Is there anything fig jam can’t do? Recently, we teamed up with Jackie’s Jams on a fun collaboration intended to show a few ways to invite figs into summer bites and sips featuring streusel bars with fig jam and glazed chicken wings.
The key ingredient to their Fig Jam and Balsamic Fig Jam are our California-grown Mission Figs. You can expect a deep fig flavor that is unadulterated by unnecessary ingredients, just jam essentials: sugar, fruit, and lemon juice, with the addition of a bright fruity balsamic vinegar in the Balsamic Fig Jam. When we were brainstorming ways to highlight the fig jam, so many ideas came up! Below, find a sticky wings appetizer perfect for summer and a dessert ready to pack for picnics.
Figs with Chicken
Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid California Dried Figs are the taste of summer. There’s nothing quite like noshing on a chicken wing on game day, but maybe you’ve never considered how figs, with their dietary fiber can make work with chicken. Boil down balsamic vinegar and figs into a sticky fig balsamic, perfect for drizzling over crispy fried chicken. Heat the balsmic vinegar and add chopped figs in to steep their fruity flavor into the balsamic vinegar (to whisk with olive oil and a touch of brown sugar in a vinaigrette for grilled chicken salad). Heat soy sauce and infuse chopped figs to impart their flavor. Whisk in garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, olive oil, sesame seed, and lemon for a marinade for chicken. Make a honey glaze with our fig concentrate mixed with honey and spices. Soy sauce heated and infused with figs, is also a delightful accompaniment with hoisin sauce for moo shoo chicken wraps. Remember, figs add flavor, and dietary fiber too for all your summer eats.
Balsamic Fig Jam Chicken Drummettes
Use our Balsamic Fig Glazed Chicken Wings recipe with a few modifications : Pat wings dry and then season them with the spice mix. As the chicken drummettes (or wings) roast in the oven, you’ll make the glaze. First, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet set over medium low heat. Then, rather than making your own jam, you’ll warm up half of a jar of Jackie’s Jams Balsamic Fig Jam with 2 tablespoons of water, cranking the heat up to medium. Once the skillet ingredients coalesce into a uniform glaze, it’s ready when it clings to the back of a wooden spoon and drips easily. Set over low heat to keep warm while the chicken finishes cooking. Toss and serve the glazed chicken wings. You will love the sticky wings.
Figs for Cookie Bars
One of the most iconic cookie bars is almost cake-like and sandwiches a thick fig filling. But jam bars are another great option to make at home. Typically that includes oats, spices, flour, and butter with part of the dough being used to par-bake the crust. Then, the remaining dough gets scattered on the top. Other delicious add-ins for bar cookie dough include chopped toasted nuts, like pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds. You could also try adding in millet, chia seeds, or poppy seeds for crunch.
Streusel Fig Jam Bars
Use our Streusel Fig Jam Bars recipe with a few modifications : Make the dough as indicated in the recipe. Rather than creating your own jam, you’ll use 1 jar of Jackie’s Jams Fig Jam. We baked the bottom crust of the bars for 10 minutes at the suggested heat. There’s no need to heat it up to loosen it as you’ll spread it over that just baked crust, once it’s had about 5 minutes to cool. Spread the jam uniformly over the crust. Then, we stem and chop 1/2 a cup of our Sun-Maid or Orchard Choice Figs to scatter over the jam. You’ll crumble the streusel all over the top and give it a final bake for 40 minutes. There’s a long final cooling time before cutting the bars, so plan accordingly.
