November 2005

Baked Fig With A Strawberry Jelly And A Spiced Red Wine Syrup

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The first thing that needs to be done is the jelly. We took a small terrine mould and lightly oiled it. Then we lined it with a layer of clingfilm. The oil is just there to help the cling film stick to the inside of the mould. We then took the tops of some strawberries and filled the mould. The jelly itself can either be made with champagne or wine. I think that champagne is too expensive for this and prefer to use a nice fruity sweet white wine.

I put the white wine into a sauce pan and gently heated it with some castor sugar and some finely chopped mint. I used one bottle of wine and about eight tablespoons of sugar but the amounts can obviously be reduced for a smaller batch. Into this we added some pre-softened gelatine leaves. I recommend that you use six or seven sheets per pint of liquid that you trying to set. To soften the sheets you just need to put into cold water and leave till soft then remove and squeeze well to remove any excess water.

Once the gelatine leaves had been added they should dissolve completely into the warm wine mixture. Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly and then pour into the strawberry filled mould. You can mix the strawberries and the wine in a bowl first and then fill the mould if you prefer as this will sometimes help to get the chopped mint mixed all the way through. This needs to be left in the fridge, preferable over night to set properly.

The next part is the wine syrup. I have made quite a lot, as I like to use it for a variety of things. We put a bottle of cheap red wine into a saucepan. Into this we added about twelve cloves, two bay leaves, about six pods of star anisse and one cinnamon stick. We brought the wine up to the boil and then simmered it until it had reduced to about a quarter of its original volume. We the passed it through a sieve to remove all the spices.

The wine was then returned to the pan and into it was added about half a cup of demarera sugar. It was put back onto the heat until all the sugar had completely dissolved into the wine. Then we removed form the heat and allowed to cool. As it cools it will start to set. If you find that once it has set it seems too thin, it can be reheated and more sugar added.

The last part of this dish is the fig. This was simple cut across the top and then squeezed until it opened slightly. It was placed on an oven trey on a piece of grease proof paper and then drizzled with honey and then baked for about six minutes at about 180 degrees C.

That is it. We then just put the syrup, a slice of the strawberry jelly and a fig onto a nice plate a put a light dusting of icing sugar over the top. It does seem a lot of work but it is worth the effort. I hope you enjoy it.

Enjoy.

Paul Vincent, Head Chef.