Monday, June 26, 2006

Figgy kind of day....

Big, thick, healthy cookies... and they even taste good! I've been looking for a recipe that would work for a quick breakfast on the go or a substantial midday snack - I think we've found one that we both really like!

Breakfast Fig and Nut Cookies uses a mixture of whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and wheat bran. They are packed full of chopped mission figs, dried cranberries and toasted sliced almonds. Lightly spiced with cinnamon and allspice, they have a slightly sweet and wholesome taste. They are a little hard to describe texture wise, the best I can come up with is the cookies are like a muffin top that meets a sturdy cookie. They are not melt-in-your mouth cake-like, but not chewy/crisp either. There is a healthy flavor to them, but definitely not in a bad way. The cookies are almost 4" across and 3/4 of an inch thick! I want to tinker around with the recipe to try to add oats for some texture, and test other fruit combinations. I was going to use turbinado sugar on top, but glad I stuck with the granulated. I think with these golden cookies, the smaller grains scattered on top work better than the chunky raw sugar.

Keeping the fig theme of the day going, we had Chicken with Balsamic-Fig Sauce for dinner tonight. The chicken is seasoned with thyme then seared off just until they are no longer pink in the center. To the bits left in the pan, balsamic vinegar along with chicken broth, soy sauce and chopped mission figs are added in. As the mixture bubbles away, the figs plump up by soaking in the deep flavorful mixture. Meanwhile, the chicken is cut into long strips and when ready, the warm mixture is spooned over the top. There is quite a bit of sauce, so I think this would be great served over brown rice to absorb the tangy drippings. Lots of flavors and textures happening for such a quick dish.

I made Cumin Potatoes as a side for dinner, but alas - no figs hiding in this! This one starts out by boiling chunky russet potatoes until tender, but not falling apart. They are then quickly rinsed in cold water to halt them from continuing to cook. To enhance the cumin flavor, the seeds are quickly toasted with some oil in a hot skillet. The potatoes along with other seasonings are added in and left to form a rich crust. After a couple quick flips, they have a warm moist interior with a crisp outer coating. We had a hard time trying to stop at one serving each!


Recipes
Cumin Potatoes
Breakfast Fig and Nut Cookies
Chicken with Balsamic-Fig Sauce

*I also updated the recipe section to the left today - you may have to hit refresh to see the additions!

14 comments:

  1. The bikkies sound delicious & healthy, have never had figs in biscuits before, but now that I have seen & read about it - it makes sense - yum

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  2. okay gimme some potatoes NOW.
    those are just too much goodness for one dish. Thanks for sharing the recipe

    Teddy

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  3. Those potatoes look great! I have never cooked with figs before, I just may give these a try. Thanks for posting!

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  4. Those cookies look delicious, and the description of a sort of "muffin top" kinda cookie made me droll... another recipe for the never ending to try pile!
    Ana

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  5. ummm...the cookies sound awesome!

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  6. Cumin + potatoes = Happy ACME.
    Looks amazing.

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  7. I love trying to make cookies healthy. It's kind of funny the lengths we'll go to, not to feel guilty about eating them. Yours looks great. Check out Mixed Salad Annie when you get a moment.

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  8. Ange - Please give them a try! The figs add a definite uniqueness!

    Funwithyourfood - Thanks!

    Patti - I have a few more recipes I want to try with the leftover figs, I can't wait!

    Ana - Yeah, I had a hard time trying to come up with something... but I like it now!

    Emily - Thank you!

    Acme - I agree!

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  9. Annie - Yeah... I know the feeling!

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  10. Wow - love the food pics! You're a great photographer :)

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  11. I'm loving all the figs. When I lived in CA, I had a great fig tree and I miss it. The potatoes look really fantastic.

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  12. Brenda - Thanks!

    Steven - I can't wait until we can get fresh figs again!

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  13. Neighbor had some fresh figs so I received a bagful.. I made your sauce to go with the chicken and it was fab! I am wondering if I might be able to make a batch before my figs go bad and freeze it for later? Great recipe, next I will try the potatoes.

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  14. Anonymous - How nice! If I remember correctly I froze some portions of this and it came out well - you may need to thin the sauce some though.

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