Here is a special dessert recipe just in time for Beaujolais Nouveau season. This comes from my award-winning menu from EYE Magazine's 1999 "Cuisinouveau Challenge." The full article can be accessed from our home site at www.cinnabar.bizland.com.

Nouveau wines are fermented very quickly by a process called "malolactic fermentation." The process results in a red wine that is fruity, balanced with some acidity, but that does not have any tannins (the thing that makes your mouth pucker when you drink red wine, or Welch's grape juice). So, it is a red wine that behaves like a white wine, making it a tricky ingredient in the kitchen.

After winning three Cuisinouveau challenges, I was dubbed "Iron Chef Beaujolais". I hope my fig tart recipe gives you new insight into the wonders of Beaujolais Nouveau. As a happy twist of timing, mission figs tend to be availible around the same time as the Nouveau wines. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Pate Sucree:

1 1/2 cups flour
6 1/2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
4 egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Fig Compote:

1 lb. fresh mission figs
1/2 cup Negrar 'Novello del Veneto' 2000

Topping:

1 1/2 lbs. fresh mission figs, halved

Creme Fraiche:

1 cup 35% cream
1/2 cup buttermilk

Combine in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 24 hours at room temperature.

Spoon thickened cream carefully into a container and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature.

Method:

Pastry: Cream butter with sugar until light. Add yolks one at a time to incorporate. Add vanilla. Add flour and process to combine. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.

Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Line a 9-inch tart pan with dough, leaving a one inch overhang. Dock well. Place on a baking sheet and refregerate 30 minutes.

Bake tart shell at 425 degrees for five minutes. Remove from oven and run a large rolling pin across pan to trim overhang. Remove pieces from tray and turn heat down to 375. Continue baking tart shell for another 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Compote: Cut up 1 lb. of figs and combine in a pot with wine. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to a lively simmer and cook figs and wine until pulpy and thick, 30-45 minutes. Puree and cool.

Spread cooled compote in bottom of tart shell. Top with halved figs. Chill tart. Cut into eight wedges and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche.