Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts

You are so 50s if you remember bacon-wrapped water chestnuts at cocktail parties where women wore heels and fur stoles and men were dressed in suits and ties. Those were the days, not that I remember them. No thoughts about cholesterol or Omega 3 fatty acids. Have a Manhattan and pass the bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. Then sit around the piano and sing Sinatra tunes.

So Wednesday was Bacon Wednesday at CRC and I just felt like a return to a gentler time and made these puppies. There is a reason they’ve stood the test of time, people. They are freakin’ delicious! One 8-ounce can of whole water chestnuts has about 17 chestnuts. And if you consider the fact that each piece only has a third of a strip of bacon (use the thin kind for this – it wraps more easily) and the nutritional value of the chestnut – okay, I looked it up and there’s hardly any – you can almost call this a healthy snack.

Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts

Bacon

1 8-ounce can whole water chestnuts

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a rimmed cookie sheet with heavy duty tin foil. Cut the bacon slices into thirds. Wrap each water chestnut with a piece of bacon and secure with a wooden toothpick.

Bake for about 45 minutes, turning each piece once. If at the end of 45 minutes, the bacon is not crispy enough run it under the broiler for a few minutes.

Mix together the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Dip each bacon-wrapped water chestnut in the mixture and return to the oven for about 15 minutes.