Fig And Blue Cheese Salad

Fig And Blue Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon whole grain mustard

Sea salt and pepper

6 slices bacon

1 1/2 tablespoon salted butter

1 crisp apple, such as Honeycrisp or Fugi,

    halved, cored and thinly sliced

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

2 cups mesclun greens

3 oz. Roquefort cheese, crumbled

1/2 lb. small seedless grapes, halved

4 fresh figs, cut into wedges

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Directions: 

In a small bowl whisk the olive oil with the apple cider vinegar and whole grain mustard.  Season with salt and pepper.

In a large non-stick skillet, cook the bacon slices over moderate heat, turning until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a paper towel to drain.  Break the bacon into pieces.

In the same skillet, melt the butter.  Add the apple and cook over moderate heat until light golden, 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in the hazelnuts and cook until deep golden, 1 to 2 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

Arrange the greens on a platter.  Top with the apple, hazelnuts, cheese, grapes, figs, and bacon.  Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve. 

Vegetable Farro Stew With Figs And Pine Nuts

Vegetable Farro Stew With 

Figs And Pine Nuts

Ingredients:

2 rosemary sprigs

5 oregano sprigs

5 thyme sprigs

2 small artichokes

1 cup farro

1/4 cup extra-virgin, plus 

  more for drizzling

1 1/2 cups tomato juice

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

   more for seasoning

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 heads garlic, 1/4 cut off the tops

1 lemon, sliced 1/8" thick

1 Cubanelle pepper, sliced 1/3" thick

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced 1/3" thick

1/2 yellow pepper, sliced 1/3" thick

1 medium onion, quartered

1 large Japanese eggplant, 

   cut in 6 wedges

1 cup dried Black Mission figs, 

   stemmed

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and 

   cut in six wedges

1/2 lb. large cherry tomatoes, 

   halved

1 small green zucchini, cut 

   into 1/2" pieces

1 small yellow squash, cut into 

   2" pieces

6 oz. kale, stemmed and 

   leaves quartered 

Toasted pine nuts

Chopped fresh oregano

Lemon wedges 

Freshly grated Parmigiano-

  Reggiano

Sherry vinegar for garnish

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Directions:

Using kitchen twine, tie the rosemary, oregano and thyme sprigs in a bundle.  Snap the small leaves off around the stem of the artichokes.  Cut the artichokes in half lengthwise.  With a spoon scrape out the hairy chokes, and discard them. 

Turn a 6 to 6 1/2 quart slow cooker to high and set the timer for 6 hours.  Add the artichokes and the next 17 ingredients, up to the cherry tomatoes, then add the herb bundle: spread the ingredients in even layers.  Cover the slow cooker and cook for four hours.

Srit the stew gently and add the zucchini, yellow squash and kale, stirring to submerge them in the liquid.  Cover and cook for 2 hours longer.

Discard the herb bundle, season the stew with salt and serve with the garnishes at the table.

Wine: Herb scented, light bodied Italian red.  (2012 Allegrini Valpolicella)

Bruschetta with Black Mission Figs and Gorgonzola ..... One More Delicious Appetizer

Bruschetta with Black Mission Figs And Gorgonzola

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Since my taste test in the grocery store on Christmas Eve day when the offering was blue cheese with a fig sauce, I have been looking for a fig jam or sauce. Today while shopping at Trader Joe's I found a container of dried Mission Figs. That was just what I needed for this recipe. A few years ago I went to the Cakebread Winery for the Spring Release which is quite a celebration as they launch the new wines which have been aging for two years. Dolores Cakebread was there to promote her new cookbook. I had to have an autographed copy. Today I offer Dolores's recipe. A wonderful offering for happy hour (s).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup dry red wine (such as Merlot)

8 ounces dried black mission figs, stemed and halved

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon anise seed

1/2 loaf country style bread, cut into 1/2" thick slices

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola

2 Tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

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Directions:

Combine the wine, figs, bay leaf, and anise seed in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes until the figs are re hydrated and soft. Remove from the heat and let cool. Remove the bay leaf and transfer to a food processor, and puree. At this point you can store the mixture in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to a month.

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Preheat the broiler. Put the bread slices on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Spread a thin layer of the fig puree over the bread slices. Crumble the gorgonzola and spread atop the fig puree on each bruschetta. Place under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, until the cheese begins to melt. Cut each slice into 3 pieces on the diagonal, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Roasted Fig And Walnut Tart ..... "Oh Bring Us Some Figgy Pu" .. Make it Tart!

Roasted Fig And Walnut Tart

My mother believed in the medicinal benefits of eating figs. She often purchased Fig Newtons at the A and P Store. I grew up liking the bar cookies. On one of my first trips to Milano, our son-in-law Silvano treated me to fresh figs and prosciutto. That was a delightful treat. As you can tell I do enjoy figs. Several years ago, I read a book written by a distant cousin on the genealogy of my paternal grandfather's lineage. One of my granddad's great aunts was a cook for Queen Victoria as the family originated in London. I have wondered what capacity she served. Was she the pastry chef who prepared the Queen's High Tea with sandwiches and crumpets? The author wrote the family had the queen's recipe for the either Plum Pudding or the Figgy Pudding from the kitchen of Queen Victoria. I read this several years ago so I can't recall just which it was. I sometime later telephoned the late author to learn if she knew of anyone who might have that recipe. The author was 94 at that time and in a Nursing Home living in the assisted living area. She was unable to know if the recipe survived the years and generations. Good try on my part!!! This recipe is as close as I will come to Figgy Pudding. The Mission Fig which is black grows so abundantly here in California? Oh, are they sweet and juicy!

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Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup icing sugar

pinch salt

1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 Tablespoons cold water

1 large egg yolk

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Filling:

2/3 cup walnuts

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon flour

12 to 15 large black figs

1/4 cup apricot jam

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Directions:

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl or a food processor, add butter and cut or pulse in in until it resembles small peas. Beat water and egg yolk together until uniform and add just enough to bring the pastry together into a ball (it may be slightly more or less liquid depending on the level of humidity in air). Wrap pastry in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Roll out pastry on a floured work surface and fit into a 9" tart pan. Cut away excess pastry. Prick pastry base with a fork, line with foil and fill with weights. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, remove weights and bake for 8 minutes or more until pastry looks pale and dry but not baked through. Remove weights and foil and cool.

Increase oven temperature to 400 F.

Place walnuts (which you have heated in the oven at 350 about 8 minutes until the skin blisters. Place in a towel to cool, then rub with towel to remove skins.) and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of the food processor and pulse until the walnuts are finely ground.

Place the butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy. Add walnut mixture and beat until well combined. Add yolks and lemon zest to mixture and beat until mixture is uniform. Stir in flour. Scrape walnut cream into pre-baked shell and spread in an even layer.

Cut the figs into quarters, but not all the way through the base. Fit the figs into the tart shell, allowing them to stand slightly open at the top (like flowers), but without leaving any large gaps between them.

Place the tart pan on a baking sheet in the lower third of the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until walnut cream is puffed and slightly golden, and tips of the figs are slightly crisped.

Heat apricot jam in the microwave or a small pot over a low heat. Strain out and discard any bits of the apricot. Use a pastry brush to coat the figs with apricot glaze. Serves 8