The Easiest Fig Appetizer

August 26, 2020 4 min read 13 Comments

The Easiest Fig Appetizer
Hello! It's fig season. I never liked figs as a child, but that's because the only ones my family ate in Europe were the dried kind. {still good, I know...it was something about the texture!} These days, I can't wait for the figs to be sold at our farm stand here in town, or get ripe on my neighbor's big fig tree. Why? Because I adore fresh figs! They are so good. That there is a short fig season makes them special. And that they are usually ripe and ready for harvest around the time the summer fades into fall - well, you know how I love fall. Here is the Easiest Fig Appetizer you'll ever make- I guarantee everyone will love it! The Easiest Fig Appetizer I love using what's in season. Every mid-late August, I start looking for fresh figs. Our neighbor has a huge fig tree. Unfortunately, every bird in a fifty mile radius flies in on the daily to "just check" to see if they are at their juiciest and ripest. A few squirrels meander over there too. How do they know these things? And don't they know that figs are for us?! It's quite the battle, the fight over the figs from the neighbor's tree. She goes over there to check on her figs, and tries to pick as many as she can for people. I hear her "shoo" the squirrels away, but the birds are not so easily scared. fig tree Luckily, we have a little farmer's stand near me, a family-run farm where the fruits and vegetables are sold from the crates they are collected in from the nearby fields. You can buy fresh vegetables and fruits directly from the farm helpers who grow them. I go there as often as possible, my linen market tote in hand, it's a little bit of country right here in our suburbia!

When I saw a selection of fresh purple figs, I immediately snapped up two boxes. {this picture is from France, it's quite a feat to distance, mask on, buy fruits and vegetables and speak audibly to the farm hands. : ) Throw in the need to shoot a photo and it was just too much!}

french market FIG HISTORY: Figs have a long and symbolic history, they represent fertility, peace, and prosperity. Among the oldest fruits eaten by humans, figs were used to sweeten food before sugar became widely available. Their latin name is Ficus carica, the word fig was first recorded in the English language in the 13th century. The fig derives its name from the French word figue. Fig trees appear in both the Old and New Testament of the Bible {some scholars believe the forbidden fruit picked by Eve was a fig rather than an apple} - but it has been cultivated for much longer. Sumerian stone tablets dating back to 2500 B.C. record culinary use of figs, and remains of fig trees were found during excavations of Neolithic sites from 5000 B.C. Some historians consider it the first domesticated crop. The Greeks and Romans spread the fig throughout the Mediterranean. In the 1700's, Spanish Franciscan missionaries brought the fig with them to Southern California, creating the variety of figs called Mission Fig. fig on tree A fig tree can live as long as 100 years and grow 50 feet tall, but most stay between 10 to 30 feet. Figs grow well in warm, dry climates, they need to be in the sun to ripen. Our neighbor's tree isn't the prettiest tree on the block, but once those figs ripen, it's certainly beautiful! The Easiest Fig Appetizer honey organic Figs pair beautifully with soft goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, and honey. The perfect balance between sweet and sour. The base for this easy appetizer is just the figs. On top, the goat cheese shines with a splash of the balsamic, and a tiny drizzle of organic honey. The Easiest Fig Appetizer The Easiest Fig Appetizer Here in our FrenchGardenHouse garden, we serve these as often as we can! Everyone loves these...they are fresh, and oh so delicious! Because I need to be gluten-free, I always make them like this. But, if you love good crusty bread, by all means serve the same ingredients to guests with slices of bread. I make Ina's crostini ahead of time, so that making this variation is just as easy! easy appetizer EASY FIG APPETIZER INGREDIENTS: * Ripe Figs. They can be the purple or green variety. * Soft cheese, like a goat cheese. But I've used other kinds of soft cheese with great results! * A good quality aged balsamic vinegar. * Honey DIRECTIONS: 1. Select large, ripe figs, wash, and cut each in half. Make sure to cut off the little stem. 2. Put a small slice or a dollop of the soft cheese on each fig half. 3. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over each fig. 4. Drizzle a tiny amount of honey over each fig. The Easiest Fig Appetizer

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pin for figs I hope you can find fresh figs where you live and try this! The easiest and most delicious appetizer you can find. You can thank me later. french autumn at home collectioin

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13 Responses

Gloria
Gloria

August 28, 2020

I brandied figs this year to preserve them whole, I hope during the holidays I can use your receipt to serve them. I also make fig mustard, I also dry figs to use in stuffing. It’s work but it is wonderful to be able to enjoy them later in the year. I have a wonderful friend who has a twenty year old tree. She let’s me know when they are ready to pick. Our season in Raleigh is just about over. Thank you for the receipt.

Lidy
Lidy

August 27, 2020

They are beautiful! Sadly, our neighbor’s tree is a little short on branches and leaves….but full on the fruits!

Lidy
Lidy

August 26, 2020

No! We pick them up like a bite sized appetizer. But a spoon would work…the figs are actually sturdy enough to just be a bite sized delight.

sunday hendrickson
sunday hendrickson

August 26, 2020

And not only are they delicious, but the leaves are lovely.
A branch of them in a simple vase is so elegant,
not to mention wrapping a fig leaf around a votive candle in a glass
and tying it on with raffia.
That’s decorated many a tabletop for the magazines!
Thank you, Miss Lidy!

Kelly
Kelly

August 26, 2020

Oh Y.U.M!
Do you eat them with a spoon, Lidy?

Lidy
Lidy

August 26, 2020

Alice, what great ideas! I’m going to try that quesadilla idea today for lunch, it sounds wonderful!

Lidy
Lidy

August 26, 2020

It’s called Evolvulus glomeratus…or Evolvulus Blue Daze. Blue Daze has true-blue ruffled petals and silvery-green leaves, the small 1" flowers bloom during the day, and will close if rain approaches! They love sun, and warmer climates. They do very well in our back garden, and they are such a beautiful color, aren’t they?

Alice Genzlinger
Alice Genzlinger

August 26, 2020

Yum. This is a delicious recipe and I also make quesadillas with goat cheese and figs and honey. We can’t grow them here in Colorado so must get those in the grocery store that aren’t fresh. My sister lives in NC. She has two trees. The fig have been plentifully this year. She has been making preserves and giving them away. I love to can them in simple syrup and have them in Winter for breakfast. They are Divine.

w.mcglaflin
w.mcglaflin

August 26, 2020

Hi I love the fig info but could you also share the name of the flowers displayed also.

Lidy
Lidy

August 26, 2020

Sharon, I hope you love it! I have used the honey goat cheese from Trader Joe’s, also a soft herb cheese, both were wonderful too!

Sharon Crigger-Stokan
Sharon Crigger-Stokan

August 26, 2020

Thank you for sharing your recipe! It looks and sounds so delicious – I can’t wait to try it!

Rita C at Panoply
Rita C at Panoply

August 26, 2020

My mouth is watering reading this! Oh, how I love fresh figs! That sounds like a perfect combination of tastes. A couple more weeks before they’ll be at peak here in my region, but anxiously waiting.

Nancy
Nancy

August 26, 2020

Such an easy but yet elegant appetizer or treat. Thank you for sharing!
Enjoy your day my friend…

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