Crafting Fig and Apple Jam at Home

I've been on a fig and apple kick this week. Last weekend I wrote about my little productive fig tree and yesterday I rambled on about my apple harvest. Last night, I decided to craft a fig and apple jam from scratch.

I love fig jam and cheese, but I don't always like the price of those little jars of fig preserves. When I was poking around the California Fig Advisory Board's website last week, I noticed that there were lots of recipes for dried figs. I had never used dried figs but I suspected that their recipe for Fig-Apple Jam would result in a delicious jam similar to the one I have been buying. Alas, my instincts were correct because I made that recipe last night and the results are excellent!

The recipe is pretty simple and features dried figs, apples, the zest and juice from an orange and lemon and lots of sugar. The procedure requires snipping the stems off the dried figs, pulsing the figs and apples in the food processor, and then basically simmering the sweetmixture for about 40 minutes.

I was quite impressed with the end result and when I dolloped some of the warm jam on a cracker with a little blue cheese I knew I had a slam dunk keeper of a recipe. I think it would make a great addition to a holiday cheese basket. And, one of the big bonuses to the recipe is that dried figs are available yearround, so you can crank out this recipe on the colder darker drearier days of winter!

So, if you like fig, cheese, apples, jam, give this one a shot!

Photo by Melissa A. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer

Figs from the Kitchen Garden

A few years ago my husband gave me two little fig trees. We planted them in one corner of the yard. They weren't terribly fruitful in that spot. This winter we had to move the trees due to a project and in haste we simply plopped them into the back of one of our raised beds.

Much to my shock, the little fig trees are going gangbusters this year! InJuly I planted a crop of beets under the trees and thenwatered the raised beddaily throughout the summer. Clearly the trees like their new home because this morning I harvestedthe plump ripe figs shown here.

Last nightI experimented with one fig by simply cutting it up, putting it on some flatbread, adding a little olive oil, cheese, proscuitto and homegrownarugula. I broiled the "pizza" for a few minutes andit was quite nice with a glass of wine. However, this morning I decided to harvest more figs and hunt around for inspiration. While doing so, I discovered California Figs, the consumer website produced by the California Fig Advisory Board. It is a fabulous website with lots of tips, recipes, history,and inspiration. This is now my figlicious resource for my crop of homegrown figs! Fig jam, chutney, salads, appetizers plus tips for storing and freezing...It's all there!

Photo by Melissa A. Trainer

---Melissa A. Trainer