I love medjool dates. I use them in both sticky toffee puddings and in my date and nut loaf.

Ann

Date shakes are good - put the dates in a blender with ice cream and milk. I also chop them up and add them to my granola, and after they are chopped, you can more or less use them as you would use raisins in cookies and other desserts.

Lars

I too have some left after adding them to my granola (great idea Lars!), and was thinking, stuffed? Does that sound like a good idea? Like with cream cheese and a nut, e.g. walnut, pecan, or almond?

They are also good stuffed with peanut butter and rolled in sugar....to take care of the stickiness and make them finger foods.
Linda C

Ann your pics are always mouth-watering!

I love all the suggestions! Keep 'em coming!!

I had a small plate for my birthday that was a lamb/date kebob that was really yummy... DH doesn't like lamb, so I probably won't do anything like that with these. I am thinking of a rice pilaf with pine nuts, onions, and chopped dates...

Thanks to you all I now have more wonderful ideas. Peanut butter! sugar! granola! date bread! cheese! nuts!
...And That date shake sounds fab! I wonder if a little amaretto in the shake would be good? Nah, I think it would be distracting...

oh! And I think I have Ann's sticky toffee pudding recipe somewhere... hmmm....

Stuff 'em with a bit of Manchego cheese, wrap 'em in one-third of a slice of bacon, and broil until the bacon is done.

Stick a candied or spicy pecan inside each, dust with powdered sugar, and eat.

Oh yumminess!

I second the shakes.

I had the most amazing appetizer when we were in Louisiana and were lucky enough to meet up with Riverrat and her DH.

Karen will vouch for me when I say I tried every bribe imaginable to get the recipe from the waiter. No luck

Then out of the blue two ears ago Karen sent me a cook book from the restaurant and low and behold the recipe was in it!

Unfortunately that cookbook is packed so I don't have the recipe for the homemade chorizo stuffing but you can use store bought.

Slice the dates almost through. Remove pit and stuff with a good quality chorizo. Wrap in bacon and grill until the bacon is crisp....Delicious.

I like them stuffed with Manchego or Parmesan slice or goat cheese and a Marconi almond. (I find regular almonds a little to hard to bite into.)

or stuffed with the almond and wrapped in bacon!

"A soft date melts upon the tongue, whispering, 'I have kissed the lips of Cleopatra in ages past.'

For it is true that the varieties which delighted Cleopatra, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba have come down unchanged through all the centuries. The date does not, like humans, dissipate its precious virtues by cross-breeding." -- Ed Ainsworth, "California Jubilee"

I eat mine jkust plain in place of candy to satisfy my sweet tooth. I love medjool dates, but I'm not sure how long they will keep. I tossed my last box of them, because they looked a little funky, and I was afraid they might have been moldy.

stuff with goat cheese and/or walnuts and drizzle with honey

I bought my last batch of dates at a Persian market, and they make a specialty treat called Ranginak you might want to try. I will post a link to a recipe with good photos:

Here is a link that might be useful: Ranginak recipe

Oh Sharon - stuffing them with chorizo and grilling them sounds fantastic! We are headed to a party next weekend with several serious foodies in attendance and I think these will be perfect!

Great suggestions everyone :-)

Alexa

Alexa, they really are sublime!! I did a web search and found a thread from this forum where I had posted the original recipe.
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They are amazing when doing the sausage filling from scratch but a really good Chorizo, raw not smoked, works fine and saves time....but if you have the time, and the inclination, make the meat mixture it is so good.

Bacon Wrapped, Sausage Stuffed Dates from the Snake River Grill in Lake Charles LA.

2 TBSP olive oil
1 pound ground lamb or beef
4 oz ground pork
1 TSAP salt
3/4 tsp Black pepper
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup finely chopped fennel
1 TBSP garlic puree
1 1/2 TBSP Smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tomatoes, blackened and pureed
1 1/2 TBSP chipotle puree
3/4 cup chopped parsley
24 pitted Medjool dates
24 slices good quality bacon

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the ground meat , salt and pepper. Saute until crumbly.

Add the onion, saute 5 minutes. Add the fennel and garlic. Reduce heat to low and add paprika, cumin and cayenne. Cook 5 minutes.

Add the vinegar, stirring to deglaze. Add the orange juice and cooked until reduced by 3/4. Stir in tomato puree and chipotle puree. Simmer 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat , cool to room temp, stir in parsley and refrigerate.

Spoon the cooled meat mixture into each split and pitted date. Wrap each tightly with a slice of bacon.

Place seam side down and bake at 385 for 20 minutes until crisp....I find I need to turn them once.

Thanks for posting the recipe! They sound even better than I originally imagines and I am definitely making them for the party next weekend.

A

Yes, Thank you, Sharon, I'm glad you were able to find it. They sound fantastic!

I have done both oven baked and grilled.

Grilled is amazing but they really must be tended while on the grill or the bacon will burn and all will be for naught.....ask me how I know!

When we had dates as the cookalong ingredient, I asked if anyone had a date bar recipe with the oatmeal crust. Steve/skeip gave his family recipe. Yummm...

DATE BARS

Filling:
2 Cups Dates, cut up
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Flour
Grated Zest from one Orange
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Combine all the above ingredients in a heavy sauce pan, and cook over low heat until the dates are soft, and the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat, mash any remaining whole Dates. Set aside to cool.

Crust:
1 Cup All-purpose Flour
2 Cups Quick Cooking Oatmeal
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda dissolved in 2 Teaspoons HOT Water
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Melted Butter

Combine all of the ingredients for the crust and stir until well blended. Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 cookie sheet. Top with the date mixture, and sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the dates. Bake 30 minutes in a preheated 350 o F oven.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Date cookalong

I decided to stuff the dates with a ricotta-like goat cheese from a local farm mixed with shredded mozzarella from boconcini, wrap with bacon and oven bake until crisp.

Wow! They are SO good!!! Next time, I would use a whole srrip of bacon for each date (instead of half) and maybe a little less cheese. But, not bad for my firt try!

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Mmmm -- those look yummy!