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Recipe: Fig Tart

25 Jul

Fig Tart

Fig Tart


This Fig Tart is pretty damn close to perfection. It’s not too sweet and has a nice balance of flavors.

The key to this tart is two-fold. 1) Getting your hands on great figs. 2) Getting the frangipane right. If you don’t know what frangipane is, you’re in for a treat. It’s basically a pureed mixture of butter, toasted almonds, sugar and egg.

For the frangipane:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup almonds
    • Assembling the Fig Tart

    Assembling the Fig Tart

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/8 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 egg

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Let cool on a plate.
  3. Put the cooled almonds and sugar in a food processor and blend until fine.
  4. Add the butter and egg and pulse until well combined.
  5. As you will only need one-fourth of the frangipane, you can store the rest in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for about a month.

For the Fig Tart:

Ingredients:

  • 1 9-inch pastry dough
  • 10-15 large figs, quartered
  • 1/4 of the frangipane recipe (above)

Figs in the Frangipane

Figs in the Frangipane


Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Roll out pastry dough to a 10-inch diameter and spread frangipane on the dough, leaving about one-inch of the dough bare.
  3. Arrange the quartered figs pointy end up in concentric circles on top of the frangipane.
  4. Fold the edges in, pinching to make sure they stick.
  5. If you want, brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
  6. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until edges are a nice golden brown.

Figs are very fragile, but they are worth working with when making this Fig Tart. It comes out flaky and will literally melt in your mouth.

Feel free to serve it a la mode, but it stands alone very well. You’ll forget all about Fig Newtons once you’ve had a piece of this Fig Tart.

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Posted by on July 25, 2012 in Cookin', Desserts, Recipes

 

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Recipe: Wild Rice, Fruit and Pecan Stuffing

04 Jan

Sides usually offer up a lot of calories, and if they don’t, they lack on flavor. Not this recipe. To cut down on the calories, it only adds dried fruit and pecans to get a nice burst of flavor.

You can experiment with what dried fruits to use, but I’m posting what I used on my first attempt.

Ingredients:

  • 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 1 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
    • Sauteeing the Rice and Trinity

    Sauteeing the Rice and Trinity

  • 1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups wild rice-brown rice mix
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3/4 cup pecans
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325F.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, onion and bell pepper (trinity), stirring occasionally until softened (about 8 minutes).
  3. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 2 minutes).
    4. Wild Rice, Fruit and Pecan Stuffing

    Wild Rice, Fruit and Pecan Stuffing

  4. Add rice, stirring to toast, for about 1 minute.
  5. Add the chicken broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper and 1 1/2 cups water. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.
  6. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir, and continue cooking, uncovered, until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender (about another 20 to 40 minutes).
  7. Meanwhile, spread pecans on a baking sheet and toast 5 to 7 minutes (until fragrant). Once toasted, remove from oven and set aside.
  8. Now, discard bay leaf from rice and stir in pecans and dried fruit. Let sit, covered, for about 5 minutes.
  9. Season stuffing to taste and fold in dried fruit and pecans.

No butter, no fat (maybe a minute amount from the broth), but a lot of flavor.

This dish goes well with anything and you can really use it as a stuffing if you’re cooking a turkey or other bird that can be stuffed.

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2012 in Cookin', Recipes, Sides

 

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