Cranberry sauce with red wine and figs

Tags

christmas, cranberries, cranberry sauce, figs, red wine, sauce, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Cranberry sauce is a very American accompaniment to Thanksgiving turkey. In fact, I had never eaten it until we moved to the US and then my first experience was at a dinner where the host served the jellied kind that comes straight out of a can, I hated it and could not imagine how an entire nation loved this vile tasting “sauce”. My ex-husband asked to have cranberry sauce with the turkey the following year and so I started searching out a recipe. Low and behold, I discovered that you can actually make your own, from fresh or frozen berries and you did not have to resort to eating jellied cylindrical shaped sauce – and to top it all, it is actually very easy and tastes far superior to any store bought variation. It is a great accompaniment to turkey and and I discovered with my leftovers this year, superb with foie gras. So make some for Christmas lunch and have the rest with your foie gras for New Year!

Ingredients:

1 cup (250ml) fruity red wine

1 cup (170g) diced dried figs, hard stems removed

12 ounces (340g) fresh or frozen cranberries

Zest of 2 oranges

3/4 cup (150g) sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan, heat the red wine and diced figs together 

Cover, remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes
Drain the figs (keep the wine)
Return the wine to the saucepan
Add the cranberries, orange zest, sugar, and cinnamon and cook, covered, over medium heat until the cranberries have burst and are softened, about 10 minutes
Remove from heat
Add the figs and the vinegar to the cranberries

The sauce can be made up to one week ahead and refrigerated
Allow to return to room temperature before serving
Enjoy!

Advertisement

Pizza with caramelised onions, figs, Roquefort and hazelnuts

Tags

blue cheese, fiesta fridays, figs, hazelnuts, onions, pizza, roquefort

 

Makes 1 pizza
Ingredients:

1 ball pizza dough, homemade or store bought
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
6 small figs, quartered
1 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sugar
90 g / 3 oz blue cheese, (I used Roquefort), broken into chunks
2 tablespoons hazelnuts, halved and toasted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation :

Preheat the oven to 240 C / 480 F
Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the onions for 7 minutes
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water, pepper, cover and cook on a low simmer for 10 minutes
If the mixture is still wet, uncover and bubble off any liquid
Place the pizza dough on a pizza baking sheet
Top the base with the caramelised onions
Place the quartered figs on top
Drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with sugar
Grind some black pepper over
Place in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes
Halfway through the cooking time, dot the cheese on the pizza
Add the hazelnuts and return to the oven
Remove and eat immediately
Enjoy!

Save

Save

Save

Fig, Walnut and Buttermilk Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Sauce

Tags

buttermilk, cupcakes, figs, salted caramel, walnuts

I still had a few figs to use and we now have harvested the walnuts and have a few hundred, a huge wicker basket full. So, what else to do but think of a nice recipe that combines the two and I came across a version of this one in an old calendar of all places. My biggest challenge was finding buttermilk in France. It turned out to be easy once I realised that it was called fermented milk or “lait fermenté” and not “lait battu” as I remembered from my childhood. Maybe the name has changed? When pouring the batter into the cupcake holders, I always use an ice cream scoop. They are the perfect size and it is much easier than trying to judge quantities. The cupcakes are excellent as is and we ate several like that but I also wanted to serve some as dessert for a dinner I was hosting and wanted to make them special. So, I made a salted caramel sauce to pour over them; delicious. Real salted caramel takes lots of patience, time, precise temperatures and I am not a fan of any of the above so this is my version of a quick but equally delicious type. No one will even know (unless you tell them) that this is a quick and easy version. I always use unsalted butter and rather add more or less fleur de sel myself. (recipe below)

Makes 20

Ingredients:

240g / 2 cups flour
10ml / 2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
240g / 2 cups sugar
230g / 1 cup soft butter
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
250ml / 1 cup buttermilk
250ml / 1 cup fresh figs, chopped
100g / 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Preparation: 

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F
Place cupcake paper holders in each muffin tin
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside
Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
Fold in the eggs
Gradually beat in the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk
Mix until well incorporated
Fold in the figs and walnuts
Pour the batter into the cupcake holders
Bake about 25 minutes
Leave to completely cool
Enjoy!

Salted caramel sauce:

Ingredients:

75g / 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
50g / ¼ cup light brown sugar
50g / ¼ cup castor sugar
50g / ¼ cup golden syrup
125ml / ½ cup thick cream
1 teaspoon flour de sel

Preparation: 

Melt butter, sugars and syrup in a heavy bottomed pan
Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes
Add cream
Add half a teaspoon of fleur de sel – Not table salt
Taste ,(be careful, it will be VERY hot), to see if you want more salt
Pour into a jug
Enjoy!