Now nothing says, I have way too much time on my hands like "I make homemade marinated cheese.", and regardless of whether or not thats true, this dish simple to make and it's unique flavor and texture really add something special to platters and even simple sandwiches. The recipe allows for personal interpretations and tweaking, and though the process takes approximately 3 days, the actual assembly is extremely fast and simple.

Marinated Cheese

Prep:

1 pint of plain greek yoghurt (I used Fage 2%)

2 or 3 kebab skewers

6 coffee filters

6 rubberbands

1 large mixing bowl with the kebab skewers can span the width of

Mix yoghurt with salt and desired spices (such as dill, garlic, or paprika). Use a spoon to dollop even amounts into the center of the coffee filters. Twist the tops of the coffee filters squeezing the yoghurt into a ball. and tie off with the rubberbands while using the slack of the rubberband to hang 3 coffee filter pouches on each skewer. Suspend the skewers across the bowl and leave refrigerated for three days (pouring out the water which collects in the bowl periodically).

Marination:

2 small wide mouth jars

2 cups of olive oil

desired spices

salt

Fill the bottoms of each jar with desired spices. Below to the left we used smoked paprika, chili flakes, salt, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Below to the right we used dill, thyme and herbs du provence. Fill the jars to half full with olive oil. Remove the yoghurt from the coffee filters and divide the cheese into balls of the desired size. You may roll the cheese in herbs or spices like the below right, or for a more mellow flavor leave them plain. Carefully place the balls into the middle of the jars. Fill the remainder of the jar with olive oil. You may seal these by boiling the cans but this will solidify the cheese for a more feta like flavor and texture. For a more spreadable cheese do not seal the cans, but ensure the cheese won't got bad by keeping it fully submerged in olive oil.

When I was about 12 my neighbor across the street, had a fig tree. She was a good friend of mine, Ms.Bowles, and was, at 97, my oldest friend. I would spend hours at her house just talking with her, and I suppose was lucky that she had the patience to spend her retired life entertaining the rambling of a lonely neighborhood girl. But we, dear people are getting off topic. Ms. Bowles had a fig tree and was ironically allergic to figs, and thus would encourage others to take the fruit. I stole a few, trying to eat one raw and then microwaving one with milk, I was left underwhelmed. The fruit was gritty with an odd skin, the flavor was sweet but just mildly so.. To summarize, this was no apple.

Fast forward a decade or so and I find myself faced with black mission figs in my local market... This was one fruit I needed to tackle. The mission fig is a type of fig introduced to the western United States by Franciscan monks and thus were granted their pious name. The mission figs differ from common figs in that they have smaller seeds, grow faster and to a greater size when matured. These figs sport a thin black skin and red flesh; they are fiercely sweet and can be purchased fresh in the summer or dry year round.

I purchased a clam-shell pack of fresh black mission figs at my grocery store for $4.99. Since figs are native to the Mediterranean I thought that a simple filo (phyllo) free-form crostata would pair nicely; in very much the same vein as my cherry crostata. This time instead of marzipan I used goat's cheese, and honey as the glue to keep the fruit down. Slicing the mission figs thinly to top the goat's cheese covered filo crust they were then generously drizzled with honey and baked until the figs became soft and the honey began to bubble. Lovely and light, the figs were perfect and the sour flavor of the goat's cheese helped balance the super sweet combination of figs and honey.

After layering the filo with butter on a greased or papered baking sheet place to the side. Mash your goat's cheese (or mixture of goat's cheese and honey) together in a bowl slightly warming the mixture to a spreadable consistency. Spread the goat's cheese mixture on top of the filo, careful to not tear the sheets. Apply a generous layer of the cheese and fold the edges of the filo up so that the cheese does not run off when melting. Wash and slice your figs thinly, careful to maintain their shape.

Slice using a very sharp knife vertically, keeping the tear-drop shape. This just makes a prettier tart, so don't worry too much.

Layer the fig slices in any desired order on top of the goat's cheese. Sprinkle salt onto the top of the figs to bring out their flavor. Drizzle honey generously over the top and place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees. Bake until the honey begins to bubble on top of the figs and the filo begins to brown. Allow to cool at top with more honey when serving.