Ingredients:
8 medjool dates, pitted
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¼ cup bleu cheese (or your favorite cheese like goat's cheese or even parmesan cut into tiny pieces)
Marcona almonds, roughly chopped
8 very thin strips of bacon
Oil for frying
Directions:
Pit the dates if they haven't been pitted. Cut open one side from top to bottom. In a small bowl, mix together the bleu cheese (if using, skip this step if using parmesan) and almonds until well combined. Stuff a bit of the blue cheese and almond mixture into the date and pinch it closed to seal in the cheese mixture. Wrap a piece of bacon around the date (cut it down if you need to, it should wrap around the date about one and a half times) and secure the bacon with two skewers or toothpicks making an X into the date.
Fry the dates at 305 degrees Fahrenheit in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot until the bacon is crispy. Remove the dates and drain on paper towels. Remove the skewers used for frying and replace with decorative skewers for serving, if desired.