Drowning in Figs!

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

My Spanish teacher showed up today with a huge basket of white figs, in addition to the 7 pounds she gave me last week. I made 8 jars of jam, using up all my spare jars, so I need new ideas of what to do with what appears to be about 10 pounds of fruit. I hope you can help, and quickly--they're very ripe and I will have to do something with them in the next day or two.

 

My teacher mentioned empanadas and bread, which are fine, but I'm looking for something that will use up most (or all) of them.

 

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. I've never had this kind of problem before--a nice problem, to be sure, but a problem nontheless.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[cakewalk]

Such problems! I love fresh figs, but have never been blessed with such a large amount. I was thinking maybe stewed figs would be a nice option. I found this website with other suggestions, maybe it will give you some ideas: https://www.thespruce.com/quick-fig-recipes-2217623 The Figs in Syrup caught my eye. (I wonder if it can be frozen?) 

 

BTW - What are white figs?

 

 

[IowaDee]

I love dried figs but know nothing about making them. I assume it is just like drying any other fruit.  I have serious fig envy and had no idea they were really grown in Mexico. I don't recall seeing them for sale but once my eyes locked on the avocados, I was pretty much blind to anything else in the produce section.  

[KennethT]

I've always liked grilled figs... brush with oil, liberally s&p, and grill...

[Darienne]

Iowa Dee came up first with my idea.  Fruit Leather.  We had more apples last year...this year we have almost none...and I ended up mixing applesauce with almond slices and made lots of fruit leather.  And in the oven which holds so much more than my hobby-type dehydrator.  Can you make fig leather?

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Wow--great ideas everyone. Fig leather--hmm. I like that idea. Got a recipe or technique to share?

 

These figs are mostly green with a few brown ones. I've always heard the green ones called "white" but that could definitely be incorrect. They have a milder taste than the brown ones, but they made some darned good jam last week, and I could make more if only I had more jars. I could probably scare up 3 or 4 but they would barely make a dent in this mountain of figs. I'm going to investigate making fig leather from the ripest ones first.

 

 My Spanish teacher has 5 trees so she has a surplus. She says the over-ripe ones fall off the trees and her dogs love them. They'll start showing up in the mercado now, but I will not be buying any!

 

Thanks for the good ideas. I'm always up for more, though.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[IowaDee]

If you google fig liqueur, you will find recipes for making it at home.  Might make unique gifts!  For sure, I'd try it.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Oh yeah--I've got the figs, I've got the vodka, and the recipe sounds easy and delicious. I think that will do nicely with the ripest figs that need to be used soon. That and fig leather. Great idea!

 

N. in P.

[kayb]

I wish I had your problem. I should have figs tomorrow or Thursday. I plan on fig jam.

 

I ran out of pint jars today doing tomatoes. Must make a WalMart run and get more, as I have kraut to can tomorrow.

 

[andiesenji]

I was going to spell out the method of making Fig Paste but I found this page with a recipe that can be multiplied easily.

 

And if you want to vary the flavor, you can take part and add to it some brewed Lapsang Souchong tea to achieve a smoky flavor that is fantastic with sharp cheeses.  

 

I don't use ramekins - I put the paste in small jam jars - I give a lot away as gifts.  I do the same thing with quince paste.  

[Heartsurgeon]

fig ice cream. 

 

[haresfur]

Caramelized Figs (the first link that showed up in Google so I don't know if this is a good recipe)

[teonzo]

I would suggest to prepare figs puree then freeze it, so you have it available all year.

Wash the figs, cut them in half to make sure they are good (nothing rotten, no bugs...). Add a bit of lemon juice (around 20 g lemon juice for 1000 g figs), then blitz them with a hand held blender until you get a puree. Then pass the puree through a sieve to eliminate the seeds. This is a bit of a PITA to do, but a seedless puree is much much better. You can use a food mill with small holes to speed up a bit (I have the food mill tool for my stand mixer, so the machine does all the work). Once you prepared the seedless puree you can freeze it in whatever container you prefer. This way you have fresh figs puree whenever you need it.

You can use figs puree to make fig jam, just add the needed amount of sugar and cook as usual.

You can use it as a base for sauces, for example mix it with reduced duck stock, then serve the sauce with duck breast.

You can use it as a base for sorbets / ice creams. Figs sorbet recipe is really easy: 300 g figs puree, 200 g simple syrup (100 g water + 100 g sugar).

You can use it as a base for mousses (figs puree + Italian meringue + gelatin + whipped cream), in which case you need to cook the figs puree (above 90° C) before use. Figs contain ficain, an enzyme that dissolves gelatin, so if you don't cook the puree you end up with a liquid sauce and not a mousse.

