Baked figs stuffed with walnuts!
This is a very nice and easy way to create a sort of fancy looking fig dessert. The recipe makes a lot of walnut paste too, so you can use it for other purposes. I made some muffins and mixed the paste in, and it was also delightful. This recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s Best Recipes in the World cookbook. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 2 tablespoons butter: 1 chilled, 1 softened
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 12 fresh figs
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- plain yogurt or sour cream, for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1/4 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.
Combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the nuts in a small food processor and process to a powder. Add the chilled butter and process to a paste, then blend in the cinnamon. (Note: so good! Feel free to eat straight from the bowl.) Slit open each piece of fruit and stuff with a bit of the walnut mixture and press to reseal.
Grease the bottom of a baking dish with the rest of the butter, arrange the fruit without crowding. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir the lemon juice in to the sugar-water-syrup mixture and drizzle over the fruit. Serve with yogurt or sour cream if you’ve got it.
Tomato Cobbler
This is a most excellent recipe, especially if you have a ton of tomatoes sitting around. It’s really easy to make, and ends up looking sort of fancy. The recipe comes to us from Marky Mark Bittman (naturally). Variation possibilities abound with this recipe; the original makes a plain topping, I added some scallions which was nice. Adding cheese or herbs to the topping would be awesome, or adding some sauteed onions or other veggies into the tomatoes could also be delightful. Anyways, it makes a nice snack, side dish, or even breakfast.
- 2-3 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 or 2 scallions, diced
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup any kind of milk plus 1 tbsp vinegar)
If using regular milk, add the vinegar to the milk to allow it to sour.
Grease a pie plate or square pan with some butter or oil. Preheat the oven to 375. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and mix with the cornstarch and salt and pepper to taste. Combine and set aside.
Mix flour, cornmeal, scallions, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, mix the butter into the rest of the ingredients until sort of pea-sized clumps form (it will start to look like bread crumbs). Add the egg into the buttermilk and beat slightly with a fork. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Toss the tomato mixture again and spread into the baking dish. Spoon the batter on top of the tomatoes and smooth it out a bit. Leave a couple gaps in the topping so the steam can escape. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the topping is done. Enjoy!
