Grilled figs with ricotta and honey

I have always loved dried fruit.  Fairly recently in life, I discovered I love dried figs.  Trader Joe's carries several varieties, all of which I have tried.  However, it wasn't until this weekend that I tasted the pure deliciousness of fresh figs.  One bonus of having a husband employed by Whole Foods' produce department is knowing what's available and in season.  Fresh figs come in to season in late summer and early fall.  Our local Whole Foods has several varieties right now... I went with the ones on sale: black mission figs.

A few of my favorite cookbooks have fresh fig recipes that call for grilliing.  Some have LOTS of specialty ingredients, but I wanted to keep it simple.  Simplicity is my number one rule for trying a new food.  If you bury the new flavors in lots of other exotic ingredients, how are you ever going to know if you like it?  So, I came up with this recipe on my own after consulting my books.  It is highly recommended, even if you think it sounds weird.

Grilled Figs on Bread with Ricotta and Honey
Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients:
8 slices of a french baguette
8 or so small figs or fewer larger figs (this recipe should work for any variety), washed and halved
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
1-2 tbsp honey
Olive oil for drizzling + a dash of vegetable oil to prevent burning
Good balsamic vinegar for drizzling (see note)

Directions:
1. Preheat grill (ours set near 300 degrees worked well).
2. Place figs in a bowl and toss with oil to coat.
3. Place figs, cut side down, onto grill.  Grill for about 4 minutes, until figs are soft but not completely mushy.  Large figs may take longer.  I recommend flipping them at the very end for about a minute to soften the backsides.
4. While figs are on the grill, mix ricotta and honey and then smear it onto the bread pieces.
5. Top with grilled figs and drizzle with a small amount of balsamic vinegar to serve.  Enjoy!

Notes:
- I recommend having two types of balsamic vinegar in your kitchen.  First, keep a cheaper bottle for making reductions and sauces.  Second, keep a bottle of really good balsamic for drizzling on salads and other foods, like the recipe above.  Avoid balsamic vinegar with caramel color, as this is a sign of low quality, cheap vinegar.  Our cheap balsamic vinegar comes from Trader Joe's and is the real thing while carrying a not-so-hefty price tag.  Our good balsamic vinegar comes from a specialty shop (The Oilerie in Fish Creek, Wisconsin) and is a 25 year aged balsamic.  It is a good investment to make because it is amazing and a little goes a very, very long way.  This is especially true if you keep a second, cheaper bottle in your kitchen.  We even put it on ice cream- it is that good!
- Look for figs that are firm to the touch and have a nice teardrop shape.  Avoid figs that smell fermented, are mushy, or have any other signs of rot. 

Honey and Ricotta before mixing

Figs on the grill

Heaven.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (Vegan)

I was searching for a birthday treat recipe when I stumbled on this gem.  I've made them twice in the last couple of weeks.  It is normally really hard to find a crowd pleasing, chewy, easy-to-make cookie, especially a vegan recipe, but this is definitely one!
Be careful if you don't like spicy foods.  These cookies are great and kid-friendly if you leave the cayenne out.  However, I suggest taking the risk and leaving it in, just don't feed them to kids!  You won't even taste the spice right away.  It is just a wave of warmth on the finish- perfect for warming you up on a cold day!

 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (Vegan)

By: IsaChandra from the Post Punk Kitchen

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients: 

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil,  sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.
4. Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.
5. Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. 
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Flatten the dough into the sugar mixture.

Perfect and beautiful chewy cookies!

Mocha Meringue Cookies

I did it!  I finally got to use my KitchenAid mixer to make meringues!  Most importantly, I succeeded!

Whipping egg whites into meringue is one of the few things that I had to put off making until I had some type of electric mixer again.  It's just too tough to do it well by hand.  With a stand mixer, it was actually pretty easy.  I always thought it would be much more difficult to get right.  I read and reread several cookbook sections on proper technique.  Finally, I gave it a go.

The result:

Not bad for a first try!

Mocha Meringue Cookies
Source: I followed the guide in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and improvised my own flavorings.
Yield: roughly 4 dozen 1-2 inch cookies

Ingredients:
4 egg whites at room temperature.  It is very important that no yolk made it into the egg whites.
4 pinches of cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup superfine sugar or regular sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I used natural)
1 tbsp espresso powder

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees F.  Using a stand mixer or an electric mixer and a metal or glass bowl, beat the whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt until they begin to hold peaks.  Gradually add the sugar a bit at a time, and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.  Gently fold in the cocoa and espresso powder.  It is fine if some streaks remain.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Use a pastry bag or a resealable bag with the corner snipped off to pipe mounds of meringue, each a couple of tablespoons.  These cookies do not rise, so they can be fairly close together.
3. Bake until the cookies are hard and until they release easily from the parchment, about 2 hours.  Turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar.  Our oven closes on its own, so I put an oven mitt in the door to prop it open a bit.  Let the meringues cool in the oven for at least another hour.  When they have cooled, place the meringues in an airtight container immediately.  If you leave them out, they will pull in moisture and before you know it, they will be incredibly sticky.  If this happens, pop them back in the oven at 200 degrees F for a few minutes, until they are dry to the touch.  Cool again, and seal them up.

Notes:
1. Make sure not to use a plastic bowl.  Plastic is closely related to fat and can harbor even the slightest amount that will deflate your eggs.
2. My meringues had pretty streaks of the cocoa and espresso powder throughout.  It is much more important not to over mix your meringue mixer than to get rid of these streaks.
3.  I highly recommend looking at videos, pictures, and recipes online to get a sense of what your whites are supposed to look like.  But, don't get discouraged by horror stories.  These cookies were a lot easier to make than most things led me to believe.  I have come to the conclusion that some people just don't belong in the kitchen.
4.  Save this recipe for a day that isn't really humid.  Or, just make sure the AC is on.
5.  The more fine your sugar is, the better the meringues will be.  I used regular white sugar and my meringues were good, but the texture just improves with finer sugar.  I've read that you can just pulse regular sugar in a food processor, but I didn't try it.

Beginning to beat the whites.

Close enough to stiff peaks.

Folding in the cocoa and espresso powder.

Before baking.

Post baking...mmm!