 

Figs + saffron is one of the best pairings ever. Anice, licorice, cinnamon are great too. Other pairings: walnuts, almonds, pecans, caramel, pineapple, peaches, ginger, fennel seeds, Sichuan pepper, long pepper, allspice, jalapeno, mustard seeds, mint, melissa, bay leaf, rosemary, most black teas...

 

 

 

Teo

 

Edited August 9, 2017 by teonzo (log)

[dcarch]

Figs & Pigs pair well.

 

dcarch

 

Edited August 9, 2017 by dcarch (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

51 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Figs & Pigs pair well.

 

dcarch

 

 

Love it! Seems like a very happy fig pig! Or is it pig fig?

 

N. in P.

[MelissaH]

I have nothing useful to add, since I'm never going to have this problem living where I do, but boy, am I jealous! (I did look at fig trees, which are sold in the local nurseries. But to get them to survive the winter, they either need to be brought inside, or buried. Given that I can kill mint, I'm not even going to try.)

 

But my impulses for other fruits that do provide themselves in great quantity is to find a way to preserve them such that they can be used in a variety of other foods: freezing, canning, jam, and the like. They won't be great for salads, but imagine the luxury of a schmear of fig puree inside a tart shell, along with maybe some goat cheese, in midwinter.

[BeeZee]

last time I was gifted with too many ripe figs I made fig compote and froze it.

[Franci]

Do you guys remember the caramelized banana in the pressure cooker that many of us tried. Need to look for the link...I tried also with figs but I only have picture for the cream made with bananas...sorry. I only remember that it was a wonderful cream. That I used to spread in between some French Brioche, add some broken walnuts and grill on my cast iron grill. 

This is what I wrote on my notes: I wasn't sure it was necessary to add water to my pressure cooker (KR), after making the recipe I can say that no water was necessary or just a drop, because with water I had to let the liquid evaporate at the end. I also added a drizzle of good maple syrup, a squeeze of lemon and a touch of salt. 

I didn't write quantities but I must have followed a similar recipe. 70 g butter, 500 bananas, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt and a little bit of brown sugar (as I said I think I did maple syrup and some lemon juice)
 

 

Shake a little bit the pressure cooker to avoid the bottom sticking until it goes into pressure, let it go a little higher than 2 level, cooked for about 28-30 minutes. 

 

Make a cream using the immersion blender. 
 

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Franci (log)

[Franci]

Also you can look for vincotto di fichi. My grandfather used to dry figs in the sun: opened in half  but still attached at the base. Fill with walnuts and pair with another half. Dry fig sandwich. He had some cane trellis where the figs were spread and covered with a fly net and let in the hot summer sun, brought in at night. But I don't remember how long it would take. 

 

I miss figs so much. I remember my father was particular found of some trees on the road, every time he would drive by, he would stop to eat the figs hanging on the side of the street. Too bad my parents moved to the North. 

 

Fig and prosciutto, figs and prosciutto. I could have as appetizer every day. 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Franci (log)

[suzilightning]

3 hours ago, Franci said:

Fig and prosciutto, figs and prosciutto. I could have as appetizer every day. 

 

Fig and prosciutto stuffed with a blue cheese and 8 minutes in a 350 F oven.

[Merry Berry]

With that much fruit, I would definitely second the paste, compote, or puree.  When I have mass quantities of a fruit, I usually make them into a puree that I can freeze and use later for things like pate de fruit, ganache, etc.  If you are looking to save them and use later, that is the route I would go.

 

I love seeing the ideas on here.  Some great ideas for figs.  Wish I had your problem too!! haha

[kayb]

And you could always make fig newtons.

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

The problem I'm having now--and I hesitate to call it a problem--is that I have too many ideas. I may have to ask Alicia to bring me more figs so I can try out all these great possibilites. The jury is still out about fig leather, mostly because my oven is too old and too imprecise to maintain at 140F. So I'm turning the oven on and off and hoping that sooner or later I'll get something resembling a fruit leather. Smells great, though. I have some figs macerating in vodka for fig liqueur, and I've given away quite a few, so now I'm down to the last 2 or 3 pounds. I'll make fig scones, and then I'll see what I have left. There's always more jam.

 

If Alicia brings me more figs on Tuesday I'll definitely try out the pastes and purees that have been recommended. Right now our major problem is that we've adopted an abandoned puppy that seems to be mostly Belgian Mallinois, a common breed around here, and she's keeping us busy most of the time to keep her from eating the plants and our shoes. Fortunately she's very smart and has been easy to train. Not sure about the chewing and biting part, though. Only 3 months old--yikes.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro