Brown Sugar, Fig and Rosemary Walnuts

WARNING:  Highly addictive recipe ahead!

This is one of the tastiest, roasted nut recipes I've ever had. They are certain to bring on the holiday cheer. My daughter made these Brown Sugar, Fig and Rosemary Walnuts to share as part of our pre-dinner nibbles on Thanksgiving Day.  They would be a hit at any holiday dinner party and would make a wonderful hostess gift too.
 

They have the most wonderful flavors melded together in one crunchy, sweet and savory bite.  Both my husband and I had control issues when it came to eating these! Thank goodness, walnuts are good for you :)

Brown Sugar, Fig and Rosemary Walnuts

Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks and Heidi Swanson
Printable Recipe

My Notes:  The following is the original recipe from Heidi Swanson.  My suggestions are to cut the brown sugar mixture by about a third and double or triple the finely chopped rosemary.  The nuts required about 2-3 minutes longer in the oven than the recipe states. 

1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g brown sugar or natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary leaves
1/4 cup / 1 oz / 30g sesame seeds

2 large egg whites

1 lb / ~4 cups shelled walnut halves
1/3 cup / 1 1/2 oz / 45 g finely chopped dried figs, stems removed.

Preheat oven with racks in the center to 300F / 150C.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, salt, rosemary, and sesame seeds - reserve.

In a large bowl whisk the egg whites just until loosened. Add the whole walnuts and finely chopped figs to the whites and toss for a minute or two until they are all evenly coated. Next, sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the nuts and toss for another minute or two again.

Divide the nuts between the two prepared baking sheets and spread into a single layer, separating them as best as you can.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the walnuts are toasted golden and the coating is no longer wet. Cool for a few minutes, then slide the parchment/nuts off the hot baking sheets onto a cool surface to cool completely. These will keep for a week or so in an airtight container or zipper bag.

Makes 1 pound of nuts.

Enjoy!

Fig and Chickpea "Sausage"

Today, I bring you a recipe found in the local newspaper this summer in the weekly column of our James Beard Award-winning chef, Sanford d'Amato.

You may have seen the faux sausages made with chocolate and nuts.  This one is made with figs, prunes and 'candied' chickpeas (which represent the 'fat' in the faux sausages)! A reduction of red wine, balsamic vinegar, pomegranate juice, herbs and spices infuse the dried fruit with amazing flavor. This is delicious paired with a variety of cheeses for a fun and delicious appetizer.  The nice thing about the recipe is that you use dried figs rather than fresh figs so you can make this year-round.

The only problem that I had with the recipe was the mixture remained far too sticky, even after being chilled overnight.  I remedied that by adding unflavored gelatine which firmed it up perfectly without changing the flavor.

ps:  If you see a few remaining 'summery looking' posts, please forgive me...I've been so busy this summer I haven't had time to post them all :)

Fig and Chickpea Sausage

Adapted from Sandy D'Amato for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Printable Recipe

Makes 4 sausages (about 6 ounces each)

Note: Candied Chickpeas can be started 1-2 days ahead - See recipe below

1 quart dry red wine
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup pure pomegranate juice
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 (5-inch) sprig of fresh rosemary
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
2 whole star anise
½ teaspoon kosher salt

6 ounces pitted prunes
8 ounces dry Mission figs, stems removed
2 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin (my addition as I found the mixture far too sticky)

Place first 10 ingredients in a stainless saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce by half, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add prunes and figs, bring to a simmer, cover partially and cook about 35 to 40 minutes, until figs are tender and liquid is completely reduced to dry; uncover the last 5 minutes of cooking and stir constantly with a heatproof spatula to make sure fruit does not scorch on bottom of pan while liquid is reducing. Remove from heat and remove thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, bay leaves and star anise.

In a food processor, puree one-fourth of the mixture until fine, about 10 to 15 seconds. Mix puree back into pot, add the Knox Gelatin and gently simmer for a few minutes until the gelatin is dissolved.  Add the remaining fruit, fold in the Candied Chickpeas and cool to room temperature.

Divide mixture into four equal portions and place on individual sheets of plastic wrap.  Wrap plastic wrap around mixture and roll and shape each into roughly 6 by 2 inch sausage forms. The mixture will be sticky but will firm up in the refrigerator. Twist the sides of the plastic wrap together to compact the sausage. Place wrapped sausages on a plate and refrigerate, preferably overnight.

When ready to use, unwrap and slice with a sharp knife dipped in a touch of corn oil. Serve with cheeses of your choice.

Candied chickpeas: (Can me made the day before)

½ cup dried chickpeas
3 tablespoons sugar
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

Wash and soak chickpeas overnight in 4 times their volume of hot tap water, covered.

Drain chickpeas, place in a pot with remaining ingredients, cover with water to at least 3 inches above chickpeas and bring to a boil. Lightly boil, half-covered, about 50 minutes to 1 hour until very tender but not falling apart. Drain, cool and reserve.

