What to do with a lot of fresh figs?

[pear-shaped]

Is there anything I can do with fresh figs other than just eating them and making preserves?

We have so many that we can't eat them all, or even pick them all of the trees, and there's only so much jam a family can eat. I don't think I'd have any success drying them because our house is pretty humid, and I don't have a food dehydrator. I'm thinking that they won't stand up to being frozen, and I'm not sure what fig juice would be like. I love figs and it breaks my heart to have to toss the ones that go bad and watch the others fall from the tree or rot. (It seems there's even a limit to the amount of figs birds can eat.)

[vbactivist]

http://ecupcake.blogspot.com/2007/04...fresh-fig.html

[ollyoxenfree]

Okay, I love figs so much that I've paid $1.00 each for them, so I'm in such a state of envy right now. Since they are really pricey here, I tend to buy just a couple and enjoy them sliced with cheese. Sometimes I will roast them and drizzle them with honey or maple syrup and serve them with vanilla yoghurt.

Here's some suggestions at Epicurious .

I googled for a fig cookie recipe and came up with too many to choose. Fig cookies are delicious though.

Sigh. Enjoy!

[pear-shaped]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

http://ecupcake.blogspot.com/2007/04...fresh-fig.html

Fig cupcakes! I will have to try those. Thank you for that link.

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

Okay, I love figs so much that I've paid $1.00 each for them, so I'm in such a state of envy right now. Since they are really pricey here, I tend to buy just a couple and enjoy them sliced with cheese. Sometimes I will roast them and drizzle them with honey or maple syrup and serve them with vanilla yoghurt.

Here's some suggestions at Epicurious .

I googled for a fig cookie recipe and came up with too many to choose. Fig cookies are delicious though.

Sigh. Enjoy!

A dollar a fig, that is so expensive! I can understand why, though, they are so perishable it must be really difficult to transport them.

I really like the idea of eating them with cheese, what cheese do you like to use? In the link you posted there's a recipe for a salad with goat cheese, I think that would be amazing...that link has lots of good ideas.

[ollyoxenfree]

We are entertaining friends for dinner tonight, and I have 2 precious ripe figs that I will slice for a cheese plate. I have a brie, an herbed goat cheese and a Stilton. I like figs with soft, crumbly or melty cheeses.

I also really like figs with ricotta, or yoghurt (plain or vanilla) or sometimes sour cream with a little brown sugar mixed in.

[pear-shaped]

Mmm, brie, I hadn't thought of that. Enjoy those figs tonight. I hope they are excellent!

[crunchy_mama]

You could very speedily mail them to me We cannot even get fresh figs here in the grocery store!

[pear-shaped]

I wish I could, crunchy_mama. I would love to be able to share them. But the Italian postal service is not very reliable. I have a feeling they'd go bad before they even left Italy.

I appreciate my figs even more now that I've been reminded of how fortunate I am.

...now I don't know if those of you who are figless have gardens with enough space for a tree, but growing up in NYC, which does not have the ideal climate for fig trees, both neighbors on either side of our row house had fig trees in their back yards. Before winter, they would wrap the tree in several layers of tarp (and I think some old linoleum too!) and cap it on the top with a barrel. So it is possible to have figs in places where you don't typically find them.

[staceychev]

My husband and daughter eat them right off my tree, but they're too sweet for me that way. I need something savory to counter-act it. I like them with savory cheeses, as PPs have mentioned, and also chopped up in a salad with cheese. They're also good with prosciutto!

[Owen'nZoe]

Count me among those who have payed a ton for figs, and can't imagine having too many. Have you tried using them in stews or as sauces for meats? My MIL, from the Middle East, cooks them with lamb.

Also, if you wanted to dry them, if you have a car, you can set them on screens in the car when you aren't using it. The heat of the car will dry them quickly.

[crunchy_mama]

Originally Posted by pear-shaped

I wish I could, crunchy_mama. I would love to be able to share them. But the Italian postal service is not very reliable. I have a feeling they'd go bad before they even left Italy.

I appreciate my figs even more now that I've been reminded of how fortunate I am.

