Roasted Figs with Turbinado Sugar

Next week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. We'll have a full house, a fuller fridge, and a freezer stuffed so tight that eeek, please don't open it too quickly. The lamb is cooked, frozen, and ready to go. (Want to make the one we made? It's the best lamb ever and I shared the recipe with The Forward so you can make it, too. Go right ahead.) I also froze two soups -- one's a triple garlic soup from Melissa Clark; the other has teeny, tiny meatballs suspended in a sour, salty broth. It's insanely delicious. I'm hoping to share it with you early next week.

And what about dessert? Well: I've got one last pint of fresh blueberries left in my fridge. wouldn't my guests just love to be served this genius fresh blueberry tart after the big feast? And I've somehow managed to save a handful of the beautiful apricots I got from Randy a couple weeks back. They still look perfect. I wonder if I should work them into some sort of show-stopping finale for the new year?

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Maybe not. Let's face it: everyone wants honey cake. Those who don't want honey cake just want apple cake. All the excitement about apricots and blueberries is so last month, I guess.

Apple cake and honey cake are great, don't get me wrong. In fact, last year, I smushed the two together (is that turning into a habit?) and gave you a pretty stellar Apples and Honey Cake. That's the recipe I'll be making again for our new year dinner.

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But I'll also be making these roast figs, to serve alongside that old standby of a cake. You should too -- if only to appease those of us who get sad at the thought of blueberries, strawberries, apricots, blackberries, raspberries, and peaches being replaced by just apples. Apples and honey are great, but summer doesn't last forever. It's worth celebrating it while you can.

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The original recipe is simple: figs, marsala, turbinado sugar. But if you don't have marsala, you can use madeira, brandy, or even some red wine. Not the same, but equally delicious. Between you and me, I liked madeira best. (If you use red wine, may I suggest Melissa Clark's Red Wine Honey Cake as an accompaniment?) When figs hang out in a hot oven with just the right amount of alcohol and sugar, their flesh gets soft and sticky, maybe a bit caramelized, and wholly irresistible. Set them next to a slice of honey cake, and you can have summer and fall in one bite.

Roasted Figs with Turbinado SugarAdapted from Nigel Slater's Ripe Serves 4 as a small dessert or component thereof

Slater calls for marsala in his original recipe. I liked that combination a lot, but between you and me, I liked madeira -- another fortified wine -- even more. If you don't have either, go ahead and use brandy or straight-up red wine.

8 figs 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon marsala, madeira, brandy, or red wine 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (3 tablespoons if using dry marsala or red wine) Heavy cream for serving, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the fig stems. Slice figs one of two ways: either halve them lengthwise, or slice an X about halfway through the length of the fig, and fan the quarters open.

Place figs in a baking dish. Drizzle the marsala over the figs and sprinkle the sugar overtop. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until figs are very tender and their tops have caramelized slightly.

Divide figs among serving bowls and top each with a small spoonful of the now very-reduced cooking liquid. Top with a spoonful or two of cream, if desired. Serve immediately.

Cumin-Rubbed Lamb Chops with Dates

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I've wanted to write about lamb for the longest time. Though we don't eat much meat around here, lamb is one of my favorites, and several months ago, I treated us to a big package of individually-wrapped grassfed lamb chops. Made two, tucked the rest in the freezer for a special occasion.

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Then Friday night rolled around, and we found ourselves with no dinner plans and a fantastic bottle of pinot in need of drinking. It's been a tough month for us, but now it's not July anymore. It's August, we have (less than!) one month left of summer, and I want to drink it from the fire hose, make it last. Who needs a special occasion? Lamb is the special occasion.

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We uncorked the pinot around 6. Why wait for dinner to get our weekend started? We sipped as I cooked. D set the table for two. While the spice-rubbed lamb sizzled under the broiler, I cut up a couple nice tomatoes, sliced them into wedges, and dressed them simply with olive oil, maldon salt, and chives. Some green beans went into a big skillet with a bit of diced shallot and some hazelnut picada leftover from a cooking experiment. And then there was the sauce, an effortless mix of beer and dates that reduced to a glaze, the dates sticky and soft, that we used to finish the lamb. I pulled a leftover challah from the freezer, tossed it in the oven, and when it was nice and hot, we sat down to a simple, delicious summer dinner.

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If you've got the funds, this is a great dish to make for company. Plan for about 2 chops per person. While it's still warm out, serve with a nice salad and some fresh green or shelling beans. But this dish can carry you right into fall. I'm already looking forward to serving it with mashed sweet potatoes over the holidays. Is it too early to talk about the end of summer? Probably. So pretend I never said anything, and serve these up on the porch, basking in the summer light. Happy August, friends.

