Figs 65 % off

Coconut milk. Flax meal. And now figs. I have a problem: If the grocery store gods mark something down enough, I will buy it. Even if I have no idea what the hell to do with it.

Of course, there are plenty of desserts a person can make with a pound of dried Italian figs. But I wondered whether I could come up with something a little more interesting. I found two recipes. Fig Spread with Black Pepper and Toasted Sesame Seeds, from Super Natural Cooking (a book about wholesome eating, not telekinetic carrots, just to be clear) and a fig jam to accompany a pork roast from Epicurious.

Neither of these was quite right. I wanted something that would make a spicy, savory appetizer, not too runny, definitely not too sweet. There's a restaurant in Providence, RI called La Laiterie (if you ever have the chance, GO) that served a cheese plate with a fig jam that was very aromatic and herby. It cost about ten thousand dollars for a teaspoon. I wanted it to be like that. But cheaper.

So here's what I did. I would like to tinker with this a bit more, but it's close.

Cover a pound of dried figs with boiling water and let sit for an hour. They will plump up and be easy to slice.

Remove from the water and cut them into 1/4 inch pieces--but reserve the sticky sweet water. Put them into a bowl and add about a tablespoon of honey, or none--honestly they probably don't need it. Figs are really, really, really sweet. Especially the dried ones. Anyone who tells you to add sugar to them is highly dubious, in my opinion. Grind about 1/2 tsp of black pepper and crush a teaspoon of dried thyme in your palm and sprinkle in. Stir it all together. Leave it alone for about ten minutes so the flavors meld, then dump it into a saucepan and add a little of the water. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook it down, continuing to add water and allowing it to boil off until you get a nice thick jam consistency. Taste it--if it's still too sweet, add a little cider vinegar.

I didn't have sesame seeds lying around, so I added chopped pistachios. I think any kind of salty nut would do, but the sesame seeds would have been better--they won't get soggy like the larger pieces of the nuts seemed to. Serve it on lavash.

We took some to our friends' Superbowl party. It stuck out like a . . . nerdy writer girl at the Playboy mansion, next to all those foods we lust after: chicken wings, fried mozzarella, pizza, the best potato chips I have ever had. But people ate it--I saw them!

It was good, in its humble way. And I think it might also make a great sandwich spread and go well with yogurt.