Denver Green Chili

Recipe of the Week - 12/17/11 Bacon Chile Appetizers

Well, I had planned to prepare a different appetizer for the
party last night, but I only had 20 minutes. And it really
took only 20 minutes.

These were literally gone in 5 minutes. People swooped
down on these and raved about them. But then, how
can you go wrong with bacon and chiles?

Premade phyllo cups are at some grocery stores and not
others. The King Soopers near me in Conifer recently
started carrying them; the brand is Athena and they
are regular flavor - not the tomato and spinach ones
that I used here that makes them so Christmassy.

I used Big Jim chiles, a medium hot. They were the
perfect amount of heat.

You might want to have an extra tray of phyllo cups
in case you have extra filling. Phyllo cups freeze
beautifully and will keep in the freezer for up to
2 years.

Bacon Chile Appetizers

Ingredients:

8 strips bacon
1 cup chopped onion
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 rounded tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup diced green chiles, medium hot
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 packages phyllo cups (15 cups each)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry bacon in a skillet until starting to crisp.
   Remove bacon and set aside. Pour bacon fat into a container.
   
   
2. Return 3 tbsp of the bacon fat to the skillet. Sautee onions until soft,
then add garlic powder, vinegar, and green chiles. Add bacon and reduce to
a thick, caramelized consistency.  

3. Place phyllo cups in 13 x 9 baking dish. 

4. Heap each cup with shredded cheese. Note: cheese will shrink down
   quite a bit. Top each cup with about 1/2 tsp of the bacon mixture.

5. Heat in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. You can
   also pop these in a microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.
   

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Makes: 30