Bacon-wrapped Asparagus
Who would have thought that Disneyland could be the inspiration for a dish I’ve been making ever since I discovered it?
It was during a trip to the Magic Kingdom about 15 or so years ago that I discovered bacon-wrapped asparagus. We were in Adventureland and wanted to board the Jungle Cruise (side note: ever since I was little, I have always started the park on the left and I go around it clockwise. The first “land” is Adventureland and it’s always been my favorite. It's tradition to go to the Tiki Room first and listen to the birds sing (I'm sorry - this is just the way it has to be!). Anyway, I digress.
The line for the Jungle Cruise was, not surprisingly, a mile long. Since we were a bit hungry, we decided to eat first, before entering the queue. I turned around and there it was: the Bengal Barbeque - a casual counter type of eating place.
On the menu (and according to this link it’s still there): bacon-wrapped asparagus. Intrigued, we ordered it. It was incredible, and you can’t say that about much of the food at Disneyland (another side note: this reminds me of another visit to the Park when we contracted food poisoning and threw up all night long – good times). Sorry, I digress again. This was an interesting combination of vegetable and bacon. It made such an impact on me, that it was offered at nearly every occasion when friends or family came over. It’s super easy and fairly fast to assemble.
All you need are: wooden skewers, bacon, and asparagus. That’s it. Not even seasoning (the bacon is salty enough). It can’t get any simpler. Here’s how to make them at home.
Bacon-wrapped Asparagus
Wooden skewers
Bacon (1/2 package is enough for 2 people), I like the applewood smoked variety, but any kind will do
½ bunch of thick-stalked asparagus, shave down the ends so they aren’t too woody
Directions:
Break the skewers in half, and soak them in water if you wish. Supposedly this prevents them from burning on the grill, but I don’t bother. Take your long bacon strips and cut them down to 3” pieces. Wash your asparagus, trim off the very ends (about ½” from the bottom), and peel the lower third. While you could certainly take several stalks and tie them together with a longer piece of bacon, I find this unwieldy and difficult to keep together without a lot of toothpicks, so I prefer using the thicker variety of asparagus and using 1 smaller piece of bacon per stalk.
Cut your asparagus stalks into thirds. Take a piece of bacon and wrap it around an asparagus stalk. Once you have 4 of them wrapped, skewer them together, sticking the skewer in through the long end. Make sure to slide them close together; you don’t want any gaps between stalks. Continue until all your asparagus is wrapped and skewered.
Grill for about 7-8 minutes per side on medium-low. It’s important to keep an eye on them while they grill because it’s easy to get a flare up when the bacon fat starts dripping into the flames. You don’t want to end up burning your bacon to smithereens. Move them around on the grill as needed to avoid the flames. Asparagus should still have a little crunch while bacon should be thoroughly cooked. Another option is to briefly pre-cook the bacon in a pan and then wrap them around the asparagus, cooled off a bit, of course, while they’re still pliable.
These make an excellent appetizer or first course. Great for when you’ve got the barbeque on anyway this summer. Serve with a bold Zinfandel or Syrah.
#baconwrappedasparagus #bengalbarbeque #grilledbaconisawesome
