Baked Figs with Walnut Tarragon Cream & Rocket Salad and Cookbook Sundays # 23

Props courtesy of Stevens Homewares, Nelson (details below)

My neighbour has a good sized fig tree which fruits quite prolifically - lucky neighbour!  My neighbour doesn't eat figs and, although the birds do, if I'm really vigilant I can get a fair share of them before my feathered friends swoop on them - lucky me!

As luck would also have it, I recently picked up a copy of Karen Martini's book "Where the Heart is" for an absolute song on TradeMe (the New Zealand equivalent of eBay).

I had been wanting this book for ages, and when it finally arrived and I prised the package open, the first page it fell open at was this recipe for Baked Figs with Walnut Cream and Tarragon.  With all those figs ripening on the tree I knew that Karen and I were going to get along famously.

Karen Martini describes herself as an "intuitive cook" and, in the introduction to the book, talks of the challenge of bringing together her recipes of the last 20 years as one which made her reflect on her past.  She says ... "My recipes were sometimes typed, often handwritten and frequently scrawled on endless sheets of paper, on the back of old menus, gas bills, invoices and business cards.  They reflect times shared with family and friends, at home and on holiday, barbecues, raucous parties, romantic moments and solitary dinners.  They articulated my obsession with particular ingredients - artichokes, fennel, the unloved pea.  They traced my journeys to the source of special ingredients, recorded triumphs over unavailability  and celebrated the seasons.  Most of all, they seemed to chart my life."

The book is packed full of recipes which are just made for sharing with family and friends.  Recipes are uncomplicated and inspirational, rather than relying on a lot of "cheffie" techniques that need to be slavishly followed.  Most of all these are recipes which make the most of fresh, seasonal produce, and I know that I will be doing a lot of cooking from this book.

I have a couple of other fig dishes in my repertoire - this Grilled Fig, Haloumi & Pomegranate Salad, Fig & Blue Cheese Wontons, Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread, and a Caramelised Fig Pavlova - but this dish just rocketed to the top of my list of things to do with figs.  A divine dish, and I'm going to be watching that fig tree like a hawk over the next week to make this a few more times before the season is over.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe.  Firstly, the original recipe called for the inclusion of fresh tarragon in the salad.  I couldn't find any fresh tarragon, so I used a little dried tarragon in the "stuffing" for the figs instead.  Now, there are not many things in which I use dried herbs, but in this case the slight "earthiness" of the dried tarragon worked well with the walnuts and the figs.  Use judiciously though - tarragon has a strong flavour and too much can be a ghastly thing.  I suggest adding a pinch, taste, add a pinch more, taste again, etc, until you get the flavour right.  I also added some grated lemon zest to the mascarpone filling - the lemon cuts through the creaminess and also balances out the sweetness of the figs.  Make sure that you use the best extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar that you can afford here.

This recipe would be a perfect appetiser for two people, or for one greedy person like me makes a fabulous light lunch.

Baked Figs with Walnut Tarragon Cream & Rocket Salad Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Karen Martini from

"Where the Heart is"

Serves 2 as an appetiser

Serves 1 as a light meal

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4 ripe figs

1/2 cup mascarpone

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted

dried tarragon, pinch or two

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon, zest & juice

2x large handfuls of rocket (arugula)

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C (340 degrees F).

Put the mascarpone into a small bowl.  Add 1 dessertspoon of cold  water and whisk till loosened and smooth.  Put 1/2 cup of the walnuts into a mortar and pestle and pound until finely crushed - alternatively you could do this in a food processor.  Add to the mascarpone, along with the grated lemon zest, flaky sea salt, ground black pepper and pinch of dried tarragon.  Mix well and taste.  Adjust lemon, seasoning and tarragon to taste.

Cut figs into quarters, almost to the base - enough to "open up" the figs like petals, but making sure that they stay intact.

Squeeze a little of the lemon juice over each of the figs, and then "stuff" each of the figs with a dollop of the mascarpone mixture.

Place the figs in a small ovenproof dish and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the figs are soft and the filling is starting to get "oozey" and melty.

Pile the rocket leaves in a serving bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and the rest of the lemon juice.  Nestle the figs amongst the rocket leaves, spooning any of the mascarpone mixture that might have oozed out of the figs back over them.

Sprinkle the remaining walnuts over the top, and drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar.

Props courtesy of Stevens Homewares Ltd 

Pepper & salt mills, 15cm, red 

"Prepare" individual tea towel 

"Munich" serving forks
"Diamond" rimmed bowl, 30cm

I'm sharing these figs this week at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do keep reading to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and at Gallery of Favourites hosted by April at 21st Century Housewife.

 

If you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

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