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LET'S TALK, LET'S COOK by Mary Alesi Recently I overheard my nephew Paul and my son Jim in a conversation that peeked my interest. It appeared that Paul lent an expensive digital camera to a member of the family. When the camera was returned to him, it was in shambles! Melted Reese's Chocolate/Peanut butter- cups covered the entire camera, which oozed into all the nooks and crevices of this device. My nephew was angry because of this mess and he needed the camera for the next day. Paul went to bed that night and had a brainstorm. He immediately got up. He put his camera in a paper box, poked holes all around it and placed the box on his lawn. Eureka! It worked. The ants ate off all the Reese's Chocolate / Peanut butter. The camera was clean and the amazing part was that the camera worked great! I received this recipe from an ICF member, Marie Assman, from branch 319 and her daughter Deborah. Fig Vinegar Ingredients: 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 1 shallot, finely diced 3 pounds fresh figs roughly chopped * ¼ cup Marsala wine 32 oz, Balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1. Place sauté pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add shallots and sauté until soft and translucent. Do not brown. 2. Add chopped figs to sauté pan and cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring often. Figs will release some of their liquid. 3. Add Marsale wine and stir to combine. Continue to "stew" the figs, stirring occasionally, until they are broken down, about 10-12 minutes. 4. Remove fig mixture from heat and add about 1/3 of Balsamic vinegar. Transfer fig/ vinegar mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Mixture will be very hot and it might be best to blend in batches. You can also cool the mixture before blending. 5. Using a mesh strainer, return the mixture to the sauté pan (mixture will be thick). The strainer will remove any bits of skin that did not blend and will also remove some of the seeds, To remove more seeds, add more of the vinegar to the mixture (to loosen it up) and use a fine mesh strainer. 6. Add remaining vinegar and the vanilla extract. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes to concentrate flavors. Mixture will be thicker than standard vinegar. 7. Cool completely. Transfer to bottles or jars with a tight fitting lid. You can store fig vinegar in refrigerator for up to 1-year. 8. Use Fig vinegar as a condiment, in salad dressing and marinades for chicken or beef. It also pairs very well with grilled vegetables (Peppers, onions, eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms) *Can substitute dried figs instead of fresh figs. Reduce quantity by half and soak figs in hot water for 30 minutes to plump. Drain figs and chop. Cucidati (Sicilian fig cookies) Dough 4 cups flour 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup sugar 1 cup shortening 1 large egg 1 tablespoon vanilla ½ cup milk Filling 1 ½ cups raisins ½ cup honey 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ cup orange marmalade 1 ¼ cups walnuts or almonds chopped 2 cups dried figs . 2 cups dried dates pitted 1 large egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix well. Cut in for egg wash. shortening with a fork and work the mixture until it looks like corn meal. In a bowl, beat the egg, colored sprinklesvanilla and milk together. Add to the flour mixture and work the mixture with your hands into a rough dough. Knead dough for 5 minutes or until smooth. Dough will be soft. Cut dough into 4 parts. Wrap and chill for 45 minutes. For filling, grind the figs, dates, and raisins in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Place mixture in bowl, and all the remaining filling ingredients, mix well. Preheat oven 375 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets. Work with 1 piece of dough on floured surface, roll out each piece of dough to a 12 -inch square. Cut the dough into 4 x 3 inch rectangles and spoon 2 tablespoons of filling mixture in center of each rectangle. Fold over the long edges of each rectangle to meet in the center. Then pinch the seam to close it securely, turn the cookie seam side down. Pinch ends closed and fold the ends under. Shape cookies into crescents and place seam side down on cookie sheets. Make 2 or 3 diagonal slits in the top of each crescent with scissors. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with colored sprinkles. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 4 dozen. The Cucidati recipe has been the most requested recipe in the past 5 years. ENJOY.. Ciao with love, Mary Alesi, CC Member Emeritus Italian Catholic Federation, 675 Hegenberger Road, Suite 230, Oakland CA 94621 tel: 888/ICF-1924; 510/633-9058; fax: 510/633-9758; Email: info@icf.org Website designed by HYPERSPHERE