The voluptuousness of figs

Indifference is not a word you can associate with a fig. The take it or leave crowd are not at home to receive this luscious offering, it's more of a Marmite than a national treasure.  We are divided in the Netherton household; one half of us love them and the other half would rather they didn't exist.

From the smooth, purple suede-like skin to the sensual magenta flesh there is something utterly shameless about a fig.
Favouring many partners, from Parma ham, to lamb, blue cheese and goat's cheese, the fig is truly a slut of a fruit.

This recipe, designed to show off our blini pans and made in small quantities for the fig lovers here, pairs them with honey, thyme and walnuts, with a splash of red wine to add to the wantoness.

4 figs
1 tablespoon runny honey
4 small sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of red wine

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC
Make a cross cut in the figs, without going through to the base.
Place the figs in a 1lb loaf tin or an oven proof dish.  Place a sprig of thyme in the centre of each fig, drizzle over the honey and add the red wine to the tin.
Place in the oven and roast the figs for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set aside...... leave the oven switched on.

2oz butter
2oz sugar
2oz self raising flour
A handful of walnuts
1 egg
Grated zest of half an orange

Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until very light in colour.
Place a tablespoon of the flour into a mortar, add the walnuts and grind coarsely.
Beat the egg into the creamed butter mix and then fold in the flour and the crushed walnuts.

Lightly grease 2 blini pans -  if you haven't got blini pans, use Yorkshire pudding trays.
Spoon the mixture evenly into the pans.  Gently press 2 of the roasted figs into each tin and pour over the gooey wine syrup from the roasting tin.  You can scatter on some chopped walnuts and a few thyme leaves if you wish.

Place in the oven and cook for 15 - 20 minutes.
Leave to cool for around 10 minutes,then carefully remove from the pans, using a palette knife, and place them on a cooling rack.  
Serve at room temperature with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2017 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Caramelised onion flat bread - a recipe for the griddle plate

A tasty idea for the griddle plate - a handy piece of kitchen kit that works on the hob, in the oven and even on the barbecue.

Caramelised onion flatbread

½lb 00 flour (or unbleached bread flour)
¼oz yeast (or ½tsp dried yeast)
5 fl oz boiling water
6 chopped, sun dried tomatoes
½ tsp salt

2 tblsp rapeseed oil
1 oz butter
5 large onions
1 courgette, grated
5 stems fresh thyme (or use dried thyme)
1 tblsp honey
1 ball of Mozzarella
2 oz walnuts

Start by making the dough for the base:

Pour the boiling water over the tomatoes and leave to soak until the water drops to room temperature.
Add the yeast and mix well.
Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and pour in the tomatoes and water.
Mix well, turn out and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Return to the bowl and cover with a damp cloth or oiled cling film.  Leave to prove while you prepare the topping.

Place the griddle plate in the oven and heat to 220ºC

Put the oil and butter in a large frying pan or casserole dish and heat until the butter starts to foam.
Slice the onions and add to the pan with the thyme.
Cook for 30 minutes over a low heat.
As the onions soften and start to take on colour, add the honey and grated courgette.
Cook for another 10 minutes.

Flour the work surface and roll out the dough thinly.

Carefully remove the griddle plate from the oven and place on a heatproof surface.
Transfer the dough base to the griddle plate.
Spread the onion mix over the dough and scatter sliced Mozzarella and walnuts on top.

Return the plate to the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes - the time will vary depending on how hot your oven gets.
The bread is ready when the edges are brown and the cheese has melted.

A big green salad and a cold beer finish this off perfectly.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Heritage cooking - an adaption of one of Mum's recipes

When I was a child, too long ago to mention, my Mum baked every Sunday.  The results would be served up to me and my brother at tea time and added to my Dad's packed lunches - we had the joy of school dinners!
Her repetoire included Victoria sandwich cakes, jam tarts, ground rice cakes, squashed fly pie, almond slices, egg custards - sadly with very soggy bottoms, Mary Berry would not have approved -  and, as an occasional treat,  she would make toffee tarts.  I have no idea where the original recipe came from but they were a confection of pastry case, sugar and dried fruit made even sweeter with a splodge of icing.
My teeth ache at the mere thought of them.

But the memory of the sheer pleasure these brought made me think it would be worth re-visiting her original recipe and adapting it to a more grownup palate.

And this is the result - sweet, sticky, but a little more sophisticated than those teatime treats

Short crust pastry
4oz plain flour
2 oz butter
Cold water

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl, cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour.
Rub together until you have a mixture resembling fine breadcrumbs.
Alternatively, chuck the flour and butter into a food processor and do this the quick way!!

Add just enough cold water to bring it all together into a stiff dough.  Place in a plastic bag or greaseproof paper and leave in the fridge for ½ hour.

Grease a 10" pie dish.  Roll out the pastry and line the pie dish.

Filling
1oz butter
4oz brown sugar - dark is best
3oz chopped dates
3oz chopped walnuts
1 egg
1 orange

Place the butter and sugar into a saucepan  and place over a low heat until the butter  has melted and the sugar dissolved.
Remove from the heat.
Finely grate the orange and add the zest and the juice to the butter mix.
Stir in the dates, walnuts and egg.

Pour over the flan case and bake at 170ºC for approximately 30 minutes.

Serve in thin slices - it is very rich -  with custard, ice cream, creme fraiche or clotted cream
A custard flavoured with lemon rind and bayleaf goes beautifully with this.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk