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Pook's Pantry

A Life in Food

figs

Fig Puff Pastry Tarts

Fig Puff Pastry Tarts - Pook's Pantry

Labor Day weekend is behind us, and for me that marks the “unofficial” official end of summer. I’m not quite ready to “pumpkin spice all the things”, and I’m grasping onto the last ripe tomatoes, corn and veggies that summer has to offer, but fall is right around the corner.  This summer has brought sweltering temps with it and I for one, am ready for it to cool down just a bit.  

This recipe came to fruition based on 2 things:  I had puff pastry in the freezer and I had figs that were on the verge of being too soft.   Wasting food is a Cardinal Sin in my book, and I needed desserts for a client so it was a no-brainer.   I looked through the fridge to see what I had on hand to make this come together; it wasn’t much.  Luckily, I had cream cheese and I figured if I sweetened it up just a touch, the finished product would be almost Danish-like.

You want dessert, but you don’t want to spend hours making it…   However, if said dessert gave the appearance you had spent all day making it that would be a bonus.  Amiright?!

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Panna Cotta

Whenever I see figs, I must buy them.  I can’t quite help myself, they are just so sexy.  Then my brain starts spinning with all the possible things to do with them.  When I am visiting my family in Ohio, I always try to make something special.  Something that I know for sure they have never had before.  Sometimes it goes over well and sometimes, maybe not so much.  I think this one was a winner. 

I was wandering the store with the parental units and saw them.   I, like a moth to a flame, headed right toward them.  It’s like some kind of strange gravitational pull, I seriously can NOT help it (not like I’m trying to, either).  So, I walked out with 2 pounds under my arm and was giddy as could be.  At first I thought: “well, I can do a crostini with them…”  Then I decided against that idea.  Next was dipped in honey and rolled in chopped pistachio…  Nah, that got shot down as well. So, as is usually the case, my brain started hinting at dessert.  I wanted a dessert that could be more of a vehicle for the figs than the star of the show.  The figs should be the “break-out stars”,  therefore I needed something that wasn’t too strong of a flavor.  And out of the blue, there was the idea. 

Panna Cotta is simply cooked cream mixed with sugar and milk, mixed with gelatin and cooled until set.  It is very straight-forward and not an overly complicated dessert.  I wanted to keep it simple as the figs were going to be packed with flavor (and slightly tipsy). The great thing about this dessert is that you likely have most of it in the house already.  It comes together in about 30 minutes and then it is into the fridge to set and you are done.   If you don’t like figs, swap them out for berries or stone fruit.  If you don’t want the alcohol in the dessert, use juice or simple syrup as your poaching liquid.  As always, recipes are just a jumping off point…  take it and make it your own.

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Doubly Virtuous…

 

It’s that time of year again.  Shopping for school clothes,  temper tantrums over getting up early once more, begging and pleading “please don’t make me go”, etc…  and that is just the teachers.

Granola is hardly a revolutionary breakfast, but it is a great way to start your day & when turned into bars it’s a hand-held portable breakfast which can come in very handy when you’ve hit “snooze” one too many times.

 

Now, before you roll your eyes at the mere mention of granola, let me preface it by saying you do not have to be a Birkenstock wearing, tree hugging, peace-lovin’ hippie clad in tie dye to appreciate it. 
(Just because I happen to be a few of those things has nothing to do with it…)

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Spinach, Nectarine and Blue Cheese Salad

 

 

fig & nectarine salad final.jpgSummer time is when I really enjoy salads.  The anemic tomatoes of winter are happily forgotten and replaced with gleaming, juicy, bright red beauties.  The delicious, but boring cucumbers can go on hiatus along with their carrot friends. 

The same ol’ stuff that routinely finds its way into your salad can go by the wayside to make room for things like stone fruit! 

Sometimes we are on auto-pilot and occasionally get stuck in a bit of a rut. Considering all of the amazing things available to us in the summer, this is the time to branch out and mix it up.

Making a salad for dinner is a great option. The clean up is pretty minimal and the ingredients are merely a suggestion.  Use it as a jumping off point for an idea;  if you don’t like an ingredient, swap it out for something you do like…

Perhaps the most important reason to go with a meal that takes about 10 minutes from start to finish:

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Gettin’ Figgy With It…

I LOVE figs and lucky for me I live in a predominantly Italian neighborhood where fig trees are the preferred lawn ornament.  Now is the time when the branches are heavy with fruit, hanging low enough that plucking them from the tree does not prove to be very difficult.
(and don’t think I haven’t contemplated enlisting my friends for a little late-night recon mission to “obtain” said fruit)

Figs are in season from late summer through early fall, so if you happen upon them at the farmer’s market or the grocery store,  get them while you still can.

I had never made fig jam before but I figured since I  love the fruit, the jam would be a sure hit (it was) and with this recipe,  canning season for me comes to a close.
While this is a sweet jam,  it can be used as a base for other add-ins…  caramelized red onions or bacon for example.  This can be turned into a topping for crostini with a little fresh goat cheese or perhaps on a half bagel, with some crispy crumbled bacon and then topped with a fried egg for breakfast?  (just brain-storming here…)

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