Fig season is here! Farmers markets and grocery stores have baskets of plump, juicy figs, drops of sweet sugary nectar often found oozing from them. Living in California has many advantages, including the ability to have fruit trees in your yard. Fig trees are scattered everywhere in my city. Many people just ignore the fruit, leaving it to the birds and squirrels. That means a lot of fat, happy birds and squirrels.
My introduction to figs was, naturally, a Fig Newton. I learned to love the taste and texture of a cooked fig from that cookie. My mother enjoyed fresh figs, and soon I loved fresh figs too. But I really loved the cookies.
As I got older and began to go to fine dining restaurants, I would often find unique and appealing fig dishes on the menu. There were sweet desserts, savory entrées and interesting appetizers. I realized the flavor of a fig complements so many other flavors: aged and fresh cheeses, salty cured meats, dessert wines and many nuts.
Fresh figs can be roasted, grilled, stuffed, used as a pizza topping, wrapped in salty cured meat, tossed with a salad or pasta, cooked down into a sweet sauce or baked in a tart or cake. I have even sampled a fig cocktail. But don’t forget you can eat them as nature made them, sweet and plump and juicy. If nothing else, figs are versatile little fruits that have been enjoyed for thousands of years.
Types of figs
My fig of choice is the California Mission fig, with its purple-black skin and deep red flesh. The Mission fig gets its name from the Spanish missionaries who planted them as they traveled up the California coast from Mexico.
Depending on your location, there may be different varieties of figs at your local market:
- Brown Turkey figs are large and pear shaped, with brown skin.
- Calimyrna figs are rather round and green skinned. They are often found dried, but when fresh they are honey sweet.
- Kadota figs are green skinned, with luscious amber-colored flesh when ripe.
- Black Mission figs are black skinned with amazingly deep red flesh.
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Ingredients
- 4 bone-in pork loin chops, about 1-inch thick
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 4 to 6 fresh figs, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup Cambozola cheese, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, lightly beaten with about a teaspoon of water
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions
- Heat the oven to 350 F. With a sharp knife, cut a pocket into the chop starting from the end farthest from the bone. Cut carefully through the middle of the chop, almost to the bone. Repeat with the remaining chops.
- Season the chops with salt and pepper on both sides and inside the pocket.
- Place a small amount of figs into the pockets of the pork chops.
- Cover the figs with a good amount of cheese, pressing it down into the figs.
- Close the top flap of the pocket over the figs and cheese, adjusting as needed to seal the seam.
- Place the flour, egg and panko bread crumbs each into a separate shallow dish or plate.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Coat each chop with flour, patting to remove any excess.
- Dip each chop into the egg mixture, making sure to coat them evenly.
- Place the chops into the panko breading, pressing lightly and turning them to cover the chops completely. Make sure the seam is well coated with panko to prevent the cheese from oozing out while cooking.
- Place the chops onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear.
Fig and Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops. Credit: Cheryl D. Lee
Main photo: Mission figs and Cambozola cheese. Credit: Cheryl D. Lee