Fig Bites

Last year I got addicted to mission figs I picked from a tree in my friend’s backyard. Inspired by her plentiful harvest, I went in search of a tree at the nurseries in our area and last fall when I finally found one, I planted a fig tree in my own back yard. This year I was thrilled to spot a few baby figs on the tree and waited patiently for them to ripen. Unfortunately, I went abroad for ten days and on my return I discovered that the figs had ripened while I was out and the ubiquitous squirrels in my yard got to most of them before I could.  To my dismay, I only managed to get my hands on the straggly few that they had not devoured before then.  Not to be outdone by the squirrels, I tried to make up for the loss by buying figs in bulk at the local farmer’s market and I tried all kinds of preparations with them. I tried fig jam, fig tart and even fig compote.  After all the experiments that I undertook, I concluded that raw figs are still probably my favorite. I combine them with prosciutto ham and various kinds of cheese to make tasty fig bites. One can use them as hor d’oeuvres or serve them as the final course at a formal dinner party. I made two separate kinds of fig bites – one with thin sliced prosciutto di parma drizzled with balsamic vinegar reduction and the second with goat cheese, honey, walnuts, peppercorns and olive oil drizzled over them.

Ingredients:

1.    A pound of fresh figs (I had a combination of green and black mission fogs)
2.    3-4 ounces of fresh goat cheese
3.    ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
4.    3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
5.    2-3 tablespoons of honey
6.    1 tablespoon of multicolored peppercorns
7.    3-4 slices of prosciutto di parma
8.    1/5 cup of shelled walnuts

Directions:

1.    Wash the ripe figs in cold water and gently dry them with paper towels (figs are very delicate, so try not to bruise them in this process).
2.    With a knife cut the stems off the figs and slice each fig in two pieces and lay all of them flat on the serving platter (cut-side up).


3.    Pour the balsamic vinegar in a small pan and heat it over low heat till the vinegar gets a tick syrupy consistency to make a balsamic vinegar reduction. This process usually takes 5-6 minutes and you may need to keep a close eye on the vinegar to prevent it from burning.  Keep stirring frequently because balsamic vinegar has high sugar content and it gets burnt really easily.
4.    When the balsamic vinegar is reduced to a thick consistency, let it cool in the pan for use later.
5.    Cut bite sized pieces of the prosciutto di parma and lay a piece on each of the cut figs) for one half of the figs).


6.    When the balsamic reduction has cooled down, drizzle a few drops of it on each of the fig halves that have been covered with a piece of the prosciutto di parma. Also drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on each of these figs.  So one platter of the figs is ready.

7.    For the second kind of fig bites (ideal for vegetarians), place a little bit of crumbled goat cheese (about ½ – 1 teaspoon) on each of the fig halves.


8.    Coarsely grind the peppercorns in a mortar-pestle and sprinkle the pepper on each of the fig pieces.


9.    Drizzle a little bit of honey and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil over the goat-cheese covered figs.


10.    At the very end, place a piece or two of the shelled walnuts over the figs with the crumbled goat cheese on top.
11.    Serve these two kinds of fig bites as hor d’oeuvres or with a cheese platter as the final course of a formal dinner. During fig season (which usually lasts less than two weeks of a year), I regularly eat a whole platter of these as my lunch (did I mention that I absolutely love figs!?!)

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comments

  1. Permalink Submitted by Shilpa Patel on Sat, 15/09/2012 - 21:30

    I can attest to the yumminess!

  2. Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Sat, 15/09/2012 - 22:35

    Shilpa, I forgot to take pics yesterday so today I happily made yet another batch of these (on the pretext of taking pics). Quite like yesterday, I couldn’t keep my hands off them today as well – the whole batch was gone in a jiffy

  3. Permalink Submitted by Rupali on Sun, 16/09/2012 - 00:49

    Love fresh figs, Shabnam. And Goat’s cheese and figs is a match made in heaven….Have a long wait ahead…..

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Sun, 16/09/2012 - 15:23

      Yes Rupali – but when we are freezing our butts off, you’ll be sunning yourself down under…in the meantime you can keep eat your delicious chocolate cake (the picture is imprinted in my brain now)!

  4. Permalink Submitted by Gurpriya Gill on Sun, 16/09/2012 - 01:56

    Love seeing pictures of lovingly prepared food. I used to love cooking but in the last few years I am so busy selling homes and my schedule is somewhat erratic so my cooking has suffered. Sometimes I have my veggies etc. chopped and I need to run out with buyers and end up tossing my chopped up mushrooms etc. For this reason I get a nice vicarious kick from viewing your masterpieces! Keep on having fun, and hopefully I will get back to cooking leisurely one of these days.

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Sun, 16/09/2012 - 15:27

      Yes, Gurpriya – I know life can get very hectic (used to teach at a law school). I have this luxury of being able to cook regularly only after I started working from home! But you have an open invitation – if you come towards MD, let me know and I will cook you a sumptuous meal 🙂

  5. Permalink Submitted by terry on Mon, 17/09/2012 - 17:49

    Can’t wait to try these!!!! Yum.

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Tue, 18/09/2012 - 01:40

      Hi Terry – since you have an abundance of home-grown figs, you must try this out 🙂 Let me know how it turns out!

  6. Permalink Submitted by Poonam Arora on Mon, 17/09/2012 - 21:23

    Can’t help commenting that the myth about figs in India is that they are intensely heat generating; meaning that they are to be consumed with caution!

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Tue, 18/09/2012 - 01:41

      Poonam – I ate a ton of these and it did nothing towards making me feel any “hotter” than my usual self – so that myth has been busted!

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