Figs season has arrived.
The very first year we moved here we planted a fig tree. It was purchased at the Farmers' Market and planted on the southwest side of our screened porch. Since we eat many meals out there on the porch my hope was the tree would act as a lovely shade awning for that corner. And it has provided exactly what I hoped it would.
We literally sit outside while eating our meals and watch our figs grow.
Today for lunch I used them in a delicious salad.
The dressing was simple too:
2 1/2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar,
3 Tablespoons olive oil,
2 teaspoons maple syrup,
salt and pepper.
I did toast pecans and added a few blueberries as well as feta cheese and sliced red onions.
For the evening meal I prepared chicken thighs, bone-in with a sauce of balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, onions, garlic, honey, chicken stock, and thyme. I tossed in halved figs right before putting it into the oven for about 15 -20 minutes. Delicious!
(This is where you can go for the general recipe I used.)
Then of course, I had to prepare fig bars much like the ones I baked last year. There are still cooling on a rack before cutting and tasting.
While I was cooking the fig mixture to be spread between the layers, I realized how simple it would be to make fig butter using the same simple ingredients used in this fig bar recipe. Figs, water, lemon juice, (no sugar is needed since the figs are sweet enough). After cooking for ten minutes, the figs will be placed in a food processor, then poured back into the pan to cook slowly until the figs become thick much like the consistency of apple butter.
I can not think of anything I would rather spread on a hot buttermilk biscuit!
I am once more seated under my own vine and fig tree ... and hope to spend the remainder of my days in peaceful retirement, making political pursuits yield to the more rational amusement of cultivating the earth.
~George Washington
