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This is a variation on a cheese course we did for tentop awhile back, and it came out so good we ran it on the opening menu at Remedy. The idea came from one of our clients at KitchenCru, Mrs. Jody Peppler; owner and operator of Thyme Management. She had made a fig filling for one of her clients that was loaded down with bacon, and she jokingly said “Hey you should make this into a ‘pig newton’ haha.” Being one in possession of a fig newton dough recipe, I didn’t find this as funny as I did inspirational. At Remedy we warmed it up and melted a piece of blue cheese on top. Pictured above I served it with a blue cheese mousse, slted caramel, and candied bacon. I made over 500 of these for IPNC’s Lunch on the Lawn. This set was very well received, I had a couple people ask me for the recipe after the event. The “home version” of the recipes is what I have posted below.
I was very proud of how this came out and how much people enjoyed it as weird as it may have been. For me though, the best compliment came in the form of an instagram comment from one of PDX’s finest.
Fig Newton Dough
810 g AP Flour
3 g salt
6 g baking powder
140 g sugar
8 oz butter, diced, kept cold
4 eggs
2 eggs whisked (for eggwash)
Whisk together all the dry ingredients and cut in the butter like you would for a pie dough. Add the eggs and mix until the dough forms a uniform dough. Chill at least 1 hour before rolling 1/8th inch thick into a rectangle that is twice is long as it is wide. Place the prepared filling in the bottom third of the dough, in a cylinder, and then roll the dough around the filling, creating a long cylinder with the filling inside. Egg wash the entire thing generously, then place in the freezer overnight.
Next day, preheat the oven to 325 F. Bake the Fig Newton until golden brown. Cool entirely before cutting with a serrated knife into portions.
Pig Newton Filling (I didn’t really use a recipe for this, so this is best guess)
3 lbs dried mission figs
5 lbs bacon
1/2 lb brown sugar
1 cup red wine or port if you have it
water as needed
Weigh the chocolate and blue cheese into the same bowl, which needs to be big enough to hold it and the first measurement of cream. Scald the 2 1/2 Cups of cream and pour it over the cheese/chocolate mixture. Let this sit a minute, then whisk it smooth. I used an immersion blender to achieve a super smooth consistency. Whisk in the prepared gelatin and let this mixture cool to room temp before folding in the whipped cream. Chill for at least 4 hours before using.
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