White Wine & Honey Poached Figs

Pair with Murgo Brut Etna Spumante (bubbles)

A simple, tasty accompaniment to the cheese spread. Good with the soft / stinky & aged / nutty. (Try the leftovers with Vanilla Ice Cream). The Murgo Brut Sparkling wine is citrus-tangy and will go well with the brightness in the wine cooked figs. Often, sweet food + dry wine pairings can be a little off, but this one truly sings!

check out the Thanksgiving Wine Packs for more wine and food pairing ideas.

you’ll need:

1 medium sized sauce pan

2 medium sized bowls

citrus zester (or microplane. I like the zester because it makes pretty ribbon strips)

~8oz dried white figs

3 star anise*

4 thin slices ginger*

6 Tablespoons honey (=1/4c + 2T)

zest 1/2 orange (entire orange if it’s small)

juice of 1/2 orange (entire orange if it’s small)

1.5c white wine

1/2c water

almonds or walnuts (optional, to serve on the side to add some crunchy)

*I prefer to keep the spices as background flavors and let the focus be the honey, orange, fig, and wine. You can, however, add any spices you desire: cardamom, cinnamon, etc.

• cut off any fig stems, then quarter the figs

• in one of the bowls, zest the orange (you’ll notice all the oils spritzing, try to capture them in the bowl!). Set aside.

• in the saucepan, combine the figs, anise, ginger, strained juice of the orange, wine, honey, and water.

• cook on low (the lowest setting possible), for 35min—I recommend low because I always walk away and forget I have something on the stove. Decreases the burn risk.

• after 35min, take the figs out of the liquid (if you have it, use a slotted spoon strainer) leaving behind in the saucepan the liquid, anise, and ginger.

• reduce down the liquid, you can turn the heat up here, but don’t walk away! ~15-20min. Hang out by the stove for this step. you want to make sure the liquid reduces and thickens, but it would be a bummer to let it take a turn to Burnsville.

• remove the anise and ginger (and any other whole spices you may have added) & pour the reduced liquid over the zested orange. This method will still soften the peel, but maintain the freshness of the orange. let sit for 5min, then add the figs and gently stir together.

• eat some tasty honey ‘n wine figs!