Fig jam is almost always too sweet, no matter what you pair it with. So before you do anything else, mix some fresh lemon juice or balsamic vinegar into it.

Fig jam and cheese is a classic combo. I like it best with manchego but it also pairs well with cheddar, Brie, Camembert and chevre. In my book, crackers are optional but a slice of fresh baguette - or as topping for crostini - is a great accompaniment! It also makes a great panini combined with prosciutto and cheese.

I'm glad not to expect any dinner invitations to Elmer's house :-) Trashing fig jam, no pulled pork, stews you need a knife to cut, no fall-off the-bone braised lamb shanks.........sounds like a pretty boring table to me!

Give it to someone that loves fig jam....to me, for instance! HAHA!

I developed a taste for fig jam about 10 years ago. I’m getting so many good ideas from this post. I do not eat it on toast, but I love it with cheese. Can’t wait to try the sandwich @nekotish described but I may substitute a pear for the apple! And the pizza @Bestyears likes. Best, my favorite home pizza crust is a flour tortilla. I like very thin crust pizza!

The first house XH and I bought had a huge fig tree in the backyard. I could not stand the figs. I would give them away every year. It was at least 20 years after we moved from that house that I learned to appreciate fig jam.

Thank you for posting. We were given a jar last week, and I have no idea what to do with it. We aren't jam eaters at all, so some of these ideas might work!

Spread it on top of a brie round and wrap in puff pastry. Bake and serve with crackers. So good!

"We rarely eat cheese or crackers, so those are out. Sound good, but not what we eat."

You don't eat fig jam either.

Sorry, I know what you meant but it struck me as funny. And while I don't typically have cheese and crackers around either, I'd second pairing it with a soft cheese. I'd probably treat myself to a camambert or Cambozola. It "sounds good" because it is!

While figs are used in Mediterranean cuisine, I agree with associating them with Italian. At least around here it's stereotypical for Italian-Americans to grow fig trees in their yards.

DH had this at a restaurant in CO last year and often makes it himself, he loves it. Not for me, thanks. Burger toppped with fig jam, goat cheese, and arugula.

Agreed Sue. Fig jam, goat cheese, and arugula is a classic and balanced combo. Jam on a burger just a bridge too far.

I forgot i serve fig jam on my panini bar. Agree it is great w sharp cheddar and arugula on a multigrain.

But really, try the salad dressing. Tho actually almost any preserve/jam works in that dressing.

Friends and I had a game night last weekend and one of them brought a fig and chili sauce over cream cheese to eat with crackers. It was surprisingly good even though I don't like figs that much.

Have fig preserves I made in refrigerator. k Planted a tree in back yard and producing beautifully now.

Love love love whole figs. Sorry you didn't receive any whole figs.

This is great:

Fig and Goat Cheese Quesadilla

I served it with homemade strawberry bisque

Spread figs, sprinkle with goat cheese, heat and eat. delicious

I don't eat much cheese-- and never to just sit and nibble on but I love Fig salad dressing like Mtn posted and I am pretty sure I'd love it on a panini!

I haven't had any in a long time but related to Fig jam? maybe? Figenza Fig vodka.. and the bottle is soooo pretty! I love it in moscow mules ..

One of my go to lunches is a slice of wheat with fig jam and gouda cheese, toasted. I also put fig jam on ham and cheese sandwiches.

We'll spread it on Pancakes and French Toast and even blend a little in with the pancake batter. But generally it's on our toast. Recently whipped up a batch from our 2 trees...

Jam on a burger is not going too far--if it's bacon jam. :)

Does fig jam have any resemblance to Fig Newtons? I hate them. They don't even qualify as a cookie.

It is funny you should bring that up. Those abominations have ruined figs for a broad swath of the population!

Answer - a little bit. But the worst part of FN was always the "cookie" part (shudder; is that even baked? or molded)

PS Bacon belongs everywhere. Nearly. DH had it in creme brulee the other night. (BTF for me there)

Seriously though, do you not know someone to just give it to. Christmas is coming up, maybe give it in a gift basket? We used to get fig jam when I lived in Texas but now that I live up north, it's not so common and is a real treat for me. My sister brought a jar to me when she came to visit from Texas and it was gone in a few days...HA!

