Figs

[stellabella]

The figs are rolling in, by the bushel. Have just canned several pints, but I want to use them another way. They're lovely fresh with cheese. But....how else can I take advantage of these fragile delicious delicacies?

I want to try to make fig bars, but havn't found any recipes. Ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Varmint]

Figs and prosciutto

Make a fig vinaigrette (make sure you strain out the seeds, as they are annoying)

Someone had a thread about olive oil ice cream the other day -- they served it with poached figs, I believe. Yum.

Roast the figs and serve with pork

Figs are always good in a compote -- you might want to combine with another fruit that is a bit more tart

I made a fig tart ages ago -- can't remember what exactly I did

Some folks like to grill figs as a side dish

I like figs with duck

Consider yourself lucky. Last weekend, I was getting ready to pull tons of figs off the tree in my front yard. I got extremely busy at work and didn't get to the tree until yesterday. There's lots of bird crap now under the tree, and only a few figs in it. Damn birds.

[southern girl]

Figs and cheese with a twist...halve figs vertically, stuff with Maytag Bleu cheese...wrap in Proscuitto...bake in the oven till cheese is soft...350 for about 5 mins...serve plain or serve drizzled with honey.

Or...stuff figs with goat cheese, wrap in basil and then in proscuitto and bake as above...serve with greens (or microgreens if available) tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. Drizzle plate with balsamic reduction.

[stellabella]

varmint and southern girl, i'm plotzing. please come over and enjoy some oven-roasted cheesy melty prosciutto-wrapped delectable figs.....

*sigh*

[Stone]

Figs are quite fascinating. This probably isn't what you meant by "what else", but the relationship between the fig and the fig wasp is one of the more romantic sexual stories in nature.

[Varmint]

Stellabella-

What do you use in your canning liquid for the figs?

I never have enough figs to can, but we receive several jars every year from family on the eastern part of the state. When I married into the family, I wasn't overly familiar with figs, and everyone kept telling me that I wouldn't like them. It was just a grand conspiracy to keep more to themselves. Anyhow, I now hoard the preserves worse than any of my in-laws!

[southern girl]

I wish...

It is almost impossible to get figs here in Las Vegas...I usually tag on to a chef friend's produce order and end up with waaaay too many figs...it seems they are an acquired taste for many people and my friends don't seem to have acquired one...something about hating fig newtons in thier school lunches seems to be a common factor .

[Jaymes]

I want to try to make fig bars, but havn't found any recipes.

My aunt used to make Fig Bars fairly often.

She's dead now so can't ask her exactly how without scheduling an appointment with a medium, but I recall her saying that she used her mother's recipe for Date Bars, and just subbed figs....

[Varmint]

I think you generally want to start with dried figs for fig bars, however. I guess you could start experimenting with drying them, Stellabella.

[nightscotsman]

I had a lovely hors d'oeuvre sometime last year from the fine folks at Brasa here in Seattle:

parmesan cookie (sort of a sweet/savory, cracker/shortbread)

half a fresh fig

goat cheese

drizzle of reduced balsamic

wonderful balance of flavor and textures.

[hydromel5]

oh fresh figs!

if i had to choose only one fruit to live with for the rest of my life, figs would be it.

here's my favoite ways:

1. oh boy - just sitting there (with your favorite person) and eating them, really slow. there is something about this fruit that makes me want to slow down and savor it.

2. make a compote with fresh raspberries (lemon and sugar), puree it then add more fruit and bake it into a tart - yum yum!

3. oh, oh! - so take the fresh fig, destem it and make an "x" in the top. make a fine paste of roasted almonds (believe or not, tamari roasted almonds tastes the best) rich dark chocolate and the tiniest bit of rum (to make it come together) - here's the good part - stuff it inside - then kind of squeeze it back together to its orginal shape. this one almost beats #1.

4. drizzled with honey and goat cheese (always a delicious one)

5. i will write later (i am at work) but with dried figs, i once made a mistake while making fig bars and came up with this delicious fig paste that now we use for everything from a galette filling to making little toasts with gorgonzola - delicious!

also a note to the fig tree keepers: having a fig tree must be great . . . i am so envious! my husband and i have a patio garden (we grow all kinds of things from pumpkins to raspberries in pots) and i'm trying to figure out if i could start a fig tree (and a miniature lemon tree) there. someday we will have a house and a fig tree will be the first thing i plant - enjoy them while you can! (my food store only has them for one month!)

[SobaAddict70]

stuff them with ricotta cheese and either bake or roast them until the figs are tender

make a fig chutney: chopped figs, jaggery (or brown sugar), cinnamon, coriander, cloves, cumin, dried chilies, grated coconut, cardamom (make sure to use green pods), ghee, chopped onions. Toast the spices first if using fresh whole spices, then grind in a spice grinder; fry the onions and spices in some in some ghee until the onions are lightly golden, add the figs, jaggery and grated coconut; cook until the figs are tender, stirring frequently so as not to let the sugar burn or caramelize over much, adding a T. or so of water every few minutes)

bake them sliced with some lemon juice, grated lemon or orange zest, chopped crystallized ginger, a splash of dark rum -- until tender, then serve over ice cream or pie.

[Wilfrid]

Fig clafoutis. Start the figs off baking in the oven with some good sugar sprinkled over them. Pour over the clafoutis batter (a quick search should come up with a recipe for this).

Also, roast duck with figs. And marinate them in just about any fine liquor for a dessert - armagnac, calvados, amaretto...

