PrintSauced Figs: A Way to Use Old Wine
I love wine—I drink a glass almost every night—but I have a hard time finishing an entire bottle. And after a few days, that luscious, inky petit syrah can taste a bit...well, off. So what's a girl to do with the dregs? Inspired by a package of dried figs I found in my cupboard and half a bottle of just-this-side-of-bad Sangiovese I had on the shelf, I emailed Marie Simmons (author of many cookbooks, including Fig Heaven
Her advice?
Throw the dried figs in a pot with a combination of water and wine. Add a cinnamon stick and a bay leaf. Simmer until the figs are plump and tender, adding more liquid as needed. Remove the figs, and set aside. Add sugar to the pot, and simmer until the wine mixture is thick. Toss the figs back in, and stir to coat. Fish out the cinnamon stick and the bay leaf, and there you have it: figs in spiced wine syrup.
I've found that measurements are irrelevant here; just use what you've got and improvise to suit your tastes as you go. The poached figs are divine stirred into yogurt, scooped over ice cream, or eaten straight from the container late at night in front of an open refrigerator. Plus, they make great gifts when spooned into jars and tied with a ribbon.
So the next time you can't quite kill that bottle, experiment. Dried strawberries in fizzed-out Champagne? Apricots in chardonnay? Plumbs in merlot? We would love to know what you come up with, as well as any other ideas you have for how to use up yesterday's wine.
About the author: Lucy Baker is a graduate student in the writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. Before returning to school to pursue an MFA, she was an assistant cookbook editor at HarperCollins. She lives in Brooklyn and is currently obsessed with all things fennel.
Photograph from foéÖþoooey on Flickr
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7 Comments:
Very creative & interesting post. I sometimes use this same procedure with sun dried tomatoes. You can then puree the sun dried tomatoes and some mayonnaise along with a little of the liquid from the pot to make a quick salad dressing. chefjp
chefjp at 12:51PM on 09/25/07
I am intrigued! Of course, we rarely seem to have left over wine in our household...
Tellicherry at 12:57PM on 09/25/07
I love to make wine jelly with either cheap or leftover wine. Although my recipe calls for an entire bottle of wine, I have also used half a bottle mixed with fruit juice (preferably an unsweetened brand) successfully.
The resulting jelly is great on sandwiches, as a glaze for meats, or spread with cream cheese on Ritz crackers :-)
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 1:41PM on 09/25/07
I'm trying that the minute I get out of this dorm and have access to a kitchen!
happybites at 1:58PM on 09/25/07
I do it with pears too...divine on its own, or spooned over vanilla ice-cream ;)
onedaylingers at 4:13PM on 09/25/07
I love it, and have made something similar recently, with cinnamon stick, cardamom, a couple cloves, and prunes as well as figs. Goes very nicely with yogurt or over ricotta. But how is it different from a compote, which a friend of mine recently described as "Jewish old lady food"?
emily20008 at 10:48PM on 09/25/07
I roast fresh figs in balsamic vinegar until the balsamic gets syrupy and the figs are warm. Put this over peppery greens tossed with olive oil. Top with goat cheese and walnuts. Amazing salad.
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ExpatChef at 11:12AM on 09/26/07