Apartment Dining

I only cooked one night this weekend for a dinner party to celebrate the visit of my friend Inbal. She moved to Israel last year, but she’s back for the month to visit friends in all corners of New York State and she spent the weekend on the lovely futon in my living room. (Lovely is a bit strong. Creaky and lumpy may be more appropriate adjectives.) I decided to keep things simple by using existing recipes, so we made salsa, salad, and a summer tomato tart. We finished the night with cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar and a tasting of our friend Sean’s amazing home brewed beer, along with a few rounds of Rock Band.

This afternoon was my first time back in the kitchen, and as I assessed the contents of the fridge, I was faced with a wall of questionable leftovers. The three items that held up were the blueberries, figs, and a forgotten lemon (it should have been zested for the tart), so naturally I thought, “Muffins.”

These muffins are a take on the traditional blueberry muffin with pureed fresh fig and a dash of lemon zest. I think they have just the right level of sweetness, but you could get away with cutting down the sugar to 3/4 cup. They’re also a great way to use leftover ingredients if you make the Fig and Goat Cheese Salad I posted last week. Recipe after the jump. » Read the rest of this entry «

As a child, I despised Fig Newtons more than any other lunch bag item. I couldn’t stand the mealy texture of their filling or the moist cookie surrounding it, even though the commercials hailed them as a refined confection. They had no animated mascot or commercials featuring rebellious kids with fruit heads. All I wanted was a pack of Dunkaroos or a bag of Gushers before running off to band practice, so more often than not, the Newtons would end up traded to an unsuspecting 2nd grader or in the trash.

This hatred of Fig Newtons resulted in me never trying a fresh fig until last year. They were easy to avoid in the Northeast, however when I came across a fig and prosciutto salad during my lunch hour, I decided it was time to grow up and I’m so glad I did. Fresh figs are nothing like their mashed and mangled cousins in Fig Newtons. They’re incredibly sweet and have a texture unlike any other fruit I’ve tried.

I was inspired by this salad from Last Night’s Dinner and I made my own version for dinner today. It’s a combination of figs, goat cheese, blueberries, and greens that come together with a balsamic vinaigrette. Recipe and more photos after the jump. » Read the rest of this entry «