Recipes for Exotic Fruits, Nuts and Spices uses dried Black Mission figs

Tag : fig
 To freeze figs, you'll first want to treat them withan acid to keep them from discoloring. You can use thawed frozenorange juice concentrate or a solution of ½ teaspoon ascorbicacid and 1 quart of water.
Wash figs and remove stems; leave whole or slice. Dip figs inthawed orange juice concentrate or ascorbic acid solution. Placethem in a container and freeze, or place them on cookie sheets,freeze, and then pack in airtight containers.
This rich dessert can be served with a scoop of vanilla ice creamand would go particularly well with an Italian meal.
This recipe, also from "Tropical Desserts: Recipes for Exotic Fruits, Nuts and Spices," uses dried Black Mission figs instead of raisins.
• Ingredients:
FOR THE FILLING
2 cups dry red wine, a cabernet sauvignon or merlot
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of ½ orange
¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
8 ounces (approximately 1 cup) mascarpone
12 to 14 figs (Black Mission, Calimyrna or Brown Turkey)
FOR THE STRUDEL
4 sheets phyllo dough
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted, for brushing the phyllo
Powdered sugar, in a sifter for dusting
• Instructions:
To prepare the filling, pour the red wine in a saucepan and placeover medium heat. Bring to a simmer and allow it to continuesimmering for approximately 16 to 20 minutes, until its volume isreduced by half.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar, honey, orangejuice, black pepper and cardamom. Set aside ½ cup of themixture to use as a sauce at serving time. Place both sets ofmixture in the refrigerator to cool.
Using a mixer, whip the mascarpone until it stiffens. Slowly pourin the cooled wine mixture (not the ½ cup to be used atserving) while mixing on low speed, and let the mascarpone absorbthe liquid. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula andmix until smooth.
Using a sharp paring knife, remove the hard fig stems and quarterthe figs. Use a rubber spatula to fold them into the mascarponemixture and set aside.
To make the strudel, place two sheets of phyllo side by side on awork surface. Brush with the melted butter and dust with powderedsugar. Place the two remaining sheets of phyllo on top of these andpress firmly with the palms of your hands to seal each set of twosheets together. Brush the tops with melted butter and dust withsifted powdered sugar.
Spoon one-half of the fig and red wine filling along the longeredge of one set of layered phyllo. Grasp onto the long edge andcarefully roll the filling up into the phyllo, pressing with yourfingers to ensure as tight a roll as possible. Repeat with thesecond set of layered phyllo to create a second strudel. Transfereach strudel to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. If desired, you maycover and refrigerate the strudels at this point for several hours.
A half-hour before serving time, bake the strudels at 400 degreesfor 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Allow them tocool for 10 minutes, then slice each strudel into five to sixpieces. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar, place the slices onindividual plates. Spoon some reserved red wine sauce around thestrudels; serve.
• Per serving, based on 12: 242 calories; 2 grams protein; 24 grams carbohydrates; 13 gramsfat (8 saturated, 2 monounsaturated, 0 polyunsaturated; 3 other);35 milligrams cholesterol; 46 milligrams sodium; 2 grams fiber; 18grams sugar; 47 percent calories from fat.