Cumin-Rubbed Lamb Chops with DatesInspired by this recipe from Gourmet Live Serves 2

4 individual lamb rib chops 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 4 cloves, ground (or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves) 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 cup pale or amber beer 1 tablespoon date syrup or brown sugar 8 dates, halved lengthwise and pitted 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the lamb chops: Preheat the broiler.  Combine cumin, coriander, cloves, and salt in a small bowl. Place chops on a rimmed baking sheet lined with tin foil, and liberally sprinkle both sides of each chop with the spice mix. Transfer chops to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes on each side; 3 minutes for medium-rare, 4 minutes for medium. They should emerge sizzling.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: Pour the beer into a wide saucepan set over medium heat. Add date syrup or brown sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and cook about 3 minutes. Then add dates in a single layer. Cook the sauce for 3-4 more minutes, watching it carefully to ensure that it doesn't burn. This will depend on the size of your flame, so really do watch it carefully; beer evaporates pretty quickly. By the time the beer has reduced to a glaze, the dates will be soft and sticky. Turn off the heat.

When lamb chops are finished, remove the chops to a plate and pour the accumulated lamb juices into the pan with the glaze. In my case, the chops finished almost exactly when the glaze finished, so I added the juices and cooked the mixture for a couple more minutes, to thicken it a bit. If you like a thinner sauce, no need to continue the cooking. Either way, once you've added the juices, taste the sauce and adjust salt and/or sweetness as necessary. If the mixture is too salty, add a tablespoon or two of water.

To serve: Plate the lamb chops, 2 per person. Drizzle the glaze overtop, and divide dates between the two plates. Serve immediately.

Tips: If the glaze reduces too quickly and the chops aren't ready, add a tablespoon of water to the glaze to give it some more time. If the chops finish too quickly, set them on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. The chops can also be reheated in a very low (200-degree) oven for 5 minutes prior to serving.

Really Good Raw Granola Bars

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Dellie, is now very, very pregnant. Back when she was just very pregnant, she and I spent a day cooking up a storm, filling a freezer with healthy, delicious meals in anticipation of a now not-so-little peanut that may or may not occupy most of her waking hours.

By now you know that I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of cook. I shop without a clear agenda, and I frequently figure out what's for dinner by poking my head in the fridge when I get home from work and seeing what looks best. Not so with Dellie; she is the planner's planner. And in advance of our big cooking day, she had made a master spreadsheet listing every recipe we had chosen and the quantities of every ingredient they called for. She had visited three grocery stores to procure the items we needed. She'd even prepped a few key elements of dishes in advance, so we could hit the ground running as soon as I arrived. That woman, I tell you: she is a force.

For those of you who are curious as to what we made, I'm sharing the list here. I think it's a fantastic starter list for folks looking to stockpile meals before the birth of a child or another big event. We picked things that freeze and reheat well, things that won't be too fussy to pop in the oven at the end of a busy day.

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We certainly weren't the first to fill up the freezer; Merrill Stubbs from Food 52 did the same thing before she had her beautiful daughter, Clara. She cooked a mix of one-pot meals and freezable components (like taco filling) that could be assembled with relative ease later on. We stuck mostly with the former, to make things as stress-free as possible.

Here's our master list:

• Chicken Tikka Masala (Food 52)
• Knishes with lentil-lamb-raisin filling instead of potatoes (Smitten Kitchen)
• Pulled jerk chicken (NDP)
• Tuxedo chili from The Runaway Spoon, using turkey and adding some kale (Food 52)
• Baked ziti with bison-tomato sauce (mostly riffed)
• Quinoa salad with mirepoix, ground turkey, kale, and tomatoes (again, riffed)

And in case you were curious about our space-estimating skills, we filled the freezer precisely to its capacity:

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I left Dellie and Jeremy's house smelling intensely of meat (just ask the folks who picked me up - sorry guys!), but knowing that D and J had at least a month's worth of meals, ready to go.

Since no meal is complete without at least a little something sweet - and since parenthood means many late nights - we also made two trays of these granola bars to stow away.

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Yes, these granola bars are raw -- in the sense that you don't bake the bars - not in the sense that nothing has been heated. You actually toast most of the ingredients before mixing them, to amp up their flavor. Raw or cooked, they're the best granola bars I've ever made (and I've made my fair share).

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Dell and I agreed that these granola bars were lighter and crunchier than others we'd made; puffed rice is the key. They also hold up to travel and time much better than my beloved raspberry bars or my other favorite granola bars. After licking the bowl at Dellie's, I got home and promptly made a pan for us. When my heavy travel kicked in, I packed up about 10 bars into a zip-top bag and tossed them into the bottom of my purse, where -- despite lots of banging around -- they stayed intact and delicious for two full weeks. I can't think of a better travel snack.