...now I don't know if those of you who are figless have gardens with enough space for a tree, but growing up in NYC, which does not have the ideal climate for fig trees, both neighbors on either side of our row house had fig trees in their back yards. Before winter, they would wrap the tree in several layers of tarp (and I think some old linoleum too!) and cap it on the top with a barrel. So it is possible to have figs in places where you don't typically find them.

No, I don't think they would make it!

We did plant a fig tree just this year and actually it has 1 fig on it, not ripe though- although I cannot remember if we are supposed to let it grow this first year. We are hoping to keep the tree alive as we love dried figs and have never had fresh.

[pear-shaped]

Originally Posted by staceychev

They're also good with prosciutto!

I love prosciutto nearly as much as I love figs, so I can't wait to eat them together. Thanks for the suggestion!

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe

Also, if you wanted to dry them, if you have a car, you can set them on screens in the car when you aren't using it. The heat of the car will dry them quickly.

I didn't know you could do that! I might try that if my dh lets me...it's his car.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

We did plant a fig tree just this year and actually it has 1 fig on it, not ripe though- although I cannot remember if we are supposed to let it grow this first year. We are hoping to keep the tree alive as we love dried figs and have never had fresh.

Good luck with your tree!

[mumkimum]

OOooh. I recently found a fantastic deal on figs here (99 cents for a BOX) so I got 3, so I've been checking out fig recipes recently myself.

I ended up doing something with some flavored sugar and filo with a bunch, since it was fast and they needed to get eaten quickly. And used the rest to top a breakfast cake with some peaches too (this recipe is really similar - I use one from Mollie Katzen's sunrise cafe cookbook).
I wanted to do a brown butter fig tart, but didn't get to it. This recipe looks fantastic, though. So, not having tried it, I'd still recommend it (saving it for myself, for next time).

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by mumkimum

OOooh. I recently found a fantastic deal on figs here (99 cents for a BOX) so I got 3,

You people are making me weep (kidding - a little).

So I served my expensive, perfectly ripe figs last night, only to find out my guests are allergic. I was busy in the kitchen and didn't get a chance to nibble on the cheese and figs before dinner. Ever-so-helpful DH cleaned up a little between courses, and scraped the figs into the compost .

mumkimum, thanks for the link - looks yummy .

[neptunemama]

Make a pizza and use the figs as one of your toppings.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by staceychev

My husband and daughter eat them right off my tree, but they're too sweet for me that way. I need something savory to counter-act it. I like them with savory cheeses, as PPs have mentioned, and also chopped up in a salad with cheese. They're also good with prosciutto!

Figs also cook down very nicely with cranberries, which coincidentally go well with sharp cheeses.

[Ellp]

I love fig jam and one of the local baby cafes offers it to go with their organic multigrain artisan toasts. MMMMM!

Figs are expensive here too but I'd love to get my hand on some if ever I can find some at a decent price. Any recipes for jam??

[La Sombra]

I have a beautiful fig preserve recipe--this way, you can serve it with cheese and bread or crackers or whatever else all year long. http://www.101cookbooks.com/supernatural/media.php

There are recipes for cheese-and-herb stuffed figs wrapped in bacon or prosciutto that sound DIVINE (with pecans as well, in this case):
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/figs-w...on/Detail.aspx

I recently ate a fig salad at a Greek restaurant that was AMAZING: it had grapes, and dried apricot in addition to fresh figs which might sound like a bit much but it totally wasn't! It was made with arugula and big pieces of lightly toasted haloumi cheese and then tossed in some kind of light vinaigrette with the most incredible croutons I've ever experienced: crispy enough on the outside but soft and oily inside. Too die for, this salad.

Fresh figs, honey, and yogurt.

DRIED FIGS! You can use these later for cheese spreads, on sandwiches, in salads, in granola mixes, and of course you can eat them plain. They will last ages, in my experience.

Let me join the chorus of people jealous of your fig abundance. There is something so beautiful and exotic and almost...biblical about figs! In fact, the night that I ate the fig salad, my partner, who is Spanish, told me about the fig orchard (higuera) in his family's summer home in Javea, where his brother was apparently conceived. This seemed to me too romantic, too lush and poetic and beautiful for words. Now I want to read your blog!

Good luck!