Fig And Port Tartlets Recipes

ROASTED FIG TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse flour, granulated sugar, salt, and egg yolk in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, gradually add ice water, and process until dough comes together. Divide in half, and shape into disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 3 days).
• Make the filling: Beat cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy. Beat in creme fraiche and confectioners' sugar until smooth. (Filling can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before using.)
• Roast the figs: Preheat oven to 350. Combine port, anise, cinnamon, peppercorns, zest, granulated sugar, and honey in a roasting pan. Use the tip of a paring knife to scrape vanilla seeds into port mixture, then add pods. Add figs, and turn to coat. Roast, basting once, until figs are soft and liquid is syrupy, about 45 minutes. Let cool. (Figs and syrup can be refrigerated up to one week.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4-inch fluted tartlet pan turned upside down as a guide, cut out 8 rounds. Fit dough into tartlet pans. Prick bottoms with a fork. Place shells on a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Bake tartlet shells until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer molds to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
• Spoon 2 tablespoons filling into each shell. Top with figs, and drizzle with syrup. Garnish with orange zest. (Tartlets can be refrigerated for up to one hour.) Remove molds and serve immediately.

WARM FIG TART WITH CINNAMON-ALMOND CREAM AND PORT REDUCTION

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Using the bottom of a small saucepan, crack together cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom seeds, peppercorns, and allspice berries, then place inside the pot. Add the honey and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow mixture to cool.
• Lightly dust work surface with flour, and roll out puff pastry 1/4 inch thick. Cut out four 4 1/12-inch rounds and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and weigh down with a second baking sheet. Bake until the dough is deep golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack; set aside.
• Strain the spiced honey mixture; stir in vinegar. Place the figs in a medium bowl and add half of the spiced honey mixture. Toss to coat. Remove figs from honey, and place cut sides up on a baking sheet. Bake figs for 20 minutes, basting once with the remaining spiced honey mixture. Remove from oven and transfer figs to a plate; set aside.
• Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Place puff pastry rounds on a baking sheet. Spread puff pastry with a 1/4-inch layer of cinnamon-almond cream. Divide candied almonds evenly between pastry rounds, and bake until the cream topping begins to dry around the edges but remains soft in the center, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place 6 fig halves, upright, on each round. Drizzle figs with remaining spiced honey. Lightly sprinkle with fleur de sel. Serve with port reduction and creme fraiche.

FIG TARTLETS WITH PORT AND CINNAMON

Steps:

• Bring 1 cup Port, 1 cup water, sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to simmer in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add figs; cover and simmer until figs are very tender and mixture is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Transfer 1 1/2 cups figs with liquid to processor and blend to thick puree. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add remaining figs with liquid, 1/2 cup Port and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Simmer until liquid is reduced to syrup, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Preheat oven to 400. Roll out each pastry sheet on work surface to 11" square. Using 4" diameter plate, cut out 3 rounds from each sheet. Transfer round to large baking sheet. Pierce pastries all over with fork. Place another large baking sheet atop pastries. Bake until pastries are brown, about 12 minutes. Remove top baking sheet. Spread fig puree over pastries. Rewarm figs in syrup over medium heat. Using slotted sppon remove fig quarters from syrup and arrange atop puree. Tartlets can be made 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Reserve syrup in skillet. Preheat oven to 375. Bake tartlets 2 minutes to heat through. Bring syrup to simmer. Transfer tartlets to plates. Top with ice cream; drizzle with syrup.

BROWN BUTTER FIG TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make the tartlets: Preheat the oven to 350. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat
• and cook until it browns and smells nutty, then let cool. Stir in the flour, both sugars and the
• salt with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon water, if necessary, to help the dough clump together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead three or four times, or just until the dough comes together.
• Scoop 1/4 cup dough into each of 6 nonstick muffin-pan cups. Press the dough down in the middle and slightly up along the sides to make a cup shape. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Place 1 heaping tablespoon fig jam in the center of each tartlet and bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool slightly, then remove from the pan.
• Meanwhile, make the topping: Heat the bourbon, sugar, 1/2 cup water and the vanilla pod and seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the figs and poach until they are plump and the liquid is syrupy, about 15 minutes. Serve the tartlets with the figs, their sauce and a dollop of creme fraeche.

ROASTED FIG TARTLETS

Steps:

• With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in crème fraîche and confectioners' sugar until smooth. (Filling can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before using.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine port, star anise, cinnamon, peppercorns, zest, granulated sugar, and honey in a roasting pan. Use the tip of a paring knife to scrape vanilla seeds into port mixture, then add pods. Add figs, and turn to coat. Roast, basting once, until figs are soft and liquid is syrupy, about 45 minutes. Let cool. (Figs and syrup can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 5-inch rounds. Fit dough into 4-inch tartlet pans, and trim excess dough flush with rims. Pierce bottoms of shells all over with a fork. Place shells on a rimmed baking sheet; refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Bake tartlet shells until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
• Spoon 2 tablespoons filling into each crust. Top with figs, and drizzle with some syrup. Garnish with orange zest curls. Tartlets can be refrigerated up to 1 hour. Unmold, and serve immediately.

FIG TARTLETS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Divide the pastry into 6 pieces. Roll out each piece to the thickness of a £1 coin and cut into a 11-12cm round, using a cutter or saucer as a guide. Place on the baking sheet and mark 1cm in from the edge, taking care not to cut right through the pastry. Fork over the pastry inside the marked line.
• Slice each fig and arrange, overlapping, inside the marked line of the tartlets. Brush with the butter and sprinkle with icing sugar. Can now be chilled for up to 5 hrs. Bake for 18-20 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden on the edges.
• Warm the jelly in a small pan, brush over the tartlets, then dust with more icing sugar. Serve warm from the oven or at room temperature, with Pistachio ice cream (see 'Goes well with...') or crème fraîche.

CHEESE TARTLETS WITH FIG JAM

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until softened. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook for 8-10 minutes or until onion is deep golden brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in preserves. Place shells on an ungreased baking sheet; fill with onion mixture., In a small bowl, combine the cheeses, egg yolk and pepper flakes. Spoon over tops. Bake 350° 5-8 minutes or until heated through. Top with thyme if desired.

FRESH FIG AND PORT SORBET

Steps:

• Trim the hard parts and stems of the figs and quarter the remainder.
• Add the figs and water to a saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer.
• As the mixture heats up, add the lemon zest.
• Stir 2-3 times over the first 10 minutes.
• After about 10 minutes, the figs will soften and begin to break up.
• When the figs are soft, add the sugar and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes more until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy.
• Remove from the heat.
• Using either a stick blender in the pot or transferring the mixture to a regular blender, VERY CAREFULLY (Remember, this mixture is hot), puree the mixture.
• Now add the port, 1 1/2 cups of water and the lemon zest to the mixture.
• Taste and if it's too tangy (i.e., you didn't have Meyer lemons and substituted regular lemons), you may need to adjust with a tiny amount of sugar.
• Once the mix is cool, pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions to get a semi-firm consistency.
• Remove the ice cream and place in a container in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Remove, scoop, and enjoy!