Aromatic Roasted Figs--With Crème Fraîche

There are about 20 figs on my yet small fig tree but I am not sure they will have enough time to ripen fully this year. A wave of cold weather came suddenly to DC and, although days are still sunny, crispy nights may not allow my figs to get to their peak.

I am waiting hopefully but in the meantime I buy figs at a store. And I cannot complain at all. They are sweeter than any past year I remember. I love them simply with prosciutto or cheese and baguette. But sometimes their sweetness is nearly overwhelming when they are served with savory accompaniments and wine. That gave me an idea, besides eating them fresh, to make a dessert. Fruit desserts are great as those days everybody seems to be on diet and resists any sweets.

In that recipe I combined many different ideas but in a Mediterranean style. I think that spices coming from that region bring out a wonderful taste of figs. Here is how, served with crème fraîche and a delicate biscuit, figs make a wonderful and light dessert.

Roasted Figs
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
8-10 black figs if larger or 10-12 smaller,
2/3 cup of orange juice, the best is freshly squeezed,
a couple of slices of orange peel cut off from the oranges that you squeezed, but you can also use candied orange peel, especially home made,
1 tbsp of running honey--the best for this recipe is lavender honey, if you happen to have such,
6-8 coriander seeds,
a small, about two-inch long cinnamon stick,
1 inch of vanilla pod,
1 tbsp of orange blossom water, or rose water,

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Cut figs in half and place them in a round (nine inches, oven proof dish).

3. In a small bowl mix orange juice, honey, and orange water.

Pour it over the figs. Place on top coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, vanilla pod, and orange peel.

4. Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes uncovered--the liquid around the figs should boil for a few minutes.

Cool down the dish. Divide figs between plates and pour over the thickened sauce. Decorate with a dollop of crème fraîche and a biscuit if you like.

Crème Fraîche--How to Make it

I decided to post from time to time a simple recipe that can be useful and, despite its simplicity, is not so obvious. Today, it is about crème fraîche. You can buy it easily in France or other European countries. But in the U.S. until recently, and at least in my area, it was not always available. And I still like to make my own crème fraîche. The list of recipes calling for it is almost endless. Crème fraîche is thick and creamy but is neither sweet nor sour. Crème fraîche is used in various cakes and tarts, like Tarte Tatin, other desserts, like the delicious Vacherin, some soups, sauces, various gratin dishes, and many other dishes. If you think about making your own crème fraîche to use it in any recipe two days from now, this is how you make it.

Crème Fraîche

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or 30 percent sweet cream),
2 tbsp buttermilk.

Preparation:
1. Mix both ingredients in a bowl and leave in room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Stir the cream and leave for another day.

Your crème fraîche should be ready in 2-3 days, depending on how warm your house is. It can be stored in a refrigerator for about a week to ten days.

Easy Beet Salad--with an Oriental Twist

I consider cabbage and beets the pillars of Polish cuisine. No wonder then that whenever I hear about them being used in different cuisines or served differently than we do in Poland, I get territorial. I am extremely open to try new dishes and particularly vegetables, and I always look forward to trying and assimilating new recipes. But, whenever I read a recipe calling for beets or cabbage, my undeniably Polish nature comes out and I approach these recipes with a great dose of scepticism. What new could possibly anyone say about these vegetable to people who have been eating them for ages in any possible incarnation, often several times a week, and which are fundamental ingredients of all our holidays?

A new color--there are yellow beets available in many food stores, new shape--even in Poland we sell new beets that are long like cucumbers, or an old style salad recipe just refreshed by adding beets? But this recipe, one of those that I found in Met Home, appealed to me from the first moment I saw it. I believe that whoever created it, really understood what beets need to taste good. Beets are rather mild by nature and usually need a lot of sourness and some other spices to bring out their delicate taste. This recipe used some Middle eastern ingredients and, believe me, this beet salad with an Oriental twist tasted extremely good and interesting.

Oriental Beet Salad

Ingredients:
3 medium beets cooked or roasted and peeled off (if you cannot buy them like that, cook whole raw beets in water for about one hour, or bake in an oven wrapped in aluminium foil for 45-60 minutes, then let them cool down and peel them),
2 small shallots sliced into very thin half rings,
2 tbsp sherry vinegar,
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (available in most Middle Eastern grocery stores),
2 tbsp rose water (also available in oriental food stores),
3 tbsp extra-virgin oil.

Preparation:
1. Cut beets into smaller pieces. Add cut shallots.
2. Mix vinegar,molasses,rose water and oil to make a smooth dressing.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pour the dressing over the beets, cover and let them marinate for minimum 2 hours, or overnight.

Serve alone as salad itself, as accompaniment to meats, or add to other, for example green salads.