Friday, August 28, 2009

Fig preserves giveaway and a roasted figs recipe

roasted figs with honey
I don't think that my parents realized that they were going to be in the business of hauling food back and forth between Florida/Georgia and Michigan when they decided to drive up to visit me.  They arrived with 3 dozen eggs from my mom's boss and hundreds of tomatoes, a giant watermelon, 6 butternut squash, and a ton of figs from my grandparents' garden.  On the way back, they were loaded down with apples and peaches, Michigan wine, and all of the gluten-filled products that were still sitting around my kitchen.

We were in somewhat of a hurry to eat the figs, because we knew that they needed to be consumed before we headed off to Toronto.  While I can sit and eat dozens of figs, I thought it would be fun to do something a little bit more interesting.  I didn't want to interfere with their amazing flavor, so I decided that a simple roast with honey would be a nice solution.

Roasted figs with honey
(Printable version)

20 fresh figs, ends trimmed and cut in half
2 Tbsp honey

Place fig halves in a medium baking dish and drizzle with honey.  Bake at 350 until figs are soft, but haven't completely fallen apart (about 40 min).  Serves 3.

These were delicious because they retained their amazing fig taste, while taking on a slightly caramelized flavor.  Mom, Dad, and I gobbled these up in no time, and I bet that we would have eaten more.  Oh, how I long to have access to a fresh figs on a regular basis...

And on to the giveaway...
My parents also brought a jar of fig preserves that my grandpa made from this year's harvest.  He makes wonderful preserves and, as a small way of saying thanks to all of my faithful readers, I would love to share them with someone.  So, just leave me a comment telling me about your favorite way to eat figs by Wednesday, September 9th, and I'll draw a random number on Thursday to select a winner.  Make sure to leave me your email address if I can't access it through your blog profile.  Unfortunately I can only afford to ship to them within the United States.  I wish I could share a jar with all of you!!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love figs! This sounds delicious with a capital D! akprinz at msn dot com

Vicki said...

I love figs stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto. Yum.

Kerrie said...

Fig, blue cheese, prosciutto, and carmelized onion pizza. notbucket24 at yahoo dot com.

Andrea Kruse said...

I have never really tried figs... but your roasted figs with honey sounds divine! I might have to pick some up at the fruit stand soon.

andrea (dot) kruse (at) gmail (dot) com

Julia said...

I have to agree with Kerrie's suggestion! I used to work in a restaurant where we'd wrap the figs in proscuitto before grilling and then make a beurre blanc with blue cheese to drizzle on top. And a little balsamic glaze around the plate...... yum!

Diana H said...

I've only eaten figs one way - fresh off my neighbors tree, back when I was a kid. I haven't had any since, though I wish I knew where to find them in Ohio.

Unknown said...

I love fig preserves with manchego cheese!

Grace said...

Cheese is a frequent fig companion. I enjoy a flaky GF pastry pocket wrapped around brie, figs, and agave. Yummy!

cmjhawaii said...

We don't have fig trees in Hawaii...at least, not that I'm aware of. I tasted fresh figs 15 years ago when I traveled to Brownsville, Texas. A friend I was staying with had a tree, and we plucked them right off the branch and ate them. At first, I wasn't sure I'd like them. They always looked weird, but after tasting them, I was won over. It was so good.

Unknown said...

Fresh figs are the best, and also fig almond cake from Spain is amazing (just dried figs and almonds!)

Nutmeg Nanny said...

I love figs! My favorite way to eat them is right off the tree:) Email address: nutmegnanny (at) hotmail (dot) com

MrsGalvan said...

I just recently tried figs for the firs time. The hubby and i were at the grocery store and as many times as I've passed them i finally decided to buy a few just to experiment.
I used them for dessert:D
Made a marscapone custard with cinnamon, sugar free coolwhip, a couple packets of splenda and some vanilla. Then served it with some sliced figs on top. It was so FRESH and pretty healthy:)

Laura said...

I love to just split one open in the backyard and dig in. And, oh...that beautiful color!

Great giveaway! I always enjoy tasting different kinds of preserves. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love figs topping them into salads! :D

Castal said...

Well, personally I like figs just blanched and dried in my dehydrator, but my husband loves them any way he can get his hands on.

Pam said...

Figs and dark choc....the best!

Stephanie said...

I love figs on the grill! When the rest of our veggies have been grilled and are at the table, we throw on the fresh figs. Put 'em on whole, and let them sit for about 5 minutes, covered. Then we turn them, cover up again, and turn off the grill. When we're done eating, we grab them.

They're warm and juicy right away, and any leftovers are a little drier but soaked in their syrupy juice from the outside. YUM.

Katie said...

Susan - I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying it! Comments like that make my day :)