Tag Archives: figs

Kale

So GREEN!!!

having mixed it occasionally with other, lighter greens; an experiment – with trepidation –  using kale solo

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recipe for kale success:

remove all the stems

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sprinkle with coarse sea salt

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massage

(probably everyone knows to do this – I didn’t)

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use ingredients that balance kale’s bitter, musty flavor:

figs, cheese, green onions…

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dress with olive oil, balsamic, a drizzle of honey

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 result:  deliciously earthy…and healthy!!!

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Strike while the figs are ripe!!

I love to cook – especially in the fall as the days shorten and the air cools!  Not here!!!  We are still in the throes of a particularly hot Indian summer, as I long for the richer, weightier flavors of fall.  Finding both figs and fresh Brussels sprouts in my refrigerator…thanks to my wonderful personal shopper…

halved, salted and peppered

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seared

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figs quartered

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honey drizzled

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served with RANA mushroom ravioli with a squeeze of lemon and a bit of filet mignon

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a fabulous fall fix!!!

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Figgy Chicken

Another attempt to freshen the menu for a Sunday family supper in late summer….and make good use of yummy figs!

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cooked down with a bit of sugar and water,

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reduced balsamic, garlic and rosemary added

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to make a thick glaze.

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additional herbs combined with butter,

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rubbed under the skin of  a spatchcocked chicken – with extra pieces for unexpected guests

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served with lightly dressed arugula and feta, baked sweet potatoes on the side

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rather well received!!!!

(next time:  more garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, a bit more sugar on the figs)

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inspired by Country Cleaver

 

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Filed under Family history, Food

once upon a fig…..

Since featuring Erika Carter’s marvelous painting…..

(a portion seen here)

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a confluence of FIGS !!!!

While browsing Volume Three of Kinfolk….I came upon this lovely illustration by Katie Stratton

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which brought to mind luscious linen just used for pillows for a client.

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Picking up custom forged fire screens for another client led me to downtown Santa Barbara to a side street only one block long…..

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All of which sent my mind spinning off………

We once had a fig tree  (long before my tastes turned to the possibilities of slices wrapped in prosciutto…..).   My husband’s aunt brought a rooted branch from her tree in Palm Springs.  I planted it in our yard next to the front porch (the ‘why’ of that escapes me now).  Those were the days when I was happy if anything I planted grew…although the tree did not grow tall, it was prolific!  Every year a multitude of  figs – first a pretty green, turned brown and soft, oozing juice and attracting noxious pests which threatened my small children.  Having not the heart or the time to cut it down, I cleaned up the rotting fruit as it fell through the summer and the big leaves as they browned in fall.  I did once make a batch of fig newtons – but they were relegated to the ‘don’t bother to make that again’ category. 

I did not appreciate that tree!!!

….and where am I going with this tale of the fig???

Now, coming up on twenty-four years since we moved from that house, I have wished for that fig tree with regularity.

I’ve been set to thinking about what might be in my life at this very moment that I am not appreciating, not recognizing as a blessing………..perhaps seeing as a burden when, indeed, it may be anything but……….

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