Fig Salad ~ Total Bliss ~

Happy Monday Friends.  On The Menu Monday at Stone Gable gives us all a great excuse to start the week on a mouthwatering note with food!

The Table is Life!!

This is one of my favourite meals when the temperatures are soaring, the pool is inviting and I avoid the kitchen like the plague! Hardly any prep work and loads of relax to the max principles here...

Menu

A bowl of your favourite olives to nibble on....

Fig Salad served with Crusty Bread

Berry Sorbet doused with Bubbles

It doesn't sound like a huge meal but trust me its more than enough in hot weather when you want something light.

My grandmother would turn in her grave if she knew I bought figs in a shop!!! Let alone at the price of a small electrical appliance and in a punnet to boot…. So I hunted down, in the local nurseries, the black variety with skins that you can eat and have now dutifully planted it in a large pot since my patch of earth is not quite enormous enough to give a fig tree the free reign that it seems to demand. The dude at the nursery warned that the pot would crack in due time as the ficus root system is rather aggressive. I listen patiently and then told him we would worry about it when it happened! Seems it might take a few years so I will have time to prepare for the catastrophe! The tree has yielded a couple of figs so far but not enough yet for my fig appetite. The bird residents were very chuffed with the sweet dessert table that I had laid on for them. So I have had to resort to rather drastic measures to protect my small crop. To confuse the feathered blighters I now pop a brown paper packet over the figs when almost ripe and they are thoroughly confused providing me with entertainment and tweeting loudly.” Bloody hell, I was sure there were some figs here yesterday… what has she done with them!!!"

Fig Salad

The sexiest The salad in the world ex the naked one himself - Jamie Oliver adapted by moi.

You start by putting a bottle of champagne in the fridge of course, how else?

Then you head to your nearest and dearest Woolies food market giving the fridge time to perform its duty!

Find the fruit isle and those luscious plump fresh black figs that cost R28-99 per punnet for 6! Put them into the trolley before you change your mind! Two figs per person is a must unless you want a brawl on your hands!

Take a deep breath and head to the cheese counter, grabbing some lemons, rocket or mixed tangy Asian salad leaves and honey as you go.

 Look for those mozzarella balls in a tub of water – looks like a cottage cheese bakkie (bowl)  about R14-99. Buffalo mozzarella or goats milk will do!

Now head to Pick and Pay for some Parma ham. The Parma ham at Woolies comes from Parma in Italia and you might have to mortgage the house, the ones at Pick n  Pay is local and quite good actually! By now I am totally wanton and the bank balance a distant memory! Also black forest ham will do just as nicely.

Here’s what you do with your investments:

Wash the figs and take off the small little stems, do not be a sussie and peel them! Dry them off gently and slice a small cross in the top where you removed the stalk. Take your thumb and forefinger and gently squeeze the fig on either side and it will pop open and flower lusciously in tones of Carpaccio’s  brushstrokes. Stop drooling on the figs!

Now, arrange your flowered figs on a bed of your favourite greens e.g. rocket. Bloody baby sorrel leaves, looks too ala Picasso!

 

Separate the Parma ham slices and weave through your figs standing them up so to speak.

Now take your moza balls and rip them (elegantly please) into pieces and dot around the platter. A large white platter is just the canvas for this piece of culinary art!

Stand back, admire your work, sigh and make the dressing!

Whisk some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and a dash of honey. Salt and pepper if you want together and dress your sexy fig platter! I also use the Balsamic Creme in place of the dressing and then drizzled some honey sparingly over the salad.

Drizzle an elegant lace pattern of honey over the whole ensemble by warming the honey slightly in the microwave for a few secs (only if it is unco-operative! Oh yes I buy the squeezy bottle) by holding the honey from on high!

Oh yes those Italian Rolls from Woolies that you bake are the best served warm from the oven! Otherwise any crusty baguette or ciabatta will do just fine.

Crack the patiently waiting champagne, place the platter in the middle of the table and encourage your guests to dip the bread into the communal platter of dressing after they have selfishly removed their quota of figs to their own plates!

Even the very stuck up ones will succumb!

What you do with the rest of the honey is up to you honey…

Here is a list of my favourite wines to serve with the figs.

Bubbly of course!!! JC le Roux’s La Domaine

Springfield’s Wild yeast Chardonnay (Woolies) ~ A heavenly combo with figs!!

Nitida’s Souvignon Blanc (Woolies) ~ A close second spot

Haute Cabrier’s Pinot Noir (Woolies)

Or off course what ever makes you happy!!!

I could not for the life of me find one of my own photos of the fig salad, but as soon as I make it again (when in season) I will add the images. In the meantime I do hope you will try this. It is so easy and looks so glam and tastes simply Divine!

Please note as you know by now this recipe was written for my kids. So take it in that spirit with the prices included for them to work out their foodie budgets...lol

For desert, I use an elegant martini glass or margarita glass, scoop two scoops of your favourite berry sorbet into the glass. Top with a little champagne and a sprig of mint. Serve with a small teaspoon.

Look what else I found with figs....

A cheese tower! Stunning party piece, isn't it just!

Honey, figs, cheese, baguette and wine...what else is there that you need really?

Bon Appetit

Veronica

xxx

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Linking for health, minus the champagne to Funky Junk Interiors Healthy Recipe Link