Baked figs with chocolate, bacon, goat cheese, and candied orange peel and ginger

Heavenly. Eat just one and be satisfied. This is a perfect mix of sweet, sour, fat, salty — all in one bite.

These yummy morsels were served as a snack during a one-day workshop at Stillheart Institute.
Click here to see images of that day (includes breakfast, lunch, snacks).

Click here for a similar fig yum yum.

Best to serve these warm, however, the enjoyment factor was still very high when I cleaned up the snack table an hour or so later… there was one left, lucky me.

SPEED COOKING TIP:

Chop the figs and put all ingredients in a saute pan and cook on medium heat until the chocolate is melted and mixture is heated through. Transfer to a favorite bowl, find a cozy spot and eat with a spoon.

Ingredients:    (see below for preparation details)

• Fresh Mission figs (best to have similar sizes so that they have same cook time)
• Dark chocolate chips, two pieces for each fig
• Drunken goat cheese, diced, two pieces for each fig
• Bacon pieces, one 1/4 -inch piece for each fig (see TIPS, below)
• Candied Orange Peel and Ginger with Tamarind Paste

  (sugar free! Click here to learn how to make this.)

• Fresh basil leaf

optional ingredients:

• pomegranate (check out this image, yum)
• oregano
• mint
• chopped nuts, or a whole almond (better yet — slivered dry roasted almond pieces)

Directions    (Assembly details, below)

1. Prepare the figs:

1. Gently wash and dry the figs.
2. Remove the stems, discard.
3. Remove a bit of the top to expose the inside. (Save this piece for other uses, see TIPS, below.)
4. Remove a bit of the bottom of each fig, just a thin slice, so that they stand up easily. (Save this piece for other uses, see TIPS, below.)
5. Scoop out some of the seeds, best to use a small utensil like a small measuring spoon — the 1/8 teaspoon. (Save for other uses, see TIPS, below.)
6. Set each fig on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart (wide enough for your fingers/hands to navigate between them for ease of removing later when they are hot).

2. Prepare the bacon, chocolate, cheese, leaves:

1. Cook the bacon (see TIPS, below).
2. Meanwhile, count two chocolate chip pieces for each fig, set aside in small bowl. Or– cut a chocolate bar into pieces (to the same size as chocolate chips).
3. Dice the cheese to the size of green peas, use two pieces for each fig, put in small bowl, set aside.
4. Select leaves –or cut them– to about 1/2-inch to one-inch long, put in small bowl, set aside.

3. For one fig — have one pinch of the candied orange peel and ginger. (Click here for the recipe.)

Assembly and cooking

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the figs on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
3. Place a leaf in each fig, push to one side so that it sticks to the inner wall of the fig.
4. Then place a bacon piece next to each leaf.
5. Drop the orange and ginger mixture into each fig, push to one side so that at least one orange slice shows above the fig.
6. Drop in the cheese, then the chocolate pieces.
7. Cook for 8 minutes, or until chocolate is melted and figs are heated through.

TIPS

1. What to do with removed fig parts:

1. Freeze, blend, dehydrate, make a reduction sauce or just eat’m with a bit of yogurt.
2. I saved the parts in different containers because I used the dark tops differently than the pink seeds. The pink seeds were blended in a smoothie along with melon and coconut, and the tops (with the dark skins) were used in a red wine reduction sauce.

2. How to remove a thin slice from the bottoms of the figs:
Slice just enough to allow the fig to sit flat. There are two ways to make this slice:

1. Make the slice on the edge of the fig bottom so that the fig sits slightly tilted (see middle fig on the left side in the image above).
2. Make the slice straight across the bottom so that the fig sits upright (see the bottom left fig in the image above).

3. Cook the bacon:

1. Slice the raw bacon into 1/4-inch pieces (a scissor works well for this, too), then cook the pieces in a small pan on medium to low heat with enough water to cover.
2. Cook until water is gone and bacon is crispy, about 15 minutes, set aside in small bowl.