Fig Season in NC & Fig Preserves

Delicious figs harvested at last. We didn’t get much rain for quite some time and the figs we not looking too good until the skies finally opened up and we had to scoot in and out of the rain to snatch them off the branches before the birds feasted and left us remnants, but don’t worry, we left plenty for them, a few each day seemed to work work out fine for all of us. With that said it was a fine day for processing the figs into a good batch of preserves

You can choose anyone of our guest chef’s recipes and add your own touches like I did such as cinnamon, cloves, lemon slices, vanilla, and ginger.

Start with a basic recipe like Mark Bittman’s

I prefer chunkier preserves that way I have the best of two worlds as the preserves gives you the satisfaction of “getting a prize” like my friend Susan says and you can to a quick chop, whiz, or chop to further break down the figs.

Example of an easy fig jam recipe below but feel free to explore other chef’s recipes:

1 pound fresh figs, stemmed and chopped
4 tablespoons honey (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1-2 tablespoons water

1. Combine the figs, honey, and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add water if it becomes too thick. Adjust heat so mixture bubbles steadily. If it looks too soupy, use a higher heat to reduce it; if there is not much liquid, use lower heat to avoid burning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is liquid but thick. Turn off the heat. It will thicken up some more once you put it in the refrigerator.

2. Let cool a bit and put in a mason jar or other covered container. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Tonight company dinner will be a nice fig glazed pork tenderloin and I’ll be sure to take photo to post later.