In an earlier post about my visit to Avec, I said I was going to try to replicate the Chorizo stuffed dates at home. Well, I did the following weekend. I picked up chorizo, dried medjool dates, and applewood smoked bacon at WholeFoods. The piquillo peppers proved more difficult. I live in a largely Latino area of San Francisco so Mexican chilies are easy to find. Spanish chilies, not so much. I ended up substituting canned chipotle chilies in adobo.

Ingrediants:

• Dried medjool dates
• Chorizo
• Smoked bacon
• Tomatoes, finely chopped
• Onion, finely chopped
• Chipotle chilies in adobo, to taste, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 320F.
2. Split the dates end to end along one side. Fill with chorizo and close the date. Wrap in a slice of bacon. Place on a baking sheet with the end of the bacon on the bottom. Repeat for all the dates. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
3. While the dates bake, saute the onion until softened. Add the chili and tomato. Saute until everything is well softened. Blend into a smooth sauce. Keep warm.
4. When the dates are finished baking, place the sauce in a baking dish. Sit the dates in the sauce and serve.