Pistachio Crusted گلاب جامن....with Bacon?!?

"Possibly better then sex..."

Gulab Jamun, if you're unfamiliar, is (via Wikipedia)- 

(Hindi: गुलाब जामुन, Urdu: گلاب جامن), also known as "waffle balls,"  a popular dessert in countries of the Indian Subcontinent such as India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. It is made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids (often including double cream) and flour in a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron.^[1]

^{Waffle Balls!!?  I've never heard that before.  If you've ever been to a buffet at an Indian restaurant, then you've probably seen or had Gulab Jamun.  They're the brown bobbing balls in a tray of syrup at the end of the line for dessert.  They are served warm and almost POP in your mouth with goey, cakey, creamy  innards.  They are super rich and sweet and delicious.}

^{One day I thought 'What if you rolled one of these sweet Indian balls in crushed pistachios and then wrapped it in bacon?'  Now, I have to admit that I am not a bacon eater, but I was trying to blow my friend and fellow stoner chef's mind.  We finally got to making  them last week after purchasing a can of Gulab Jamun at the local Indian market.  You can make them from scratch, but we wanted to keep it easy and put our energy into the main dish we were creating.}  

^{When I first thought of this, I thought it may have been an original idea.  And, according to Google, it is.  However, I was surprised to find that pistachios are a common garnish, and so only the bacon makes it unique.}   

^{We made two varieties of the balls...one with bacon and one without.  The pistachios alone rounded out the flavor and texture of the Gulab Jamun, and totally set them off.  The bacon just added more richness and a contrastingly savory flavor.}

^Ingredients

1 can Gulab Jamun (contains ~20 balls)

1/2 cup of pistachios, chopped

10-20 strips Bacon

toothpicks

Directions 

Fry your bacon and set aside.  Warm Gulab Jamun and syrup in a saucepan over medium heat for ~ 10 minutes, or until they are slightly too hot to eat. Spoon the Gulab Jamun out with a slotted spoon and let some of the syrup drain.  Roll balls in chopped pistachios and set on serving dish.  Wrap bacon strips around Gulab Jamun and pierce all the way through with a toothpick, then set upright so the toothpick is sitting straight up and down.
We offered this as a sweet finger food- an hors d'oeuvres type dish to some friends and lovers before an onslaught of additional stoner food was presented.  It was a huge hit.  They taste good at room temperature but are best served warm.

What Happens When You Throw Chocolate Covered Cherries in a Fondue Pot and Dip Soft Pretzels and Marshmallows in it??

Holy Shit.  There are no words.

Ingredients

1 box of chocolate covered cherries (~12-16 cherries)

1/4 cup cream (you could use a non-dairy cream or an cream liqueur)

1  3-4 oz. bar or milk or dark chocolate, whichever you prefer

Marshmallows

Soft Pretzels (we used the frozen variety that you can just pop in the oven/microwave)

Directions

Melt chocolate bar, chocolate covered cherries and cream in a fondue pot or saucepan set to medium.  Stir and smash chocolate covered cherries with a wooden spoon.  Try to smash as many of the cherries as you can to impart more of their flavor into the medley.

Once the concoction has completely melted, gather round and start dipping!  We kept it simple with just the pretzels and marshmallows, one salty and one sweet.  You can dip anything you want!  The whole spirit of this recipe was to EXPERIMENT and luckily it turned out smashing.  The fondue sauce was fairly quick and easy to make. Great for any assembly of hungry folks, stoned or sober.

It should also be noted that this fondue sauce was just as foxy as a cold chocolate dip or topping.  I think, perhaps, that I may have created something new...Cold Fondue!!  Much more convenient for the solo munchies, you can dip cookies, fruit or marshmallows in it or pour it on top of a bowl of ice cream.  It has a thicker consistency, but is just as tasty.

WARNING: VERY EASY TO OVERDO!!!