Before we head off to England (and a five day side-trip to Northern France) to visit the across-the-pond family, we wanted to leave you with a different option for your Christmas Day meal.  Some families love making hard-core meals for Christmas Day dinner – meals that take hours to cook and include many courses or many side dishes.  If that is your type of meal, then you may want to save this recipe for another time (perhaps when you’re hung over on New Year’s Day?).   This dish is so flavorful and so freaking easy to make.  You know what makes it even better? It’s a cost-effective.  So chat with your butcher, make it easier and just ask him/her to butterfly that pork for you, grab a huge mug of egg nog or mulled wine, throw on some Johnny Mathis and spend some time doing what real Americans will be doing – hanging out with Ralphie.

MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HANUKKAH/HAPPY KWANZAA EVERYONE! Thank you for supporting us, commenting on posts and actually reading our words.  It means more than you know!  Have a delicious 2010!

“If I should wish a fruit brought to Paradise it would certainly be the fig.” - Prophet Mohammed

We don’t really “do” dessert. We really don’t. If we did we’d probably get a lot more hits from Tastespotting and Foodgawker, since they only seem to post chocolate flavored desserts topped liberally with powdered sugar and sprigs of mint. But bitterness aside, and in a kind of concession to both these photo sites and our own heavy bias towards savory dishes, we decided that it was time to make some sort of dessert, and a summery one at that.

Now, because we’re not bakers of any note, we decided to avoid baking, and indeed, cooking altogether, and simply arranged what nature and the bounty of our local grocery store had provided — namely, figs and greek yogurt decorated with honey and crushed pistachios. About as simple a preparation as you could imagine, right?

Serious About Figs

So, because there’s no recipe to speak of, I need to somehow extend this already overly long post, so here are some interesting tidbits about figs that I certainly wasn’t aware of, and I suspect, if you’re honest, you weren’t either.

Figs are the fruit of the ficus plant, or tree, and if you’ve ever had house plants, you’ll probably have had a ficus. While she was a student, my sister had one that survived heroically for six years on a steady diet of the dregs from cold cups of tea before meeting its tragic Waterloo being pulled out of her third floor window by an adventurous and powerful squirrel.

It is thought that figs (or ficus’) are among the most ancient genuses (genii?) of flowering plants being as much as 80 million years old, so it is little wonder then given the scientific accuracy of the Bible (note: this is irony) that they are described in its pages as the first fruit, and that it is with fig leaves that Adam and Eve hide their nakedness from the good Lord in the book of Genesis. In fact, contributors to the holy book were not the only ones to extol the virtues and practicalities of the fig, Roman poet, Pliny the Elder wrote, “Figs are restorative. They increase the strength of young people, preserve the elderly in better health and make them look younger with fewer wrinkles.”

In the intervening years, a wondrous variety of different kinds of figs have come into being — some through mutation, some by the hand of man, but today in the United States a couple of different kinds of fig predominate. The common or mission, fig is most, err common, and though, with its purple skin and pinky-peach flesh and yellow seeds it is at its best when fresh and ripe, sadly it is most often eaten dried. It was brought to North America by the Spanish and first planted in 1759 at San Diego Mission (hence the name). Later, the Smyrna fig variety arrived in California’s San Joaquin Valley from the eponymous town in modern-day Turkey in 1882 and was renamed Calimyrna later this century in honor of its new homeland. Other relatively easy to find varieties include the Kadota and Adriatic figs, the former is the American varietal of the Italian Dattato and is practically seedless, and the latter, well, is a variety originally from the Croatian coast, and is now very commonly made into, of all things, Fig Newtons.

Other interesting points about figs include: only the female fig is edible, and that figs are not really fruit as such, falling into the category of false fruits, (as indeed do strawberries, and many other berries) because the fig is, in fact, the flower and the seeds it contains are the fruit. Like I said, interesting, right? What? oh…

Anyway, it’s fig season right now through the end of September, so go get yourself some and enjoy them as if they were the first fruit! We have entered this simple and easy recipe in A Southern Grace’s Beat the Heat event since this is a great thing to make when it’s boiling hot outside.

Recipe (if you must have one) serves 4

12 ripe mission/common figs, split and spread as above

6-10oz plain Greek yogurt

2-3 tbsp runny honey

2 tbsp crushed pistachios

Assemble all these on plate and enjoy, perhaps with a chilled glass of dessert wine. We think something like a Pedro Ximenez or Moscatell would be rather nice.

