Petite Gingembre: Baked Figs with Goats Cheese and Balsamic Syrup

Hubby has been trying to get a hair cut for over a month now. He is very particular, and will only get his hair cut by the lady who has been doing it since he was 3. This means a drive up the M25 and M1 every time he needs a hair cut. Lucky he doesn't mind having longish hair. We have been jinxed when it comes to getting hair cuts, and like the other times as we've set off the M25 has been closed due to some incident.

This time we didn't even make it on to the motorway, and after an hour of queuing diverted to Croydon. Most people wouldn't get excited about Croydon, but most people aren't me. After dragging hubby to Ikea to bounce on the beds and bury myself in the sheepskin rugs, having a HUGE plate of meatballs with loads of loganberry jam and stocking up on tea-lights we went to my favourite place in Croydon. Costco.

For those of you who haven't been to Costco it's a big cash & carry, but stocks EVERYTHING. There are lots of gadgets for hubby to browse, a big range of all kinds of household stuff, but most importantly food. Our cupboards have been stocks with enough loo roll and washing powder to last a year and our fridge has done pretty well too.

One of my Costco impulse buys was a big box of black Bursa figs. I adore figs but rarely buy them because they're so expensive, here I got 10 figs for £3.99. Hubby has never had figs so I had to do something special to introduce him to them.

This recipe was a complete no brainer. We both LOVE goats cheese and can regularly be found dipping our bread in balsamic vinegar. It's really simple to make and feels like such a decadent treat.

I made this for dinner for 2 of us and served with a big green salad, but it would serve 4 as a starter.

What I used...

Four figs

25g butter

Tablespoon of honey

Generous glug of balsamic vinegar (about 50ml)

Crumbly goats cheese.

What I did...

1. Melt the butter, balsamic vinegar and honey together. Heat oven to 180 degrees C.