I like the idea of the baked brie in puff pastry with the jam. If we wind up having any event here for the holidays, I'll do that. I have nothing against cheese and crackers, etc, just that in interest of stopping snack calories, we quit having those things about 35 years ago.

DIL's best friend always comes for Christmas dinner, either here or at DIL's house. She always wants to bring a cheese board. Of course, she shows up late, about 5 minutes before dinner is ready, when no one wants to nibble on cheese. I'll preempt her!

Fig newtons are horrible, overly sweet with that blocky cookie part. Actually any type of newtons are bad.

If you don't like fig jam, give it to someone who does. Problem solved.

If you want to take the baked brie with fig jam to the next level, sprinkle chopped pistachios on top.

A riff on the brie baked in puff pastry: I keep frozen mini-phyllo cups on hand. Add a bit of cheese (I prefer brie or bleu) to the phyllo cup; top with a dab of jam. Run in a 350 degree oven until the cheese melts - about 10 minutes. Ta-da!

When I first started doing this, I put the phyllo cups in mini-muffin tins. Then I discovered that only a cookie sheet is needed. The phyllo cups are sturdy enough on their own.

Last week when I made these, half were blue cheese with fig jam and the other half were brie with a raspberry peach champagne jam (Stonewall Kitchens IIRC).

Here is my favorite way to eat figs:

These are from my back yard in Venice, and I no longer have a fig tree 😞

I was told that the these are "Texas Red", and my brother in Texas had had a friend of his ship two tree cuttings to me from his nursery - otherwise, I have not seen these in southern California.

When I made fig jam, I added Meyer lemons and Valencia oranges and not that much sugar. The lemon juice helped make the jam less sweet, but when you make the jam yourself, you can control the sweetness.

When I would have lots of figs, I gave a lot of them to a friend from Israel, who told me that they reminded her of Israel. These are the sweetest figs I have ever had, and they tasted almost like pure honey, but with a more complex flavor and fragrance.

I had forgotten about Fig Vinegar. I used to make that all the time with dried figs but it became harder to find good figs. It is amazing stuff. Use a good quality vinegar, chop the figs and put in a quart jar and shake from time to time. Pour off the enhanced vinegar to use in anything you might use Balsamic vinegar. I could see making it from the jam, it would just be sweeter depending on how sweet your figs are. I once participated in a Fig Test here in the PNW growing fig trees without protection to see if you could get edible figs. Not where I live. The figs were tasteless no matter what variety when I got any figs. People can typically grow Honey Figs in the Seattle area. I doubt they were anything like the figs we used to swipe off my Grannies fig tree. She made fig preserves from some variant of Brown Turkey-very rich, very sweet figs. You had preserved figs surrounded by a honey consistency goop. Too sweet for me but I loved the figs raw.

@vgkg Z-7 Va what kind of fig tree are you growing and what part of VA are you in ? We are in Lexington and I know several folks have tried to keep fig trees alive here but the cold has gotten so severe that none have produced figs even with a large amount of wrapping them up. Would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you c

Trailrunner we have 2 fig trees (Celeste & Brown Turkey) and to tell the truth I can't tell any difference in them. I planted them both about 20 years ago and yes here too they have died back to the ground during an extremely cold winter, probably 3-4 times. They do survive (the roots) and will grow back again but it takes 2-3 years of regrowth to start producing enough figs to make jam.

Here (near Richmond) they can survive ok down to 12F for one night, but 2-3 nights in the single digits will most likely wipe them out down to the roots. For those <12F nights the roots have a better chance of survival when they are heavily mulched with leaf debris to help keep the soil from freezing solid. I never tried wrapping the branches up, that seems like a futile task unless they're wrapped up in an electric blanket, on nights that cold I'm wrapped up in one ;-).

