So many apple recipes, so little time. If you look into apple recipes the selection is endless. This one caught my eye, when I was reading the last issue of Food Network Magazine. I did a little alterations to my liking and came up with this hasselback and fig recipe.
Now, fresh figs in this would be awesome, but alas I have none. So I chose to re-hydrate some dried figs for this job. It was also another way to add some fall flavors into the dish.
Into a pot goes some water, a cinnamon stick, and one star anise pod.
While you bring that up to a boil you can start with our two crisp apples. Slice them in half and remove the core. I like to use a melon baller for this job, it does the trick quickly!
By this time the water has come to a boil. Bring it back down to a simmer and add about 10-12 of the dried figs.
You want this to simmer away for about 10 minutes or so, until the figs are nice and plump, then remove them to cool.
As expected the apples get flipped over and sliced just like a hassleback potato. sliced, but being careful not to go all the way through. Slice the apple a bit thicker than you would a potato. I found it worked best to actually wedge out some of the slices, it gives more room for the figs.
Place the apples into a buttered baking dish. Slice off the hard stem pieces of the figs and discard them. Then slice the figs, this should be nice and easy after they have been plumped up.
Place slices of figs into the slots in the apples. Next you need to put together the crumble for the topping.
- 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of flour
- 1 Tablespoon of butter cut into chunks
Mix them so that it looks like rough sand and sprinkle on top of the apples.
I set the oven for 375 degrees. In went the apples. I checked them at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and they took about 12 minutes total. This is of course dependent on your ovens so check them for doneness and a nice browned crumble on top.
Into the dish with some caramel sauce. Yum! This would be great with vanilla ice cream, on pound cake, and well, just about anywhere. Enjoy!