Last month was the first time I joined this book club which chooses extraordinary books for us to read and post a recipe inspired the book. The book chosen to read was : Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome. A classic story which starts with a serious note about 3 men , the narrator and his 3 friends , who think they have various illnesses decide that they are overloaded with work and decide to take a holiday. They first thinkof going into the sea and then settle on the river Thames thinking its going to be easy on them . The story goes on from here about how they embark the journey and the incidents occurring , thus turning it into a humorous piece of work. A typical set of Englishmen who love their tarts , jams etc

All I thought about was Orange marmalade when I was reading this book. I like my marmalade bittersweet and was not sure if that would go well with K who prefers his spread to be sweet . So I decided on an orange and fig Jam.

Spicy Orange and Fig Jam

Ingredients

6-8 Figs , diced

1cup of packed granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon clove powder

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 tablespoon rose water

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 cup of orange , peeled and deseeded

Method :

1. Take all ingredients in a bowl and mix well . Keep aside for 30 minutes. This will help the sugar macerate with the figs well.

2. Place and cook in a microwave high first for 8 minutes and stir well , The mixture will appear to be runny , keep cooking and stirring for another 7 minutes , Remove and let it set for sometime

3. Then spoon into sterilized cans and refrigerate. Its a small batch , but I still refrigerate because we might not finish it soon.

This is my entry for This book makes me cook chosen by Simmi . In case you are interested to join this month , the book is Anita and Me , drop in a line to Bhags or Simmi

Figs in Cherry Caramel

I had a few figs remaining after making the spicy fig jam , so I decided to treat ourselves with this wonderful sensual dessert by Meeta.

Meeta , she is really one helluva woman, managing 2 blogs at a time , a career and a fantastic family . I have not met her in person , but definitely gives me the impression of someone who lives life Queen Size !

She has so much energy and exuberance that its infectious , If there is one word that comes to my mind to describe her it would be “sunshine”!!

Thank you dear Meeta for sharing such a wonderful recipe with us.

Why did I choose this recipe ?

I was impressed that the sugar content is less compared to our normal dessert standard. Red wine was a key too. I used some spiced south african wine , so we had a spicy sweet dessert!

Click here for the original recipe

I followed the recipe to the T , except for using a spicy wine.

Ingredients:

8 fresh figs - washed, wiped dry and cut into quarters
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 l cherry juice
100 ml red wine
100g cantuccini/biscotti - coarsely chopped

Method:

Heat a saucepan and melt the sugar until it reaches a light orange - yellow color (amber). Once done add the cherry juice and let it simmer and the liquid reduce to about a quarter . This took me about 8 minutes

Note: the sugar will thicken here , stirring will re- melt it .

Then , reduce the heat and add the red wine and the figs and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes

Remove from heat and cool , once cool , ladle the cherry caramel and the figs into a bowl , sprinkle some biscotti and serve.

Sensual , seductive , sultry … yes it is all , and more….

This also goes to Tried and Tasted , Hosted by Zlamushka of Burnt Mouth

Thank you ladies for giving me this wonderful oppurtunity.