Fig Butter

Melinda, who guest posted about Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls recently, was gifted with a bounty of very ripe figs last week.  What better to do than make jam?  I am particularly happy to hear how her jam making went, since I am still hoping that my half of the fig tree that straddles mine and my neighbor's backyards will some day render me enough fruit (before the birds eat it all) that I too can make jam.  Her thoughts on the addition of ingredients like ginger, cardamom and orange make the whole idea so very seductive to me.  Can't wait 'til my tree produces again.  Thank you, Melinda!

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At work one day, I happened to mention that I like figs a lot. My manager was interested to hear this, because it just so happens that he has a fig tree himself, and nobody in his family likes figs. I was stunned to hear this, as I previously didn't think it was possible to grow figs in the Pacific Northwest or to dislike them.

I forgot about this conversation entirely, until I came to work one day to find a bag full of figs at my desk. They were easily the largest figs I have ever seen- about the size of avocados- and they were green and purple, with a lovely creamy texture on the inside, and a delicate flavor. I ate one with a spoon right there and then, but what was I to do with the other four and a half pounds of them?

The answer, I decided, was jam. After they sat on the counter for a couple of days and turned a little more mushy, I removed their stems and threw them in a pot, peels and all, with a little water, white sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cardamom. I brought them to a boil, simmered them until they congealed a bit, and blended the whole thing up with my hand blender.

It didn't turn out much like jam at all - it had a consistency more like apple butter, which I love, so I was happy with that. Next time, though, I think I'd rather use brown sugar, orange juice and a little orange rind, and more cardamom, with less ginger.  I think that those ingredients would do a better job of highlighting the fig flavor rather than overpowering it. What I made has a very satisfying gingery bite, though, and it would go very well with some smelly cheese or on a burger with caramelized onions.

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What To Do With Kumquats?

Impulsively, I bought a container of kumquats at Whole Foods last night.  Other than being a tart little one-bite-wonder snack and excellent accompaniment for dark chocolate, I don't know what else to do with them.  Seems like I should be able to incorporate them into a recipe of some sort... I like the idea of caramelizing them, maybe with greens or ... hm.  I don't know.  Ideas?

Speaking of dark chocolate, I brought some home from San Francisco with me that's incredibly good.  Poco Dolce is an S.F. based chocolatier who specializes in salted bittersweet chocolate tiles and toffee.  I have only ever had their chocolate tiles (I try to grab some every time I go there) and they are superb.

My favorite is the assortment that includes burnt caramel toffee tiles, toasted almond tiles, crystallized ginger tiles and aztec chile tiles (cinnamon, 2 types of chiles and toasted pumpkin seeds) all topped with grey sea salt.  They are incredibly delicious.  The chocolate alone is of excellent quality and the additions are perfectly balanced.  Highly recommended.  Plus, who can not love a company who tells you this?

The future is covered with chocolate and sprinkled with salt.

Now, that's a future I look forward to.

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