Seasonal Fruits

Yesterday was Exchange Studios end of summer BBQ. This one is different b/c the meat and beer is c/o our property manager. Yay free food!

He has a crazy smoker grill, and made some of the best pulled pork I've ever had.

For this BBQ, I decided I would test out my new oven* and bake some cookies.

I've gotten Figs twice now in my box. I didn't know what to do with them, so the first batch got moldy by the time I made a game plan. Thankfully, the recipe I created only needed 1 pint.

These are the different kinds of figs. I used Mission Figs.

Fig stuffed Sugar Cookies

based on the traditional Italian Treat Cucidati

Dough

4 1/2 c flour

1 t salt

1 t baking powder

1 1/4 c cold cubed butter

1/2 plus some 1ce water

Filling

1 pint figs diced

water to cover

2 heaping T of honey

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 c ground almonds

1/4 c ground pine nuts

1/2 c rasins

Glaze

Confectioner's sugar

milk

extra powder to top

Method:

Cube the figs and set in a sauce pot with a nice layer of water to cover. Add honey and sugar. Bring to boil and simmer until an almost jelly is formed. This takes a considerable period of time so be prepared. While that is boiling grind the nuts to a powder. Leaving some larger chunks is also nice, but most of the mixture should be gorund fine, but not to a paste.

Make the dough in a traditional pastry sense. Sift dry, add butter, pinch with fingers to pea size, add 1/2 c water, add remaing water to form the final dough. If your fig misture is not ready place the dough in the refrigerator to keep solid and cold.

When the fig saice has reduced to a thick, wonderful jelly, remove from heat and add the nuts and rasins. The mixture should be moderatly moist and moderatly dry. You want it to be moist enough to be yummy, but firm enough to hold up as a filling. So keep this in mind when reducing the fig sauce.

Preheat the oven to 275

Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/8- 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3" strips and place filling down the center of each stip. Fold over the sides and crease with a fork. Cut into 1" squares. Place on a baking sheet with parchment and bake until the bottoms are golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Add glaze as they leave the oven. Place on cooling rack. Sprinkle with more sugar. Comsume.

*yes, i got a new oven the day after the crows flew. Still electric, but thankfully new.

Edit: My sister informed me I neglected to say how they came out! They were so good! Ultimate success. I couldn't believe it. I half expected them to be less than palitable, but they were good! Most of them were gone before dinner :)