[hydromel5]

ok, so a day later i'm still writing this at work and so i will write with that fig paste recipe later . . . but what is this about the fig and the fig wasp? interesting!

[bellaS.F.]

nightscotsman, I will be making that dish tomorrow, ohhh how I want to taste that now!

I make the figs with the blue cheese and proscuitto, I make them with just the blue cheese and some truffle honey drizzled over it after it comes out of the oven, but what I like even better is just wrapping them with proscuitto and grilling them till the proscuitto gets srt of carmelized.

Whenever I make tapenade I add, when figs are not in season, dried figs and orange zest. Fresh figs and black olives make a really good spread.

[Stone]

ok, so a day later i'm still writing this at work and so i will write with that fig paste recipe later . . . but what is this about the fig and the fig wasp? interesting!

Click and scroll down to the fig/fig wasp scenario. Or click on "figs" in my post above.

In short, a symbiotic relationship has developed between the fig and the fig wasp to the point that one cannot survive without other. The fig wasp must lay its eggs inside a fig; and the only way a fig gets pollinated by by the wasp crawling in and bringing the pollen. (I read somewhere that all figs are filled with wasp eggs

[stellabella]

i made some fig bars as jaymes suggested, subbing fig puree for date.. they are fine. i will have to play with the recipe a bit to add a bit more texture.

all the suggestions sound divine. i have noticed since living in rural georgia that people are either passionate about figs or have no idea what they are--no in between. odd.

and i thought those little cruncy things were seeds..... hee, hee

[Varmint]

I made a fig ice cream with a blackberry sauce yesterday. The fig flavor was quite subtle, despite using nearly two quarts of figs, and cooking them down with brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon. It was a scrumptious dessert nevertheless, and it's worth a try if you still have plenty of figs available.

[stellabella]

can you give us the recipe?

[Miss J]

Nigella Lawson gives a recipe for "Turkish Delight figs" that she saw on Masterchef (UK) - you cut ripe black figs into little gap-mouthed birds, and then nestle them in an overproof dish. Then you make a light syrup of sugar, water, lemon juice and rosewater (or is it orange blossom water?), and pour it over the figs. Bake the whole thing, basting regularly, until the figs are soft, shiny, and sticky. Eat with something tangy, like creme fraiche or thick strained yoghurt.

They're rich, sweet and outrageously fragrant.

Edit: forgot to mention how envious I am of your fig bounty...!

[Varmint]

I sort of followed the recipe from this site: http://www.lacooks.com/071801.html

However, I used another egg yolk and before chilling I put the mixture through a food mill -- I wanted the flavor of the figs without big chunks.

The blackberry sauce was just a simple cooked sauce with a touch of sugar, pureed, and strained.

[chefb]

How about oven dried or Make fig newtons. I think there is a recipe on Foodtv.com its called fig nortons I guess as not to infringe on copyright.

[stellabella]

nigella's recipe sounds like one of the more common desserts served in ecuador--candied figs served with slices of hard mild cheese--i love them but they are SO sweet and rich--one is enough.

[stellabella]

adapted from Carol Fields Focaccia

Cornmeal Focaccia with Figs

dough:

8 ozs dried figs

1 1/2 c water, room temp

2 1/2 t. active dry yeast

2 T olive oil

1/2 c plus 2 t cornmeal

3 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t sea salt

topping:

2 T olive oil

1 T turbinado sugar

soak the figs in water for 30 mins. drain, reserve water, chop. warm reserved water to 105-115F and whisk in yeast. stir in olive oil. add cornmeal and flour and salt and begin kneading when it starts to come together and isn't too sticky. [if you make bread you know that sometimes you need more or less flour than a recipe calls for]. knead 8-10 minutes or til it reaches earlobe texture.

place dough in oiled bowl and let rise til doubled. punch down and knead in figs and flatten to fit your baking stone. this gets tricky for me--you might want to let it rise a second time on your peel generously dusted with cornmeal so that you can slide it right onto the stone. heat stone in 400F oven--after second rise slide dough onto stone, drizzle with OO and sugar, and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I MADE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES:

i used fresh figs--kneading them into the dough was tricky but WORTH IT. then, about half-way through baking, i removed the stone and drizzled olive oil and honey and sea salt over the bread, and dotted with crumbled chevre.

it was very good. this bread is best out of the oven--not nearly as good the next day.

what would you serve this with?

[Toby]

Tomato Figs -- this doesn't belong here, but there is the fig association, and the cake recipe would probably be good with real figs instead of the tomato figs.

Tomato figs are an old American recipe for plum (roma) tomatoes -- you scald and remove the skins of 3 lbs. tomatoes; put in a big heavy pan in one layer, strew 1-1/2 lbs. sugar over them and let them sit for a little while until the juices start to run. Then cook slowly until the sugar penetrates and they look clarified, rolling them over to cook evenly, about 20-30 minutes. With slotted spoon, remove from syrup and place on wire rack over baking sheet and put in oven at lowest possible heat. Dry in oven for about 8 hours, turning them occasionally to dry evenly. Pack in jars with layers of sugar in between.

Then, what I do with them is cut a few into small dice and add them to a sort of poundcake (2-1/4 cups flour, 6 egg yolks, 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, handful of golden raisins soaked in dark rum, handful of toasted, roughly chopped walnuts, chopped orange zest, a little salt. Cream butter and sugar together, add flour, add egg yolks, raisins, rum, zest; add tomatoes and walnuts; bake in small loaf pan at 325 degrees for about 1-1/2 hours, having brushed top with a little reserved egg yolk.