Serves: 4

Difficulty:

Ingredients

4 large or 8 small figs
1 tablespoon ricotta cheese per fig
¼ ~ ½ teaspoon Lemon Myrtle
½ cup grape nectar
macadamia nut pieces (toasted) for garnish

Method and styling
Trim the fat end of each fig so that the fruit stands up-right. Cut the thin end with a cross to open up the figs but still keeping them in one piece. Mix the Oz Lemon into the ricotta, preferably at least 2 hours before serving as this allows the flavours to really penetrate the cheese. Place a tablespoonful of the prepared cheese in each cross cut fig. Grill until the figs are warm and
the cheese just bubbles. Plate up the figs, drizzle with the grape nectar and garnish with the toasted macadamia nut pieces. Serve immediately with a strong coffee for that hint of bitterness to add to the complexity of taste.

Dining Downunder Cookbook

This Australian recipe of Ricotta figs and macadamia nuts are included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107

Recipe By: Vic Cherikoff

This is a really simple but delicious dessert which can be substituted any number of ways. Use different fruits such as mango, apricots, peaches or stewed pears. Substitute the various herbs with Australian or varietal mints or peppermint, try basil or chervil, licorice or aniseed and mix them into a range of alternative cheeses such as quark or cottage cheese, cream cheeses such as Philadelphia, Neufchatel, mascarpone or even straight sour cream or yoghurt. Try a range of pure honeys, maple syrup, palm sugar syrup, brandy butter, golden syrup or fruit syrups (rose hip, pomegranate etc). And finally, introduce different nuts such as pecans, pistachio, Brazil nuts, pine nuts etc.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Paperbark smoked duck with Illawarra plum sauce
• Salt and pepper yabbie skewers

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast