Planked Figs with Pancetta and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

• 0.5 cup creme de cassis such as crème de mûre, or calvados
• 8 large figs fresh green black ripe cut in half lengthwise, stems left intact
• 1 cup goat cheese fresh crumbled
• 8 slices pancetta thin
• 1 tablespoon pepper black
• 1 Clove honey for drizzling

Equipment

• baking sheet
• oven
• grill
• tongs

Directions

1. Pour the fruit liqueur into a shallow dish.
2. Sprinkle the pepper on a saucer. Dip the cut sides of the figs first into the fruit liqueur, then into the pepper, and place, cut side up, on a baking sheet to marinate for 20 minutes.
3. Cut each slice of pancetta lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips. Loosely wrap each fig half with a strip of pancetta. Fry the rest of the pancetta until crisp and crumbly and set aside.
4. Prepare a hot fire in your grill.
5. Place the planks on the grill grate and close the lid. When the planks start to smoke and pop, after 3 to 5 minutes, open the lid and turn the planks over using grill tongs. Quickly place the fig halves on the planks, cut side up.
6. Sprinkle the goat cheese and fried pancetta on the figs. Cover and plank-roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the figs have softened and are scorched around the edges and the goat cheese has a burnished appearance and a brownish-red color.
7. Drizzle with the honey and serve.
8. Oven-Planking: Preheat the oven to 450°F.
9. Place the planked pancetta-wrapped figs, sprinkled with goat cheese and fried pancetta, in the middle of the oven. Plank-roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the figs are scorched around the edges.
10. Drizzle with honey and serve.
11. This recipe can easily be divided in half if you have a grill that is too small to accommodate two planks at the same time, or you can stagger the cooking.
12. From 25 Essentials: Techniques for Planking by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig. Copyright © 2010 by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig; photographs copyright © 2010 by Joyce Oudkerk Pool. Published by The Harvard Common Press.