Go Fig Yourself

All you hear this time of year is seasonal foods. Cook seasonally. So I pondered this, gazing out of my bedroom window in Queens, New York (not exactly rife with plentiful soil and luscious crops) and it hit me: figs. My best friend and neighbor has two beautiful fig trees in her backyard and immediately my mouth began to water and my brain began to reel. Figs. Fresh figs. FREE figs. Corn. Summer corn.

And thus I set out to make grilled chicken over corn puree with fig relish.

Step 1: Picking the figs

Kerri and I snuck into Becca's backyard (just because she's in Holland doesn't mean her fig trees should go unplucked... thanks, Becca), initially deterred when faced with green figs.

Step 2: Nursing mosquito bites incurred by Step 1

Step 3: Wrestle away what is left of your chicken breast from Devil Cat...

Step 4: Buy new chicken.

Step 5: Cooking the meal! After many bumps in the road (how that cat is still alive after eating a giant, raw chicken breast is beyond me) Kerri and I buckled down to create the meal.

Fig Relish

Serves 2-3

1 cup chopped figs (as small or large as you like them)

1 minced shallot

2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp minced rosemary

1 tsp honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine vinegar, shallot, and rosemary in a small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Add figs and honey to vinegar mixture, fold in, set aside.

Corn Puree

Serves 2-3

1/2 cup corn (frozen or a drained can will work but nothing beats

fresh summer corn from the cob)

1 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, sliced

1/2 cup heavy cream

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, add garlic and sautee until garlic is browned. Add corn and sautee for 4-5 minutes. Add heavy cream and increase heat. Stir and cook until the liquid has reduced and the cream coats the corn. Let this mixture cool, and then blend until smooth.

We cooked chicken cutlets in a frying pan with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper for about 3 minutes on each side over medium heat.

And ta-da! From brain to plate, through bug attacks, and protein-stealing felines, dinner was served. And for Karb-Kerri, we toasted up some ciabatta rolls with garlic and butter.

Until next time...

Deliciously yours,

Lauren E.

In the beginning...

Hi there! I'm Lauren and this is my foray into food writing. I'm hoping by this time next year I'll be writing to you from the sunny West Coast, possibly from a dorm room at the Culinary Institute of America. I'm going to chronicle my journey from home cook to chef extraordinaire.

First on the agenda is tomorrow's open interview session with The Capital Grille. They're opening up a new restaurant in the Financial District and I'm hoping against all hope that the head chef will be willing to take on a green girl with high hopes of a life in food. I will chop garlic. I will mix salad dressing. I will literally peel individual strings from the celery if it's what they need. I have zero culinary experience outside of my own kitchen but I have this burning desire to work with food... we'll see what happens.

Deliciously yours,
Lauren E.