Crispy Prosciutto and Brie Sandwich with Homemade Fig Jam

I picked a bunch of figs from the fig tree the other day and decided I'd make some jam.  They've started falling and the dogs have been gobbling them up before I get to them.  Finally, I got to them first.  Making jam every year when the figs are ready has become a bit of a tradition.  When you have more fruit than you know what to do with, jamming it is a good route to go.  Fig Jam is super versatile and works nicely with sweet or savory things.

Triple digit heat has gotten the better of me lately and any of my motivation to bake, cook or do anything involving more heat.  So, I've been eating a lot of watermelon and fruit, drinking water by the ocean and.. making lots of sandwiches.

One of my favorite combinations is fig jam and brie cheese. So in honor of sandwich weather, I figured we could go somewhere with this. Admittedly I bucked up and turn the oven on to crisp some prosciutto and toast some bread--but not a second longest than it needed.  I tossed some arugula with a honey lemon venerate I whipped up, put a small pat of butter on the toasted sourdough bread and added a generous spoon of jam.  Topped it with some brie, crisped prosciutto and arugula.

All the sweating aside, It was a magical combination of flavors.  I'm thinking I might need to do a weekly segment on fig jam recipes--I've got a lot of it!

Find the recipe after the jump


Fig Jam

Figs
Sugar

Depending on the amount of figs you have, this will determine your sugar amount.  Rinse the figs, and halve, make sure to cut of the little stem bits.  Weigh your figs, whatever the weight up your figs, you'll use 20% of that for sugar.  So, if your figs way 20 ounces, you're going to use 4 ounces of sugar.  Using a good size pot, add your fig, and cover in sugar.  Make sure to stir it well, so the figs are nicely coated and there's no large clumps of sugar at the bottom of the pan, otherwise it will burn.  At a medium low heat, cook the figs and sugar, stirring often and checking the bottom for any burning, otherwise adjust heat.  When the figs are nicely cooked down, remove from heat and puree them-- till they're at your desired consistency--I like mine with a little bit of chunk.  I puree mine while they're still hot, otherwise they thicken up too quickly.  There's no need to strain or fuss with the seeds--they add a great texture.

Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

1/4c. olive oil
3 T honey
juice of 1 lemon
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T. Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Gently whisk the olive oil into the honey (you can heat the honey if it's too thick), next the mustard and then the vinegar and lemon.  Salt and pepper to taste.  you can add more honey, if you prefer a sweeter dressing.


Prosciutto
1/2 pound of your favorite prosciutto

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place meat on parchment lined pan and bake for about 15 minutes, till it has the desired crispness.

Sourdough Bread:

Pick a good quality sourdough, I prefer larger sized slices.