there are dates. Lots and lots of dates. In fact, this legendary celebrity chef has come up with a drool worthy appetizer literally surrounding the main ingredient, which are, yes, dates.

These delectable dates are then wrapped in bacon for extra panache as well as for the ability to be eaten by any multi-tasking celebrity who doesn’t need to take his or her seat in order to nibble this appetizer over the dinner table.

That said, here is how Wolfgang Puck makes this masterpiece that is, in essence, one intense bite. This bite not only ends up tasting sweet, salty, nutty, meaty, and smoky all at the same time, but does this all while offering a variety of textures — smooth, creamy, and crispy among them.

Ingredients

18 large dates. The dates of choice should be Medjool if possible. These dates should be sliced lengthwise and then pitted

18 pieces of quality Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano, each cut into about 1-by-¼-inch pieces

6 slices of quality smoked bacon, cut crosswise into thirds

Directions

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Insert one piece of Parmesan into each individual date.

Then, wrap each date with one piece of bacon. Secure with a toothpick that is made of wood, not plastic.

Arrange the dates one inch apart in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes.

After that, turn the dates over using tongs and continue baking until the bacon is crisp, which should happen in a matter of 5 to 6 more minutes.

With the tongs, transfer the dates to paper towels to drain, carefully patting these yummy starters dry with paper towels as they drain.

Serve immediately.

And that is the first act for super chef Wolfgang Puck during his post Oscars extravaganza. Talk about a lot of dates that are going to make a lot of people very happy.

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