Check out some other posts you may enjoy:

• CACIO E PEPE: SPAGHETTI WITH PECORINO AND BLACK PEPPER ROMAN-STYLE
• KILLING ANIMALS: HOW DO YOU REALLY FEEL ABOUT IT?
• JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN WITH RICE AND PEA
• GRILLED STEAK WITH TARRAGON GARLIC BUTTER
• MASHED YUCA WITH SOUR ORANGE AND ALLSPICE

Although we were the lucky recipients of a gorgeous red tagine as an engagement pressie from my parents friends a few years ago, we decided to forgo using it in the 95 degree heat New Yorkers were forced to endure last week. For those who may not know, a tagine (or tajine) is a clay vessel used for the North African dishes of Moroccan cuisine. It’s a two-parter type of deal – the bottom is like a heavy clay pot about five inches in depth and the top is a cone-like lid. There are no air holes in a tagine and this is specifically for keeping the steam inside. It almost creates a small clay oven on your stovetop or in the oven. What’s absolutely brilliant about this cooking vessel is that, due to its conical shape, it retains the moisture which is emanated from the ingredients inside and as it rises, it gathers on the conical top and falls right back into the food braising perfectly. This creates real depth of flavor as well as moist and delicious meats, especially those cuts that are tougher or cheaper. Tagines are really made for slow and low type of cooking and are used for a variety of different types of meals including meat or fish tagines and even soups. I highly recommend getting one of these babies for your kitchen and trying it out – but wait until it’s not 90 degrees outside.Which brings me to the actual recipe portion of this post – it’s friggin/freaking/fricking/fuggin/fucking (however the heck you express it) hot here in my neck of the woods. H-O-T. The last thing I felt like doing was turn on my oven. Luckily, on a shop-a-holic spring weekend in April we got summer-fever and spent about $300 we don’t really have at Lowes. At that time (and in my “holy s&it it’s the first 60 degree day” happiness fog), I thought it would be a great idea to purchase a $99 gas grill for our “backyard”. Somehow, miraculously, we shoved this very large gas grill in our small ‘backyard’ in Brooklyn (I use the word backyard lightly considering our plot of bricked-over land is about 7 feet by 3 feet – but I AM NOT COMPLAINING… honestly!). It’s the best financial investment I’ve made since buying my husbands greencard 5 years ago!

I’m rambling. Apologies. I’m writing this as I’m at the beach, pink with a light sunburn, and I’m 3/4 of the way down a very strong vodka tonic (twist of lime, thank you very much!). Anyways, it was freaking hot in New York, I was craving a tagine and I did not want to turn on my oven or stovetop. What’s a girl to do? Buy all the ingredients for a tagine and cook them on the grill separately. So, that’s what I did and let me tell you kind readers, it was freaking fabulous. We grilled every bit of what I would’ve put in a tagine and we served it with a nutty and fruity couscous. It’s been done time and time again, but, like I’ve mentioned before in another “deconstructed meal”, sometimes you just want to cut into things with a knife and fork. This meal was super easy and obviously much quicker to cook than a tagine. It’s perfect for the hot summer. Just rub your favorite Moroccan spice blend over your lamb (or use chicken if you’d prefer!) like a Ras el hanout, and grill along side fresh apricot and olives. Yes, we grilled olives. Although I don’t think it’s necessary to grill, the olives did take on a nice flavor by grilling them. Throw it all together with some cous cous and (as my British husband would say) you’re laughing.

I have submitted this dish to Grill It! this months “Monthly Mingle”. 

TAGINE-STYLE MOROCCAN LAMB WITH GRILLED APRICOTS AND OLIVES – serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 lamb shoulder chops
• 1 large onion, cut into thick slices (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches)
• 10 large whole green olives
• 2 apricots (you can use dried apricots or other stone fruit like plums if it’s not the season)
• For Moroccan Spice Mix:
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chile powder or cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon tumeric (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• For Cous Cous
  • 1 cup of couscous (your favorite brand – if it’s packaged, no problem
  • chicken stock to cook it in
  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • handful of fresh coriander, minced
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1 teaspoon of the moroccan spice
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

What do to:

1. Add all the spices together and mix with a fork or spoon to create your Moroccan Spice Mix.
2. Rub spice mix generously on lamb and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes using a little olive oil to help it adhere.
3. Make sure to reserve at least one teaspoon of the mix to flavor your couscous.
4. Heat grill to medium-high and grill your chops for at least 4 minutes (perhaps as many as 6 minutes – use “poke” test to check) per side for a nice medium-rare pink.
5. After a couple of minutes, oil the onions and begin grilling. These need around five minutes per side and be careful turning them as they tend to separate.
6. After turning your chops over, add the olives, neatly threaded on some skewers. These don’t need that long, they just need to blister a little on all sides.
7. Remove chops to a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest.
8. Oil, salt and pepper the asparagus and begin grilling them.
9. Add chicken stock to couscous, cover and let absorb.
10. When stock is absorbed, add pistachios, spice mix,herbs and lemon zest and fluff together. Aromas will be wonderful!
11. Remove onions, asparagus and olives from grill. Add all to plate and sprinkle generously with some more pistachios. Enjoy!

