Fig Heaven: 70 Recipes for the World's Most Luscious Fruit

From Booklist
Most Americans recognize figs only from the thick, sweet, gummy filling of mass-produced cookies. But anyone who has relished the honeyed interior of a perfectly ripe fresh fig understands why the ancients so prized this fruit. Nowadays green and black fresh figs appear seasonally in supermarkets. Simmons recognizes that the prime time for fresh figs is brief, so her book includes recipes for both fresh and dried varieties in her compilation of fig recipes. Appetizer ideas include the ubiquitous figs with prosciutto, but then go beyond that to such savories as crostini with fig jam and goat cheese, and bacon-wrapped figs first poached in wine. In main dishes, figs serve as a sweet note in spicy curries or as star of a very contemporary salsa. Few desserts surpass the elegant spectacle of a fresh fig tart, the glazed split fruits sparkling like jewels within a sea of pastry cream. And for those nostalgic for the commercial stuffed cookie, Simmons explains how to make superlative Fig Newtons at home. Color illustrations contribute both beauty and utility. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

They come fresh or dry, in yellow or purple, from California and Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. They are in restaurants, supermarkets, fruit stands, backyards, and inside some very famous cookies. What are they? They're figs -- one of America's favorite fruits.

From Mission and Kadota figs to Adriatic and Calimyrna varieties, award-winning cookbook author Marie Simmons leaves no fig or fig leaf unturned in this extraordinary book about this most extraordinary fruit: Fig Heaven.

Figs are harvested in late summer and early fall, but, fortunately for us, they are easily dried and packaged, so they're available all year long. Packed with vitamins and antioxidants, plump, fragrant figs are guilt-free indulgences that can be enjoyed in countless ways.

Fig Heaven is an inviting, comprehensive cookbook offering 70 recipes for both fresh and dried figs. They range from appetizers, salads, and sandwiches to entrées and desserts.

On the savory side, you'll find Open-Faced Dried Fig and Melted Blue Cheese Sandwiches; Fettuccine with Fresh Figs, Lemon, and Rosemary; and Lamb Pilaf with Artichokes and Dried Figs. If your sweet tooth needs some real satisfaction, there's a Fresh Fig and Peach Crumble, Dried Fig and Walnut Biscotti, and Molten Chocolate Roasted Figs with Vanilla Custard Sauce.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

They come fresh or dry, in yellow or purple, from California and Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. They are in restaurants, supermarkets, fruit stands, backyards, and inside some very famous cookies. What are they? They're figs -- one of America's favorite fruits. From Mission and Kadota figs to Adriatic and Calimyrna varieties, award-winning cookbook author Marie Simmons leaves no fig or fig leaf unturned in this extraordinary book about this most extraordinary fruit: Fig Heaven. Figs are harvested in late summer and early fall, but, fortunately for us, they are easily dried and packaged, so they're available all year long. Packed with vitamins and antioxidants, plump, fragrant figs are guilt-free indulgences that can be enjoyed in countless ways.

Fig Heaven is an inviting, comprehensive cookbook offering 70 recipes for both fresh and dried figs. They range from appetizers, salads, and sandwiches to entrees and desserts. On the savory side, you'll find Open-Faced Dried Fig and Melted Blue Cheese Sandwiches; Fettuccine with Fresh Figs, Lemon, and Rosemary; and Lamb Pilaf with Artichokes and Dried Figs. If your sweet tooth needs some real satisfaction, there's a Fresh Fig and Peach Crumble, Dried Fig and Walnut Biscotti, and Molten Chocolate Roasted Figs with Vanilla Custard Sauce. Fig Heaven is the first ever cookbook devoted to these luscious, little fruits. With recipes for everything from Pickled Figs to Fig Ice Cream, the book includes color photographs of a selection of the final dishes, each of which highlights the fig's versatility and universal appeal. Whether plucked right from the tree and eaten out-of-hand or incorporated into a favorite recipe, figs are always a delight. In fact, as Fig Heaven shows, they're absolutely heavenly.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In her previous cookbooks (The Good Egg; Rice, The Amazing Grain; etc.), Simmons proved she could make an art out of a single ingredient. Now she takes on the historically significant, sensual and delectable fig. As in her earlier works, Simmons discloses the fabled history and resplendent diversity of a little-scrutinized food. When it comes to recipes, the author does not shun proven favorites, such as Classic Fig Drizzle (a honey, balsamic vinegar and rosemary dressing for figs), or Fresh Fig Tart, a summer choice. If the sugared decadence of ripe figs has a natural partner, it's the salty richness of cured pork, and Simmons makes a point of including several recipes that play up the combination to the hilt: Bacon-Wrapped Wine-Poached Dried Figs, Dried Fig and Apple-Stuffed Pork Loin with Cider Sauce, and Fresh Fig Risotto with Prosciutto di Parma. Equally alluring-if less expected-are Pan-Braised Duck Legs with Marsala and Fresh Fig Jam, and Dried Fig Cinnamon Scones. Part of a fig's considerable charm is its ability to seem equally comfortable in both sweet and savory settings, or in any part of the menu from soup to nuts. Unfortunately, figs have a short season, finicky growing conditions and are highly perishable. These factors make fresh figs pricey and narrowly available, unless, like Simmons, readers live in southern California and can grow a fig tree in their backyard. However, Simmons does offer plenty of recipes that call for easily obtainable dried figs. 8-page color insert. Agent, Judith Weber. (May) Forecast: Although Morrow plans a national broadcast and print media campaign, Simmons's cookbook is likely to resonate primarily with cooks on the West Coast, as that's where Simmons lives and writes, and it's where figs are most abundant. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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