Figs...

I'm glad I am completely incapable of updating this blog regularly, due to the incredible awfulness of being a graduate student. I made these figs MONTHS ago. Literally, I made them back in September, took photos and then realized that my life has been reduced to working and sleeping. My family assures me that this is true in all cases of being an adult. I'm pretty sure I'd be happier if Tony and I lived in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of cows, but I bet even then the grass would be greener somewhere else. This has been a depressing realization.

Anyway, I did use figs, and I did take pictures. Now, I finally have time to write about it :). For me, the verdict for this particular fruit was only ho-hum. I didn't really enjoy them, but I wasn't totally appalled. Perhaps I should have prepared them another way, but I guess I'll have to try again next year. They are "good" by themselves, just eaten raw. The seeds are crunchy and tiny and it does remind me of Fig Newtons, although those are made with dried figs instead of fresh.

Honey-Cardamom/Cinnamon Roasted Figs

Reagents:

4 Figs
2 Tablespoons of honey
Cinnamon
Cardamom*
Squeeze of lemon juice

*Cardamom is one of my most favorite spices. Ever. I bought it in bulk, which is why it's in a "homemade" jar.

**Also, note my super-cute glass pumpkins in the background. They match our 1980s glass table, baby.

Procedure:

This is REALLY, painfully easy.

1. First, preheat the oven to 375 F. Wash and cut off the top of the figs, getting rid of the stems.

2. Then, cut the fig about 75% down the center into faux-quarters. You want the fig to remain held together at its base.

3. Place the figs carefully in baking dish. Squeeze just a little bit (maybe like a quarter of a teaspoon) of lemon juice on each one. I have absolutely no explanation for why I did this, it just seemed like a good idea. In the end, I couldn't even taste a hint of lemon, but there was a lot of juice in the dish to re-drizzle the figs with, which was a good thing.

4. Pry the figs open slightly, so the center is sufficiently exposed. Drizzle about a half a spoonful of honey into the center of each fig. Don't bother resisting licking the spoon, it's just too good.

5. Sprinkle cinnamon or cardamom (or a mixture of both) on the figs. I made two cinnamon, two cardamom, because I wasn't sure if Tony would eat the cardamom flavored ones. Turns out he ate everything. Hah. Shouldn't have worried about that.

6. Place the figs in the oven to roast for about 15 minutes. I checked on mine every 5 because I'm neurotic and paranoid I will burn the house down. I plan on telling a cooking disaster story for my next post, and it involves tapioca and fire.

Overall, I think that these figs turned out well. I also think I don't really like figs, which was an issue at the time, since I bought these at Costco and had 20 others I needed to think of something to do with. For the most part, I was just lazy and ate them raw :).

Happy almost November!!!

-Lisa-