Figs

A neighbor just dropped by with about two pound of figs.

I must confess that I have never dealt with raw figs. Do you peel them or so you eat the skin much like an apple or a pear?

My ONLY experience with figs is some of the jams my Lebanese roommates made while is college. I found them to be too strong for my tastes.

I think that we are going to dry most of them for later use.

The skin is edible; some people like to eat it, some don't. The simplest thing to do is cut a fig in half so you can eat the fruit inside easily and take a few nibbles of the skin to decide if you want to eat that too.

the skin is edible. what a bounty! if you need an idea, i like to quarter the figs and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, good olive oil, chopped toasted pistachios, plus or minus little drops of chèvre, and you'll have a beautiful plate that makes a great appetizer.

Assuming you eat animal protein, a fresh fig wrapped in prosciutto is one of the finest tasting things you can put in your mouth.

Giovanna

annak wrote:the skin is edible. what a bounty! if you need an idea, i like to quarter the figs and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, good olive oil, chopped toasted pistachios, plus or minus little drops of chèvre, and you'll have a beautiful plate that makes a great appetizer.

And even better with a couple minutes under the broiler

After eating a few of the figs to get a good idea as to what they tasted like, we decided to dry the first batch. Based on our past experiences with drying apples, strawberries, and potatoes, it should take about two days as it is expected to hit 105F tomorrow. We have a good number of drying trays that are securely covered with cheese cloth. To this point, we have never experienced and problems with vermin getting to them.

The second batch will probably come on Monday or Tuesday. At that point, I will start getting more creative and try some of the suggestions above.

Every year, people drop off stuff and we try to find ways of using the produce up. Two years ago, it was a bushel of lemons. Last year, it was 77# of medjool dates and this year, it is figs. It is nice to see something that is available in the summer months when fresh produce is scarce in Arizona.

Giovanna wrote:Assuming you eat animal protein, a fresh fig wrapped in prosciutto is one of the finest tasting things you can put in your mouth.

Completely agree with Giovanna. Back when we did cook with animal protein, we would cut in half, or quarter, and slit. Stuff with a bit of gorgonzola, wrap with the prosciutto, and pop in the broiler. While we made this as an appetizer for guests, it was a entree for my wife and I more than once after a salad.

Jerry’s had pints of beautiful fresh black figs yesterday. When these are in season, we like to eat them for breakfast with a big scoop of Fage 5% yogurt and some nice local honey.

Fresh figs’ season overlaps the season for stone fruit and that always seems a shame because the figs are overshadowed by cherries, peaches and plums.

Jerry’s also has bags of Golden brand ‘semi-dried’ or ‘soft-dried’ figs that are very good. I use them to make a compote that we put on everything until we run out of it – turkey sandwiches, grilled sweet potatoes, alongside a pork roast. If you make cranberry sauce from the recipe on the bag of cranberries at Thanksgiving, you will recognize these proportions.
Here is a list of ingredients:

1 cup water
1 cup chopped dried figs
Juice of one orange
A few pieces of orange peel – cut using a vegetable peeler so they are thin
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
10-oz package frozen cranberries

We have revised the recipe. Here is what we do:

Boil one cup of water and put the chopped figs into the hot water to rehydrate for 15 minutes. Then put the pan back on the stove and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer ten to fifteen minutes until the cranberries start to burst open. Cool the pot completely then refrigerate.
The original recipe, from the Parade magazine, called for 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. We have never added this but it might be to your liking.