Check Out Some Other Posts You Might Enjoy:

Knowing Your Tagliatelle from Your Tagliolini
At the Desk Gourmet: It’s the Future
Free Lunch for Inner-City Kids: Does Free Mean It Needs to be Crap?
I’m Dreaming for Some Cured Pigs Cheeks

Here is a picture of the meal at Summertime:

Recently, Jonny and I were looking through our pictures and I saw the one of the meal I had in Capoliveri and decided to try and recreate it.

Here’s a picture of our recreation:

It turned out great!! We didn’t have a recipe, but what I made was pretty close to the real thing. The main difference is the pistachios – we used white pistachios, hence the difference in color. This recipe I’ve come to learn is Sicilian in it’s roots where they grow and use them often in cooking. The Sicilian pistachio is much greener, stronger and sharper in flavor. Have you ever tasted the pistachio gelato in Italy? You’ll know what I mean about the flavor being different if you have.

I’d love someone else to try this recipe at home. It’s super easy (except the hour it takes to shell those freaking pistachios!!) and it’s extremely rich and filling. You could use the sauce on any type of pasta, but I love it on a long, thick pasta. The flavor may not be pleasing to everyone due to it’s sweet and saltiness, but to me it was an extremely eye-opening and surprising dish.

BUCATINI WITH PISTACHIO SAUCE:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. box of bucatini (you can also use any other long, thick pasta)
• about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of whole, shelled pistachios PLUS a large handfull, roughly chopped, reserved for the garnish
• 6-8 anchovies (I’m telling you, I hated anchovies until about 6 months ago… the saltiness of them make this dish. You can omit the extra 4 I ask you to add at the end if you really don’t like the flavor of anchovies, but please try using them when making the sauce)
• 1 small onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (we love garlic, so we usually add more than necessary)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups of toasted breadcrumbs
• grated parmigiano reggiano
• one anisette-flavored biscotti (this was the ‘secret ingredient’ I figured out in the dish I ate in Italy)

How to Make the Dish:

1. Boil water for your pasta – make sure it’s salted heavily and you put a bit of olive oil in it too!
2. Dice up your onion and chop your garlic (don’t worry too much about the size cause your gonna end up blitzing it)
3. Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan
4. Saute your onion until translucent, add your garlic and saute until soft (about 1-2 minutes)
5. Whip out your handy mixer/food processor. Add your sauteed onions and garlic in there along with all your pistachios (not the ones I asked you to reserve for the garnish). Add a half of cup of olive oil to start. BLITZ IT – pulse it if you want. You’ll want it to resemble a thick sauce… almost like a pesto. If you need to add more olive oil so that it’s not exactly a paste, but more like a thick sauce, please do.
6. Add your bucatini to the boiling water and cook till al dente (I’ve recently figured out that if you subtract one to two minutes from the cooking directions on the box of pasta, you’ll almost always get perfectly al dente pasta!)
7. Pour yourself a glass of wine and relax for a few minutes
8. Rough chop those extra handful of pistachios
9. Heat up another pan and lightly toast your breadcrumbs – reserve on the side after they are toasted
10. Add your pistachio sauce back to the sautee pan and put heat on low-medium. When the sauce is warming, add 3 anchovies. Watch them melt into to sauce and stir.
11. When your pasta is finished cooking, add the pasta with a slotted spoon to your warming pistachio sauce. Toss in a tablespoon or two of the pasta cooking water.
12. Add a pinch of salt if necessary (taste first, those ‘chovies can be mighty salty as is) and pepper, a decent handful of parmigiano cheese and the toasted breadcrumbs. Rough chop 3-4 extra anchovies and add them to the pasta. TOSS the pasta.
13. Plate your pasta. Sprinkle some of the roughly chopped pistachios on top and then using a cheese grater, grate some of your anisette flavored biscotti on top. VOILA!! Enjoy with a nice bottle of vino.

And that’s it! A rich, satisfying dish.