I have been waiting, patiently!, for years to have dark figs stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon.  I wanted to wait until I had at least 3 that I grew myself ripe at the same time.  I've been growing figs for coming up on three years now, the first year had no fruit, the second year had a few, this year has had several but only one at a time...

Until today:

Four beautiful dark Portugal figs all (mostly) ripe on the same day!  This is the day, it's going to finally happen!

As it turns out, maybe one of them wasn't ripe enough to be picked, and the other two could have used another day too, but the top one was perfect.

 
I shoved a ball of goat cheese in each of them.  They oozed with deliciousness as the sweet mushy fruit merged with the creamy goat cheese.  I licked my fingers clean at the end and legitimately thought I was going to cry for a moment it was so delicious.

 

Then I trimmed the fattiest part off the bacon and wrapped it around neatly one time on each cheese stuffed fig.

 

Then they went in the over @ 300 degrees.  We cook bacon slowly on a low heat to render the fat out and it's perfect so I thought that would be a good approach.  We put them in a pie pan raised up on crumbled foil so they wouldn't sit in a pool of bacon grease.  We watched them pretty closely until the bacon was cooked.

Glorious bacon wrapped goat cheese stuffed figs!  But they were a total flop...  During the cooking process the figs lost all of their flavor, the goat cheese melted and got lost in bacon grease, and they were borderline inedible.  So disappointing, but I think next time will be a success.  

They were so good before I added the bacon (which just feels ridiculous to say), all of the problems came from cooking them with the bacon.  And the bacon didn't even come out very well, it never does when I wrap it around food, it's never consistent.  I feel like it needs a flat consistent surface with regular flipping to cook properly.

So next time I'll just stuff the raw fig with goat cheese and cook the bacon separately then sprinkle chopped bacon over the fig.  

The moral of the story is this: if you're thinking about cooking your fresh figs, be aware that they're going to lose some flavor!  Or at least mine did.

Hey, it was a good effort Greg!  Live and learn.  I always find the positives.  Could have been a batch of 20 figs instead of 4.  ;)

Well, life is a learning curve. Just consider this a lesson learned.

Get some slab bacon...put it in the freezsr to firm it up, get a fish filet knife and slice it paper thin... then it will crisp quickly and maintain flavor/

Your post got me curious and I found a ton of recipes on the internet for figs wrapped with bacon and some of them also had goat cheese.  Here's an example:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-wrapped-figs-50400000116237/

The one above actually specifies fresh figs and involves baking at 350 deg.  for 6-8 min.  So it seems like what you did is pretty much what others do - maybe you left them in too long?  I wonder how it would turn out if you could microwave the bacon so that it is 75% of the way done then wrap the figs and cheese with the bacon then broil for the last couple minutes to finish it up?  We often microwave bacon on a plate between two sheets of paper towels.  Just a thought.

This is so cool, they look really good. Congrats.

I also found a recipe but in it you prepare the bacon separately:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Figs-with-Bacon-and-Goat-Cheese-351591

My mouth is watering :) you are so lucky!

It's going to take me several years before I'm willing to experiment with my figs.  They're just so darn good right off the tree!

I agree.  I don't think figs taste as good cooked as raw.  If I had dozens I'd experiment but with a few at a time they get eaten raw.  I've never even found anything that I like with figs as much as plain figs.

How about a bacon, tomato and cheese sandwich, with a side of figs?
Sorry, I'm picking on you because I'm bitter that I still haven't tasted a fig this year...

Hi OctopusInc,
You just killed me !

IMO, Bacon is too bitter to go good with figs - just IMO, don't take it bad - Experimenting is always fun.
If you cook a fig, you should cook it with something sweet, like "Black sausage", with an apple and the fig taste will melt with the apple and the sausage.
But that is not the reason why you killed me .

Did you already try to identify the strain of that fig-tree ?
I have almost no doubt that it is a "Sultane" .
"Sultane" are so good raw, so full of flavor, that I'm with you, those figs can only loose taste if cooked or mixed with something else.

For cooking, I would consider using bigger figs with a thicker skin so that the fig will hold on during the cooking.

I thought your recipe and photos were Pinterest worthy!  Wow!  Sorry the flavors disappointed.  Maybe next time try prosciutto?  There are tons of recipes for fig, proscuitto, rosemary, and goat cheese pizzas.

I'll have to have figs running out my ears prior to trying other than fresh.  Thanks for your good advice!

Suzi

I would use Jamon instead of bacon, very tasty, not crispy but always good.

Last weekend I stuffed some with soft brie cheese and wrapped with tissue-thin ham. Under the broiler for a few min. and they were good. The cheese melted a little, the ham crinkled a little, and the figs kept their taste.  However, I don't think it was as good as simply eating raw figs with slices of good cheese and ham together. I guess I am not a big fan of cooked figs, I like them best fresh.

But speaking of fig recepies, here is one that looks wonderful:

·         1 lb Dried Figs, stalks removed, figs halved.

·      4 oz  Almonds, whole, shelled & skinned, lightly toasted.

·         ½ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon.

·         ½ Teaspoon Anise Seeds.

·         1 Tablespoon Runny Honey.

·         1 to 2 Tablespoons Brandy.

·         Optional – Toasted Sesame Seeds.

·         A 7 inch shallow cake tin, or similar dish.

Cut two circles of baking parchment to fit your cake tin or dish. Line the cake tin with cling film, leaving a long overhang on each side. Place one of the baking parchment circles at the bottom of the tin.  Set aside.

Put the fig paste into the bowl with the almonds. Open the paste mixture with a spoon and drizzle over the honey and just enough brandy to bring the mixture together. Combine well. Press the fig and nut mixture into the prepared cake tin, smoothing the top with a spatula.

Place the second circle of baking parchment on top of the mix and fold over the cling film. Place a plate or a cake tin bottom on top of the fig cake and weight down with a heavy object, then allow the cake to sit at room temperature for at least 2 days before unwrapping.

Thank you all for the kind words and advice!  

I'm writing it off as a victory since there was a valuable lesson learned, and because I don't like taking failures!  :-D

Suzi, we did talk about using prosciutto and probably will try it at least once.  I *LOVE* bacon, and imagined, "how can this possibly go wrong?"  Lesson learned. :-P

Today we harvested (1) figo preto and just stuffed with goat cheese raw, was very good! 

I've BBQed figs stuffed with Gorgonzola (others with goat cheese), wrapped in prosciutto and skewered on a stem of rosemary. They were quite delicious but I preferred the goat cheese. I used Chris's Unk Portuguese fig. Same fig I made the fig ice cream with and put on the cheese cake at last year's fig fest.