HAND CHEESE GRATER RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. You should have no problem getting nice figs at Christmas time and they’re wonderful to make in so many ways so when you see them, buy them up! Here’s one really gorgeous way to have them. I promise you won’t get bored of these; there are so many lovely ways of using them up.
  2. Personally, I like to make a sort of bruschetta with them or put them out on a platter with some nice cheese. As it’s Christmas and your kitchen is probably well-stocked, you’ll hopefully have the ingredients for the bruschetta on hand already. If not, you can always improvise with whatever you’ve got in the fridge.
  3. Preheat your oven to 110ºC/225ºF/gas ¼. Lay your figs, cut-side up, in a baking tray. Using a fine grater, zest your clementines over the figs then dust the figs with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar. My flavoured sugar is also great for this so if you’ve made a batch of that, feel free to use that instead.
  4. Pop the figs in the oven to bake for 4 hours, checking on them every hour or so. When they come out of the oven you’ll have semi-dehydrated figs, which will be a bit like wine gums.
  5. Fig bruschetta Get yourself a few slices of nice warm bread, crumble over some lumps of cheese, and a few pieces of walnut then put a few fig halves and a drizzle of runny honey over the top to finish it off. I think the combination of salty goat’s cheese with these figs and a bit of honey is absolute heaven.
  6. Figs in honey You’ll be able to put any leftover figs to good use in all sorts of ways. A really nice way of using them at Christmas is to turn them into a bit of a gift by popping a stack of them in a sterilised jar, covering them completely with honey then sealing the jar with an airtight lid. They’ll be beautiful as part of a cheese platter, baked in a tart, a sticky toffee pud, or even thrown into a roasting tray with some pork or other meat for a bit of added sweetness. Give them to your mates when you go round to theirs for dinner. They’ll love getting something unique, especially when you explain all the different things they can do with them.

Steps:

• Grate 6 oz. cheese on the medium holes of a box grater. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 400°. → Oh, is that the only side of the box grater you use? Read this.
• Dust work surface lightly with flour and unfold or unroll puff pastry on surface. Roll out lightly with a rolling pin to smooth creases, then cut pastry in half crosswise. (If you’re using a brand of puff pastry that comes with 2 sheets instead of 1, just roll out each piece lightly but don’t cut.)
• Mix 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp. water with pastry brush in a small bowl. Lightly brush egg wash across surface of 1 piece of pastry.
• Sprinkle half of grated cheese all over egg-washed surface in an even layer.
• Using your fingertips and holding your hand at least 8" above the surface, sprinkle ½ tsp. paprika, then ⅛ tsp. cayenne over cheese. Season with salt (go easy if you’re already using a salty cheese like Parm), then very generously season with black pepper.
• Place second sheet of puff pastry over top, aligning edges, and press gently to flatten. Lightly brush surface of second sheet with more egg wash.
• Sprinkle with remaining cheese, paprika, and cayenne; season with salt and pepper.
• Dust rolling pin with a bit more flour. Gently roll over top of pastry (yes, you’re rolling directly over the cheese). If bottom layer of pastry starts to stick, dust underneath with more flour, or if rolling pin starts to stick to cheese, dust pin with more flour. Roll pastry out to a long rectangle just under ¼" thick. The dimensions aren’t important, but try to keep the rectangle under a foot in length (otherwise, the straws will be too long to handle).
• Using your knife, cut rectangle into ½"-thick strips. For fewer straws that are longer, cut lengthwise. For more straws that are shorter (and easier to handle), cut crosswise.
• Working one strip at a time, transfer to prepared sheets and twist 2 ends in opposite directions several times. Repeat, spacing twists about 1" apart, until you’ve used all the pastry and filled both sheets.
• Bake cheese straws, rotating pans once top to bottom and front to back, until golden brown and cheese is toasted and crisp, 12–18 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets. Carefully remove from parchment and serve.
• Do Ahead: Unbaked twists can be made 1 month ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic on baking sheet and freeze. Bake directly from freezer without thawing (increase bake time by several minutes).