Really Good Raw Granola Bars Adapted slightly from Sara's Granola Bars on Food52

I took out the sunflower seeds, which I don't really enjoy, and added more of everything else. I also swapped cranberries out for dried cherries, because dried cherries are just better. Other than that, it's all the same. It's all really good. -R

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1 1/3 cups raw sliced almonds 1 1/3 cups raw pumpkin seeds 3 1/3 cups brown rice crispies (you can substitute regular rice crispies or puffed rice) 1 cup dried apricots, sliced thinly 1 cup dried cherries 1 cup almond butter 1 cup honey 1 tablespoon sea salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the oats, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. It's fine to put them all on the same pan, but make sure you separate them on the pan, so that when one is done, you can remove it and leave the others to continue toasting. The pumpkin seeds took about 7 minutes, the oats and almonds about 10 (though almonds will depend on how thinly they're sliced).

When all the items are sufficiently toasted, toss them with the brown rice crispies, apricots, and cherries in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, heat the almond butter and honey just to get melty, not cooked. (This is your glue and if it boils or even comes close, it gets hard and impossible to stir once it cools.) Stir in the salt and cinnamon, then pour over the granola mixture and stir. You want to get everything mixed together and sticky without crushing the crispies.

Turn the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish lined with parchment and press the mixture evenly and firmly, trying not crush the crispies too much. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours. Cut into 2-inch squares before serving.

Quinoa and Asparagus Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Lurking behind the shiny exterior of this homepage is a Drafts folder, containing every post I've ever started. And friends, I could make an entire second blog out of the posts stuck in draft-purgatory. There's a parsnip cake I made for my mom's birthday back in 2011; a winter citrus salad that I keep meaning to tell you about while it's still...well, winter; a tremendous zucchini gratin that I will tell you about in just a few short weeks, when summer decides to make an appearance for good; and about 15 quinoa recipes, none of which I deemed delicious enough to share.

Thing is, I am no big fan of quinoa. Try as I might, I can't love the stuff. I wish I did: it's nutritious, cooks up really quickly, and at least purports to be versatile. I'm just not the biggest fan.

But last week, fresh on a tear to use up all the little bits of things in the bottom of jars in my kitchen, I came upon some quinoa, leftover from Passover and languishing at the back of my grain shelf. I've been trying to cook more economically, and I've been having success tucking bits of boring-seeming leftovers into new dishes. I improved my last batch of mujaddara by adding bits of salsa verde-braised green beans. What's a little quinoa?

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And here's the best part of it all: I actually enjoyed this salad a lot. It's bits of asparagus, golden raisins, and toasted pepitas for crunch. I'm especially fond of the dressing, which came together unexpectedly well, considering it was yet another attempt to use over bits of things in jars in the fridge. Win-win.

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Quinoa and Asparagus Salad with Yogurt Dressing Serves 6

Notes: I made this recipe to use what I had in the fridge, and there's no reason you shouldn't do the same. Feel free to swap out the quinoa for wheatberries, pearl barley, or bulgur. If you don't have (or don't like) asparagus (though I'm not sure we can be friends if it's the latter...), you might finely chop some raw greens, scallions, green beans, radish, or a mixture of these. Consider this less of a prescriptive recipe and more of a starting point. That said, this combination does work really well. -R

For the salad: 1 cup quinoa 1 bunch asparagus (about 10 spears), rinsed, ends trimmed, and sliced on the bias 1/2 cup golden raisins 1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

For the dressing: 1/2 cup yogurt 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided juice of half a lemon half a preserved lemon, diced (I like using the whole thing, but some folks use only the rind and discard the flesh) - or, if you don't have preserved lemon, check out this helpful post from the Food52 hotline 2 teaspoons honey salt and pepper to taste

Set a medium pot full of water over medium-high heat. When water reaches a boil, add quinoa, stir to combine, and cook for 15 minutes, until quinoa is cooked through but still keeps its shape. Strain and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add pepitas, a pinch of salt, and the tiniest drop of oil; toss to combine, and cook until you hear one pepita pop. By then, pepitas should have started to turn golden. Remove from the heat and transfer pepitas to a bowl.

Place pan back on the heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and add the asparagus. Cook for about 3 minutes, just until asparagus glisten and start to turn golden in a couple spots. (If you like your asparagus fully soft, continue cooking for 4-5 minutes more.) Spoon asparagus into the bowl with the quinoa, and stir in raisins while asparagus and quinoa are still warm - it helps them plump up.

Make the dressing: Combine the yogurt, preserved lemon, honey, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a jar. Shake to combine. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste (you must add the s&p after adding the preserved lemon, since it is quite salty).

Drizzle most of the yogurt dressing onto the quinoa, stir to combine, and taste. Add more of the dressing if desired. Top with the toasted pepitas just before serving.