Orange and Spice Fig Jam

Last week, one of our local grocery stores chains had a new store grand opening sale with lots of great offers. One of them was a carton of 12 fresh figs for $6.99. Growing up in the Midwest, I don't believe I even ate a fresh fig until I was an adult and the only figs I knew were found in Fig Newtons. More stores here are carry them now when they are in season but they are still quite expensive so this was a great deal. The figs I bought were called Brown Turkey figs and they were quite large compared to other figs I've seen.

I've been seeing lots of fig jam recipes on the internet recently, and knew I had an opportunity to finally try making some with when I saw this sale. The recipe that I decided to try I found on Simply Recipes for Spicy Fig Orange Microwave Jam. I thought - I can do that! The flavors or orange, cinnamon and cloves in the recipe sounded wonderful to me. My figs must have been a lot bigger than those in the recipe so I needed to double all of the ingredients. They did not want to cook down in the microwave and my Pyrex dish was getting so hot I could hardly hold onto it when I stirred the jam. I finished the jam on the stove and next time, I'll skip the microwave altogether!

Even with the recipe not cooperating at first, the jam turned out wonderfully and is so delicious! I've been having some each morning on toasted baguette slices and I know it will be delicious as an appetizer served with brie on crackers too. I'm keeping two jars in the refrigerator and freezing one. While fresh figs are still available, I know I will be making this recipe again soon so I'll have some to enjoy throughout the winter.

Orange and Spice Fig Jam
Inspired by Simply Recipes
Printable Recipe

Note: I doubled these ingredients for my 12 figs and this made 3 jars of jam (1 Mama, 1 Papa, and 1 Baby-sized jar).

1 1/2 cups diced fresh figs
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/2 cup seeded, peeled orange, diced
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon butter

Place all of the ingredients in a large, glass bowl and allow to macerate in the sugar for at least 30 minutes. Turn everything into a heavy saucepan and simmer until reduced and thickened (about 45 minutes on medium low) until everything is reduced by 1/3 to 1/2 original volume, stirring occasionally. Watch carefully that the jam doesn't start to burn on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat, if necessary.

Pour the jam into jars, leaving 1/4-1/2 inch of headroom from the top of the jars. Refrigerate or freeze.

Banana Bread with Walnuts, Figs and Chocolate

After a BAD summer cold, yesterday, I had my first (short-lived) burst of energy which was inspired by a HUGE bunch of over-ripe bananas sitting on the kitchen table. Note: Never send husband to buy bananas.

Normally, I like to add poppy seeds to my banana bread, but, in my weakened condition, I wanted to health-up the bread just a teense.  I had some dried Mission Figlets in the pantry, so decided to add a cup of diced figs to the batter.  Delicious! Think banana bread with the crunchy, seedy goodness of a Fig Newton.

For the last two mini loaves, I also threw in a handful of dark chocolate chips because I felt I deserved it.

My favorite banana bread recipe comes from my very old copy of Noteworthy  - A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival. For those of you who are not familiar with the Chicago area, (we live only 90 miles up the Lake Michigan shoreline from downtown Chicago), the Ravinia Festival is a month-long celebration of music and food in a park setting in Highland Park, Illinois. Part of the tradition and appeal is bringing your own picnic food which inspired this cookbook. As you can see, my book has been used so often over the years, it is now held together by strapping tape.  When I found a brand new copy at Half Price Books recently, I was thrilled! Beware - Noteworthy, Two is not nearly as good as the first book.

What could possibly add to all of this banana bread goodness?  Homemade butter!  I had bought a quart of heavy cream at Sam's last week to make whipping cream for ice cream sundaes when we had guests for dinner and I ended up barely using a third of it.  I had read about making butter from cream recently so did a quick search for instructions and found this wonderful and humorous tutorial. 

Since I had my stand mixer out anyway to make the banana bread - I was able to make 8 ounces of butter in no time at all. I was amazed at how easy it was and how good it tastes. I will never throw out unused cream again!

Banana Bread with Walnuts, Figs and Chocolate

Inspired by Noteworthy
Printable Recipe

Yields 1-2 standard-sized loaves or 4-6 mini loaves

¼ pound (1 stick) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/3 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups sifted flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups mashed bananas (6-7 small bananas)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup dried Mission Figlets, stem removed and diced
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter loaf pans or spray with nonstick cooking spray (I like Bakers Joy spray).

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add alternately with bananas to egg mixture. Fold in nuts, figs and chocolate chips, if using. Pour into prepared loaf pans and bake in 350 degree oven for 60-70 minutes, depending on the size of the pans you are using. My mini loaf pans only take about 40-45 minutes. If a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, they are done. Cool in pans 5 minutes and then remove to a rack to cool completely.