This is probably a good time to mention that the best fresh figs are usually not perfect, beautiful and firm. Oh no! You want them soft, viscous, exuding even a little syrupy juice. Some of the best ones are those that have started to wrinkle a bit after spending a few days in your pantry. If you are someone who “does not understand” what the fig shaking is like, you have not tried a good, well-ripened fig.
Figs can become sweet or salty. They like honey, caramel, cinnamon and sugar. They like a little salt and / or pepper, and they shine positively in the company of cultivated dairy products like sour cream, sour cream, yogurt, labneh or quark, and all kinds of fresh soft cheeses or hard. They are excellent with salted meats like ham or bacon, so go ahead and fill up a sandwich or decorate a pizza. They also play well with dark chocolate and they are nuts. And when it comes to cooking, the figs are shiny at the ends: cooked hot and quick, just to caramelize their cut sides, or long enough to cook their own juice.
The figs, if they could speak, would insist that you make a composite plate with almost any assortment of the good things I just mentioned. Here are 27 ways (ideas, recipes and everything else) to make figs your jam:
1. Fresh figs with Greek yogurt and chestnut honey
Cut the figs in half by the side or on a scoop of Greek yogurt. Sprinkle with chestnut honey (or any delicious honey you have). Do you need a crisis? Spread pieces of almonds, walnuts or pistachios around the plate, or serve with crackers or toast.
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2. Sliced halves of figs, sprinkled with salt and garnished with spicy cheese
Here! That’s the whole recipe. Thank you later. (We especially like this with the black mission figs.)
3. Fresh figs in quarters, in salad
Add fresh figs to any salad. Simply rinse with water and tap with a soft cloth until dry. The skin of the figs is fully edible and can be left behind. Bonus points if it’s a warm salad. (And psst: if the raw figs are not your thing, they can be cooked or cooked under the grill until they are caramelized.)
4. Caramelized figs with honey and goat cheese
Halve 3 or 4 figs per person. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add enough honey to melt in a thin layer in the pan. Sprinkle the honey with a small pinch or two of salt and add the figs cut together, but in layers. Cook until the honey boils and begins to caramelize, stirring the pan to slide the figs. When the cut sides of the figs appear brown and caramelized, remove the pan from the heat and turn the figs over to coat with frosting.
Divide the figs into serving plates and return the pan to the stove. Deglaze the pan with enough sherry, Madeira or red wine to make a syrupy sauce, but not too thick. Taste and add a little lemon to taste. Sprinkle the sauce over the figs. Add a slice of fresh goat cheese or a little labneh to each plate and grind pepper over it. Nothing else is needed, but you can serve with toasted sourdough or toasted nut bread.
5. Tapenade of figs and olives
Who said dried figs couldn’t come to the party either? This tapenade requires Kalamata olives, stuffed green olives, balsamic vinegar and, yes, sweet and dried figs for the best crostini garnish.
6. Toast with feta cheese and honey
When the figs are ripe to the point of being soft and wrinkled, mash them with a fork on a crisp and buttered toast. You can add or not a few crumbs of feta cheese, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, or honey, or honey and tahini, or date syrup, or a few drops of aged balsamic vinegar. Roll on a pepper and sea salt mill.
7. Figs stuffed with cheese coated with chocolate
Fill the figs with 1/2 teaspoon fresh ricotta, mascarpone or cream cheese. Refrigerate until the figs are cool to the touch. Dip each in hot melted dark chocolate, immediately placing them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate immediately so that the chocolate is homogeneous and keep in the refrigerator until shortly before serving. Sharing is completely optional.
8. Baked figs with vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche
Cut the figs in half and place them (both sides up) in a baking dish large enough to stand in a single layer. Sprinkle two parts of honey with one part of balsamic vinegar (the inexpensive product works well here) or lemon juice, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 375 ° F, until the figs are very tender and pasty and the juices are syrupy, 30 to 45 minutes.
Check 10 to 15 minutes before the end of cooking – if the juices are fine and plentiful, finish cooking uncovered. If the juices are too thick and syrupy before the figs are smooth, add a little water. When the figs are almost cooked, try the syrup and adjust the flavor with honey, vinegar, a pinch of salt or squeeze lemon juice if necessary. Serve hot, hot or cold with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a tablespoon of crème fraîche. The figs are kept in the refrigerator for at least a week.
9. Vanilla Scones
Dried figs and vanilla pods come together in these huge, transparent rolls, perfect for a Sunday breakfast in bed.
10. Honey figs drank with lemon whipped cream and mascarpone
A dessert preparation that celebrates the flavors of figs, complemented by citrus whipped cream and spicy mascarpone.
11. Ricotta and rosemary cake with fresh figs
If you serve this fresh and inviting single layer cake topped with fresh figs, whipped cream and crisp rosemary sugar, good luck getting rid of your guests.
12. Caramelized figs with balsamic glaze
Crush the fresh figs and mix with a little brown sugar, then caramelize in a pan over medium-high heat. Add a few drops of balsamic before removing from the heat and stir. Serve on toasted ricotta bread or on a bed of dressed arugula.
13. Fall fig and chicken sandwich
What is the point of eating? other sandwich on top of that, stuffed with grilled balsamic chicken, blue cheese, caramelized onion and sautéed figs? And did we mention that it is served on fluffy ciabatta bread?
14. Tiramisu with figs and spicy cardamom
Tiramisu takes a new turn, thanks to cardamom and dried figs. Garnish with high-quality dark chocolate shavings to keep the balance.
15. Baked figs with balsamic cheese and feta
Take these ripe, wrinkled figs and place them here in this Phyllis Grant recipe, which calls for balsamic reduction and the creamiest feta cheese you can find.
16. Ricotta crostini with figs, ham and honey
Ricotta, toast, figs, proscuitto and honey enter a bar. (Except that it is not a bar, it is your mouth, and the only key point is that you will enter a second almost instantly).
17. Upside down fig cake
What better way to garnish a chestnut cupcake than with fresh, sweet figs, sticky with brown sugar? No one would complain about a large amount of whipped cream either.
18. Goat cheese ice cream with honey and fig jam
This French goat honey ice cream is tied with stripes of fig jam, and we want 18 bowls of that.
19. Chicken with figs and bread salad
Dinner tonight: this simple platter of roasted chicken with crispy skin, marinated figs, arugula and bread to absorb all the dressing and the drops.
20. Fig and blue cheese tart with honey, balsamic and rosemary
This classic puff pastry pie is flexible, just like a weekend lunch should be: use any type of fig, stir fry or change cheese, add nuts, whatever you want.
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