Luscious Black Mission Figs

For what seems like a fleeting moment each summer, tree-ripened Black Mission figs hit the market in abundance. Glistening with a sweet, sticky nectar across the dark, leathery skin, the fig beckons with a promise of a honeyed, sexy filling of soft pink flesh. One bite into this ripe fruit leaves no doubt that it was the figs of Eden and not the apples that tempted Eve with sin.

Figs are some of the oldest described fruits in existence, synonymous with Middle Eastern culture and cuisine. Fresh figs have a honey-like flavor with a silky smooth texture, perfect eaten on their own or used in an endless array of simple desserts.

Everyone has surely eaten Fig Newtons at one time or another, but these delicious fruits are equally wonderful sliced and dropped over ice cream. Drizzled with a splash of late-harvest Riesling wine or some golden honey, a dessert doesn't get much better.

I picked up a package of figs this week at the local Trader Joe's. After eating quite a few on their own, I was inspired to use them in a simple, rustic tart - actually, a galette. Prepared in a pastry, the flavor of the baked figs intensifies and melds nicely with some exotic spices and a flaky crust.

I flavored the fruit in the pastry with a few tablespoons of brown sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and a tiny sprinkling of ground cardamom for an aromatic, Arabian Nights kind of nuance. Once the tart was assembled, a drizzle of honey completed the decadent combination.

Fig Galette

1 rolled out, single-crust pie crust

1 T flour

18-20 ripe Black Mission Figs, halved

3 T light brown sugar

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground cardamom

2 T honey

Prepare tart dough and roll out to approximately the size of a large dinner plate on a piece of plastic wrap. Trim the dough into a round, and transfer to a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough with flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Cover with halved figs, and drizzle with honey. Refrigerate tart for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 F. After refrigerating tart, bake the tart for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 F, and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Check the tart periodically, and cover edges with strips of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.

Cool cooked tart on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 6

Country French Apple Galette

As many of you may have noticed by now, I have a peculiar obsession with French Country cooking. In October of 2007, Stephen and I traveled to the Loire Valley in France and had the opportunity to experience the inspiration behind this glorious cuisine. France's Loire Valley contains some of the richest farmland in the world, yielding what I consider to be the best possible ingredients a cook could desire. Tart apples, sweet butter, pungent soft cheeses, white wines bursting with minerality and ripe fruit and the freshest seafood - you will find it all there. A cook cannot help but be inspired.



While the ingredients are the best, the cuisine of this region is far from fancy. The dishes have a really casual feel and are prepared in a simple manner to highlight the natural beauty of the ingredients. This apple galette was made in the Country French style. A round of butter pastry (the same used for more complicated pie crusts) is rolled out in a circle and filled with sweetened apple slices and dotted with butter. The pastry is folded up around the apples to hold in the juices released by the heat of the oven. Imperfection is not only acceptable, but desirable.



The recipe is a slightly modified version of one found in Williams Sonoma's Cookbook, Pie and Tart:


Harvest Apple Galette

1 rolled out pie crust round
4 large, tart apples, peeled, halved lengthwise and cored (Granny Smiths work well)
2 T cold unsalted butter
3 T sugar
½ t ground cinnamon
¼ t ground allspice

Place the round of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with 1 T sugar and dot with pieces of 1 T butter.

Thinly slice each apple crosswise, keeping halves together. Flatten the apple slices slightly, and lay them cored side down in the middle of the pie dough round. Repeat with remaining apple slices, arranging them around the center apple half. Leave a border of about 1.5 inches uncovered. Sprinkle the apple slices with 2 T sugar and the spices. Pleat the edges of the dough around the apple slices. Dot the apple slices with small pieces of the remaining 1 T butter.

Cut 3 strips of aluminum foil, about 2 inches wide. Use these strips of foil to cover the edges of the dough if they brown excessively during baking.

Refrigerate the galette until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Bake the galette for 15 minutes, and reduce oven temperature to 375 F. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender, 30 to 40 minutes longer. Be sure to cover the edges of the crust with the strips of foil to avoid over-browning.

Cool the galette on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Yields: 1 9-inch galette (about 6 servings)

Dinner with Friends

Last night, we had a couple of our close friends over for dinner and enjoyed a delightful evening of good food, wine and conversation. Having friends over for dinner is a wonderful way to personalize your time together and make sharing food and wine a special event. There really is not, in our opinion, a better way to spend an evening.

Inviting friends over for dinner does involve more work than going to a restaurant - making sure the house is clean, choosing food and wine that will please your guests and setting the table to let your friends know that they are welcome in your home. With a little planning ahead, you can easily create an evening that everyone (including the cook!) will enjoy together.

Last night, we ended dinner with poached pears and a small slice of Ciambella, an Italian ring cake. The pears were especially welcome after all those heavy holiday desserts of the past month. Here is the recipe:

Spiced Poached Pears

2 cups bottled orange juice

1/2 c dry white wine

1 c. water

1/2 c sugar

1 cinnamon stick or 1/4 t ground cinnamon

5 whole cloves or 1/8 t ground cloves

5 cardamom pods, lightly bruised

1 t vanilla extract

4 Bosc or other pears, peeled with stems intact

Combine the first eight ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan or Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the pears. The poaching liquid should cover about three quarters of each pear. Add a bit more water, if necessary.

Gently poach the pears for 20 to 30 minutes, keeping the liquid at a bare simmer. Turn the pears now and then to cook evenly. The pears are done when they can easily be pierced with a knife but are not falling apart. Allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid when done.

The pears can be served warm, drizzled with the poaching liquid or can be chilled (overnight is fine) in the refrigerator to serve cold. Allow 1/2 to 1 pear per person.

Serves 4 to 8, depending on portion size

Variation: You can serve the whole pears as a dessert by themselves by slicing a small section off the bottom of each pear to stand upright on a plate. Drizzle with a thickened chocolate sauce, allowing the sauce to puddle around the bottom of the plate.