Honeyed Figs with Roasted Rosemary Goat Cheese

Food is art.

At least at its best it is.

Figs may be the quintessential food as art.  Because of their sensual beauty they can be seen dotting the landscape of still life oil paintings throughout history. They’re vibrant, unique, and the colors alone are cause for drooling—rich black ruby (Black Mission) to amber (Calimyrna) to the brilliant green lovelies shown above (Kadota). Cut them open and their flesh—rusty pink to ominous blood red—oozes with sweetness.

An ancient fruit, figs are mentioned as far back in history as 2000 BC Babylonia. It’s only fitting they be paired with other ancient foods—honey, rosemary, goat cheese—and cooked with fire (aka the grill), the most ancient of cooking methods.

Do you want to hear my recommendation for enjoying these sweet, smooth, fig appetizers—caramelized on the grill, lightly scented with rosemary and garlic, dripping with honey? Place them lovingly on a favorite plate, with wine in hand and best friend, sibling or spouse in tow, find a lovely outdoor spot. Sip the wine. Savor the figs. Enjoy the company.

At the encouragement of Carol over at Simply Gluten Free I’ve decided to enter the photo below in her GF Photo Contest. Please go take a look at her site—she’s got many wondeful GF and allergy free recipes just waiting to be tried. …and wish me luck!

Honeyed Figs with Roasted Rosemary Goat Cheese

Roast the rosemary and garlic (recipe follows).

Meanwhile mix together and set aside:
½ cup goat chevre
1 sprig roasted rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 or 3 chunks roasted garlic, smashed & chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon honey (more or less to taste)

In a separate small bowl whisk together:
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon olive oil

Cut 8 figs in half lengthwise. Drizzle with the honey lemon mixture. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Gently place on a preheated grill—cut side down. After 2 minutes turn over. Grill another 2 minutes and remove to a decorative plate—cut side up. (Grilling is optional but nice because it warms up and slightly caramelizes the figs.)

Top each fig half with a dollop of the rosemary and garlic laced chevre. Drizzle with honey if you’d like them pretty and sweet. Garnish the plate with roasted or fresh rosemary. Serve immediately.

Roasted Rosemary and Garlic

Pick 2 or 3 fresh sprigs of rosemary.

Smash and coarse dice a large clove of garlic.

Cut a piece of heavy aluminum foil about 4 inches longer than the longest sprig of rosemary.

Line the foil with a piece of parchment the same size.

Place the rosemary on the parchment and dot with the garlic pieces.

Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Wrap the rosemary in the parchment  folding under the open ends. Wrap the foil around the parchment package using the same method.

Place on the upper shelf of a preheated grill that’s set a medium heat. Close the lid and roast about 8-10 minutes turning the package over once halfway through. Grill temperatures vary so this timing may need to be adjusted up or down depending on your grill running cooler or hotter. 

Remove from the grill, let cool a minute, and carefully open the {hot} package to see if the rosemary is lightly browned and crispy.  If it isn’t close up the package and return to the grill for a few more minutes testing until it’s done.

Rosemary and garlic can be

• mixed in with goat chevre and served on crackers
• served over grilled steak
• sprinkled over roasted vegetables or a fresh garden salad
• used as a garnish and eaten as is

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Kale Chip Combos

Everyone’s making Kale Chips. Kids and adults alike are digging into these simple, tasty, and good-for-you snacks. That’s fortunate for kale since it’s a green that’s a little tough (pun intended) to love. And this is coming from a woman who loves her greens.

Some of you may disagree with my assessment of kale. That’s only fair and I accept it. In fact I want to know more about why you love kale and what you do with it because given a choice I’ll pick chard, spinach, or escarole instead. Maybe you can change my mind.

Having said that I’m impressed with kale’s nutritional value and would like to eat more of it. It’s high in vitamins K & C and rich in calcium. And, it’s an impressive anti-inflammatory leading to the boast it helps fight rheumatoid arthritis. Kale has been said to possess anti-cancer properties and to be a powerful antioxidant. So, despite its “tough” guy appearance it’s clearly worth it to add kale to your diet.

We had Kale Chips for the first time this week and liked them. Alone they’re crispy treats. With goat cheese on rice crackers or blended with pecorino romano (made from sheep’s milk) and baked into crisps they’re divine. Again—simple, tasty, and good-for-you.

Please, please, please, don’t forget to tell me how you best like to use kale. If you have a recipe please feel free to leave a link!

Kale Chips

Kale, about 1/4 pound

Olive Oil

Salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Wash and thoroughly dry the kale. Break it into pieces about half the size of the palm of your hand. Take care to remove the fibrous stems.

Spread the kale pieces on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes or until crisp.

Remove, cool and eat as is or use in one of the recipes below. I was able to store mine in an airtight container for about a week.

Notes:

There seem to be quite a few recipes for dehydrated kale chips on the internet so if you prefer to make them that way take a look around. Here’s one that seemed pretty simple from “We Like It Raw”.

I have it on good authority you can also make “chips” from fresh spinach or chard. Haven’t tried it yet but plan to.

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Kale Chips with Goat Cheese Appetizer

Rice crackers

Creamy goat cheese

Kale Chips

Cracked pepper

Place a tiny dollop of goat cheese on the cracker. Gently press a small piece of crispy kale chip onto the cheese. Top with a half teaspoon of goat cheese and sprinkle with freshly cracked pepper.

Serve immediately.

Try other toppings like: fresh herbs, chopped kalamata olives, or minced red onion. Lots of options!

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Kale Cheese Crisps

Kale Chips

Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place about 1/2 cup of grated cheese into a small bowl. Take 6-8 kale chips and grind between your fingertips to create fine kale chip flakes. Add them to the bowl with the cheese. Mix together.

Spoon the cheese/kale mixture onto the lined cookie sheet. You want little piles (about 1/4 inch high in the middle and 2 1/2 inches across) of the mixture placed about an inch apart.

Bake about 5-8 minutes until the edges turn golden brown and you notice the cheese has begun to melt and slightly bubble. Watch them carefully—they can go from perfect to burned pretty quickly.

Remove from the oven and let them cool thoroughly. Gently peel the crisps from the parchment.

These are best on top of a bowl of your favorite soup. Bet they’re great topped with a dollop of something creamy—maybe hummus. Pecorino Romano is a sharp cheese so these crisps will be a bit strong in flavor.

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