Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Figs

Grilled Proscuitto wrapped figs are wonderful. It's like a kind of salted candy with just the right combination of soft and crunchy.

 I came to love figs way later in life. They are a major favorite of mine. My mom, Gran Fran, talked a lot about the fig tree her aunts and uncles had in their yard in Brooklyn when she was growing up. A co-worker from the East Coast totally related to her story about the covering of the fig tree in winter. His older relatives also covered the fig tree in the winter, the nonnas (grandmas) bossing the nonnos (grandpas) and generally taking charge of the tree covering.

When her brother retired a few years back, he moved out to Oaklahoma from New York. I wonder if it took Uncle (as he's known to me) a bit to get used to it way out there away from New York. Could be. But, I do know that he now has a garden, with a fig tree featured prominently in it. What a lovely reminder of their childhood.

I've taken to making figs many ways: in pizza, as part of a jam or two, in a sandwich, on a pastry and now grilled with prosciutto. If I ate cheese, I'd add some into the soft interior of the fig before wrapping it in the prosciutto.

You can also make these in a hot oven, making sure to turn them over a few times since the juice from the figs will release and make them stew instead of broil. The flavor is the same, but I prefer the grilled version since the figs become super soft while the prosciutto becomes a bit crispy.

 Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Figs

Ingredients:

• 10 figs cut in half
• 10 slices Prosciutto, cut in half
• 20 toothpicks

Method:

1. Get your grill super hot (if using an oven, preheat to 425 degrees, with a  rimmed baking sheet in the oven).
2. Wrap each half fig with a half piece of Prosciutto and secure with a toothpick.
3. Cook on first side for up to 4 minutes, until starting to crisp.
4. Turn over and cook an additional 4 minutes, until second side is browned and crispy.
5. Remove from heat (or oven) and serve.
6. Tastes great on toasted baguette, over salad or just on their own!

How to Make the Chutney

On a warm San Francisco Sunday we decided it was necessary to get some of our nice late Summer fruits canned up for the coming Fall. The chutney I ended up with is sweet and tangy, with a nice hint of sage, which is perfect with roast, especially pork.

It's a very simple recipe, and the way I did it, required little more than measuring (sort of), chopping and boiling down the fruits.

Herewith, the recipe.

Hope you enjoy it.

Orange, Fig and Sage Chutney

3 to 4 pounds Oranges, sliced into 8 pieces each

1 lb granulated Sugar

1 basket Figs (about 14 figs), sliced in half

3 sprigs Sage, minced1/4 cup Lemon juiceRind of 1/2 Orange

2 cups water, or enough to cover

Make the Chutney:

Put all the ingredients into a large, heavy bottomed pan, making sure there is enough water to cover the fruit.

Set over a medium heat and bring to a boil.

Once the mixture boils, lower the heat to a simmer and stir regularly to keep it from sticking to the pan.

While you are stirring, press down on the orange pieces to release the juice.

As soon as you are satisfied with the texture of yo

ur chutney (meaning it will be chunky, good for spreading on meats!), turn off the heat making sure that your jars/lids are ready to be filled.

Boil your jars and lids while the fruit is bubbling away in the other pan

 .

Take a large wide pan, fill with water, enough to submerge the jars and lids, and place on the heat to boil.

Once the water has boiled, lower to a simmer and keep the jars in the water for five minutes.

When the chutney is ready, remove each jar and lid one by one onto a

clean cloth, right side up, to keep them as sterile as possible.

Fill your jars and  seal them:

Ladle chutney into each jar, filling up to the bottom of the neck of the jar, leaving headspace for the sealing to go well.

Wipe down the top of the jar to make sure nothing is sticky on the outside, so that you can seal the jars, and they can be opened again.

Put the lid on and close it as tightly as you can.

Turn the jars upside down and leave to cool. This will seal the jars.

some people re-boil the filled jars, but I opt not to. if you want to, this is the time to do it!

A {Fig} Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Yet another excellent installment in the Gran Fran birthday lead-up.I have included a recipe from my own kitchen using figs, as I don't ever recall her cooking with them. Rather, they were served alongside Prosciutto di Parma and maybe some almonds.

From Gran Fran's Lips to Your Ears: My brother moved to Oklahoma City to plant a fig tree. He plans to bring a bit of Brooklyn Italian to the home of the Cherokee, the Choctaw, and the Chickasaw. He’s lived without a fig tree for well over half a century, but now that he’s retired the view from his West Side condo lacked tangible proof of his childhood.

For him and for me, the longer we’re grown-ups, the more magnetic is the lure of childhood. And I yearn for those things that spelled home and comfort, and miss the loving embrace in the hefty arms of a strong solid grandma, a neighbor’s pat on the head and her admiration of my dark thick curls as I take a walk—a passegiatta—with my grandfather, and even the cheek-scraping kiss of the rosey rotund (very flabby armed) cumare with her whiskery chin. Those who peopled our childhood are now gone, but I continue to search out the scents, foods, and traditions that I grew up with so I can share them with my children and so that I can remind myself of where I came from –a Brooklyn neighborhood teeming with street-level stores, open cellar doors, ill-lighted tenement hallways, and a fig tree in every backyard.

Now every August I search greenmarkets to find a green cardboard container filled with figs. I touch the fruit and it yields enough to expose its seeds and its sweet sticky scent. And I'm in Brooklyn, sitting on a folding chair at the curb eating the sweet fruit and planning what I'll wear to the first day of fourth grade.

Fig Puff Pastry Tart ala Gran Fran's Daughter

adapted from Bon Appetit, 1993

Ingredients

• 1/2 17 1/4-ounce package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 egg, beaten to blend (glaze)
• 7-ounces of nuts, pulverized in a food processor
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1/2 cup apricot jam (any jam works well here, experiment a little!)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Sliced assorted fresh fruit (such as kiwi fruit, strawberries and figs)

Method

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Roll out thawed pastry square on flour dusted work surface to 9 1/2-inch square.
• Pull edges of dough up slightly, to form a higher edge then the center of the tart.
• Brush edges of square with egg glaze.
• Pierce center of pastry all over with fork.
• Bake until pastry is golden brown about 25 minutes.
• Melt jam with ginger in heavy small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, blend nut paste and cream in processor until almost smooth. Spoon almond filling into center of tart and spread evenly. Bake 5 minutes.
• Arrange fruit decoratively atop tart, and brush jam glaze over fruit.
• Place back in the oven for 10 minutes until fruit has softened.
• Enjoy!