There's no better way to eat fresh figs than out of hand, but when I had fig trees, I would sort of peel them - usually by just taking the stem off and whatever peeling came with it. I had red figs (imported from Texas), which are sweeter than black figs, however.

You can make a fig milkshake by adding milk and ice cream, but personally, I do not like to dilute the figs, and you can make fig milkshakes with dried figs. When I would get 60 figs a day (at this time of year), I would make preserves, but you need quite a few figs to make that worthwhile, and it is a bit time consuming. Also, it heats up the kitchen, and I did not have A/C back then. However, since I was in Venice, it wasn't all that hot, as a rule.

You can also wrap them with prosciutto. I sort of miss my fig trees, but they do take up quite a bit of space, and I do not have room for one here - unless I get rid of something.

Stuff with blue cheese (or goat cheese)

Wrap with prosciutto (or bacon)

Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (or not)

Broil. Yum.

Sometimes I will add a walnut or almond as well. Lots of variations, all good. :)

When they're a little past their juiciest selves, this is a great fig pie: http://deliciousliving.com/recipes/fig-pie I make it with whole wheat crust.

I mix a little cream cheese with some sherry and mound it over fig halves. Yummy!

I agree with Lars, "There's no better way to eat fresh figs than out of hand,---"

I have a small black fig tree in a pot. It gives me a few figs every year, also fig leaves for cooking.

dcarch

One year I cut them in half, sautéed them in butter, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Very good.

There was once a tiny restaurant near here and the owner/chef was always experimenting with something different.... she once made a "fig butter" to serve with her dinner rolls, and it seemed to be just some ground figs mixed with softened butter. It was wonderful! I managed to find some fresh figs once (only time I ever saw them for sale here) and made some to go with a quick-bread. yum!

jakkom - that sounds as if it might be used for a number of yummy things. Do you use it other than for figs?

We pick fresh figs daily from our many trees. The recent heat wave has sunburned many so I toss those. I usually slice them and add them to a salad of greens and chopped red onions. Sometimes I add nuts for a crunch. I dress this with fig balsamic, olive oil, a splash of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sometimes I add feta.

Yes, fresh figs don't keep well which is why they are hard to find locally. I pick them fresh, but never more than I need. Good luck to you!

Oh! So sad to hear how rare they are there, but I guess they don't travel well either. They've local, so have been in the stores here for a few weeks and should be available through September, at least.

Next time you hesitate at buying more figs, remember PIE! Just make sure they're dry and well aired so they don't get mold. If they start to go wrinkly they're still great for pie. :)

One evening I had the grill hot from cooking the meat AND I had large fresh figs that I almost-halved leaving the halves attached at the stem end. I laid the flesh-side down on the hot grill ( The grill had been turned off) and just left them there until after the meal was over. I turned them over on plates and drizzled some thin yogurt over top. Now that was good!

Spread a grilled baguette with chevre. Brush the figs with a honey balsamic glaze and grill and place atop the chevre.

My daughter ate all the ripe figs right off my tree, while I was gone. at least, they didn't go to waste. :)

Moni