Hi friends! This year I am once again blessed to be one of the many talented presenters on the Culinary Stage at the Orange County Fair here in Southern California. Did you know there is also an Orange County in Florida? I’ve been confused a few times seeing ads for “The Orange County Fair” and thinking it was ours, but it’s not. I have never been to Florida but I’m pretty sure their Orange County isn’t as nice as our Orange Country! (So says the born-and-raised-in-California girl! HA!) One thing Florida doesn’t have as much in abundance as California are our vast and diverse agricultural regions. Case in point, Figs! California produces 100% of the nation’s dried figs and 98% of their fresh figs! That’s a lot of figs! You may recall I went on a Fig Road Trip last year through the Central Valley. It was a great weekend of learning. When the Orange County Fair came up again this year and their motto was “Free Your Inner Farmer” with the focus on local agriculture, I knew I had to share all about California Figs. The wonderful folks at Valley Fig were kind enough to send me some amazing products so I could share a few of their favorite recipes and tell y’all about their family farms!
The Valley Fig website has SO MANY DELICIOUS recipes, it was hard to narrow down what to make and share, but I finally decided on their California Fig, Spinach Grilled Cheese with Brie and a batch of Brown Butter Sticky Toffee Crispy Rice Treats for dessert. Talk about a perfect light lunch! Plus bonus props to our Orange County with the Mickey Mouse shaped Crispy Treats!
California Fig, Spinach Grilled Cheese with Brie
- July 17, 2018
- 4 Servings
- Print this
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter, divided
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, sliced
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups baby spinach, rinsed and drained
- 8 slices Sourdough or Boule bread
- 8 ounces Brie Cheese, sliced
- 1 cup dried California Mission Figs, stemmed and thinly sliced
Directions
- Step 1
- In a large skillet, melt 1/4 tablespoon butter. Add onions and salt, and cook over low heat for 7-10 minutes.
- Step 2
- Remove onions and set aside.
- Step 3
- In same skillet, melt 1/4 tablespoon butter. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Step 4
- Add spinach and stir until wilted.
- Step 5
- Lay 4 slices of bread on a flat surface. Spread cheese equally across all 4 slices of bread. Top with figs and then spinach mixture, all spread equally across bread slices. Cover each with top slice of bread, and butter the outside of the top slices.
- Step 6
- Turn on heat to medium. When skillet is warm, add sandwiches, buttered side down.
- Step 7
- Place another clean skillet on top of sandwiches, and press down. You should hear a little bit of sizzle. Toast bread for 3-4 minutes. Remove top skillet, and butter the bread. Carefully flip sandwiches over, and replace the clean skillet on top. Toast for another 3-4 minutes.
- Step 8
- Remove sandwiches and repeat with remaining sandwiches.
- Step 9
- Slice sandwiches in half and serve immediately.
Original Recipe courtesy of: Karyl Henry of Karyl’s Kulinary Krusade
I’ll be back at the (California) Orange County Fair Culinary Stage on Friday July 27th with even more Fig-tastic Recipes! I hope to see you there!