@vgkg Z-7 Va thank you. I don’t baby any plants … never water etc at all. The ones that survive must do so on their own. Tough Love! So I guess figs are out. I sure love fig jam and the Southern Living fig jam pound cake with buttermilk is amazing! Oh well… c

My stomach is a bit wobbly. Reading mention of that horrid pasty crumb ”cookie” FN has made my tummy somersault. Figs are delicious and beautiful, but that nasty Nabisco thing is absolutely vile. Dogs won’t even touch them.

Save it until spring a put it out for the Orioles!

To all who suggest that I get rid of jam, remember that I actually like it. I want to use it. But I don't do crackers and cheese. I was hoping for a savory suggestion, like using with roasted meat. But I'm not getting rid of it. Thanks to all who respond.

I have seen quite a few recipes for fig jam glaze with pork tenderloin. Balsamic vinegar is often incorporated with the jam. Sorry I do not have a recipe to share.

For a savory dish, I would pair figs with pork or lamb. I think those meats go better with a sweeter sauce. Maybe a lamb tagine with the fig jam instead of apricots? Or a pork tenderloin with a fig jam sauce.. maybe with balsamic to cut some of the sweetness?

Trailrunner, I just recalled that a long time ago when I was a kid my next door neighbor had a fig tree growing up against the southside of his house. I don't recall it ever dying back and he trimmed it so that it wouldn't rub up against the wall of the house. Planting it this way helped protect it from the howling cold north winter winds and kept it exposed to the sunnier warmer side of the home. This may be one way to give a fig tree a little more advantage in surviving a branch kiling freeze.

Yesterday, I made ham and cheese sliders on Hawaiian bread with dijon mustard. I put a bit of fig jam on mine. I didn’t put it on all of them because I didn’t know how it would taste. Oh, wow! That was good. Next time, they all get fig jam.

@vgkg Z-7 Va thank you!

Trailrunner, my fig tree thrives against the west side of the house in southern Maryland. My guess is that I have brown turkey figs.

@happy2b…gw i have a very large expanse of West exposure with plenty of room if i keep it pruned as a large shrub. i may give it a whirl! thsnk you all. c

I am a barbarian but since I can never find the same brand ever again I first open the jar and taste it. There are some with a strong lemon flavor that overpowers any taste of fig. Those I place a spoonful on a plate then place a piece of fish of some type on top of it. You could place it on top but it always slides off for me. I do not do any breading so it is just a plain piece of fish. I have been known to smear it on roast chicken or other meat if it is the type without a strong lemon flavor.

There is no need have crackers with your cheese. I sometimes have fruit and/or jam with a strong flavored cheese.

I love it with Brie. Spread some soft Brie on a cracker and put a small dollop on the top. Sooo delicious!

Jane

just saw thishttps://ciaochowlinda.com/

Spread it between your favorite cake layers.

We have two fig trees and finally after about 3-4 years the one actually has some figs on it! So, IDK when they are ripe to pick?

Get to the figs before the birds do. Birds love figs.

How timely, gsciencechick, DH just brought home figs from a friends tree. They were just picked. All seemed soft.

They are so delicious.

IMPE, figs get soft when ripe, and most droop down on their stem...

Fig jam & balsamic with pork tenderloin is a classic. Tons of recipes online.

Lots of familiar faces on this cooking forum thread:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2489912/what-did-you-make-with-jessy-s-fig-jam#n=13

Thanks for the feedback on the figs. We’ll need to go take a look to see if they are drooping.

Oh yeah, the birds discovered our grapevines and once the word got out, that was the end of the grapes. The grapes were smaller but super sweet. We do have some netting around figs because the deer ate the plants the first year, but birds could probably get in through the top since the figs are at the top. Dh says the figs are still green and not droopy.

The groundhogs like my figs. They hang onto the branches and nibble away. We usually take each other by surprise.

^^^ I didn't know that groundhogs could do that? Might have to rename them Treehogs. Picked what may be our last dozen figs today, I think the crows got tired of them. There are still some green figs out there but we're in a hard drought here and they'll probably just shrivel up before any rain comes.

Groundhogs climb 20 feet into mulberry trees here to feast!