Last year I planted fig trees in all of my gardens. www.annexrentals.com I even planted them in pots at the entrance of our office building. www.empressbuilding.com Their leaves are beautiful and growing such exotic fruit in our climate, Toronto Canada, peeks the interest of the many people who notice them and watch them grow and ripen.
Autumn arrived and this dilemma with it. What were we do to do with all those fig trees? I really couldn’t care for or find space for all of them indoors even if we had potted them. By default we left them to winter in situ.
Spring arrived. The figs had one strong stem and looked pretty well dead. Weeks went by and they looked the same. “Okay,I’ll just yank them out,” but their roots and stem were so entrenched as much as I pulled and dug I couldn’t remove them. ” “Okay I will let them stay” and lopped off the stem about 6 inches from the ground .
Summer arrived and lo and behold all the fig trees had verdant leaves and more amazingly figs!
When the figs ripen and Fall is near I will make these original fig appetizers that I created last year.
Recipe
Ripe figs
Soft fresh goat cheese
As many slices of prosciutto as figs, plus a few extra for repair work!
Mint leaves, preferably chocolate mint
Method
While preparing figs preheat barbecue
Cut figs almost in half from stem to bottom. Stuff with about teaspoon of soft fresh goat cheese. Nestle a mint leaf in the cheese and wrap the fig in a slice of prosciutto using extra pieces of the ham if there are big tears. Wrap the prosciutto around the figs holding together the cut side and then mold the ends around the figs.
Barbecue the figs turning once until crispy and the cheese is melted.
Serve while hot, two per plate as an appetizer
Addendum
Long before it became fashionable to make artisanal charcuterie in Brooklyn, New York; Italian butchers in Toronto, Ontario have been turning out fabulous prosciutto, sausages, salamis, and cured pork loins.This cheerful and helpful butcher who describes his meats and methods in a combination of pride and matter of factness opened his shop in 1967.It is here I stopped to buy his prosciutto for this recipe.
