Figs, figs, figs, Part III: Salty Fig Paste

Our family vacation was due to start a couple of days after I filled up a shopping bag full of first-crop green (or white, or whatever they are) figs, and if there's one thing ripe figs were not meant for, it's sitting around on your counter, waiting to rot. Also, first-crop figs not quite being all that, I figured a heavier hand might be warranted, and beat the crap out of them, until they cried "salty-fig-paste-Uncle":

Salty Fig Paste:

1. Scoop out flesh (discard skins) and cook gently, over low or medium-low heat, until it reaches a jam-like consistency (likely closer to 1/4 than 1/2 of the original volume). For my first experiment, and as pictured here, I cooked the paste down after the puree in Step 2 below, but I think, on reflection, that that was a mistake, because it's better to blend in the oil after it's been reduced.
2. Transfer the figs to a food processor - here is where I try to heed Boyle's law and let it cool a bit, so as to avoid a steaming-fig-paste facial - and puree until smooth, adding a good, fruity olive oil as you go. How much depends on your taste and what you're going to do with the paste, but the paste should have a smooth, glossy look and you should be able to taste the olive oil underneath the fruit. In the spirit of keeping it local, my go-to cooking oil is DaVero's "40-weight", although I was out, so in this particular instance, I cheated and used the bottle of TJ's Spanish EVOO I had to hand. Season to taste - I just used salt, but I can see an argument for a few grindings of fresh white pepper.

OK, now I've got a few cups of the stuff, what do to with it? I think fig paste is good with all sorts of things, but shows a particular proclivity for sharp, salty cheeses and cured meats. My wife and kids don't like fig paste at all, so I'll be eating it for a while, with the attendant posts to this blog when, as, and if I come up with any other clever ideas. But it's a Monday, so it's got to be simple, and I don't want to go shopping; and, since this is a cooking-locally blog, I want to keep it local. Herewith, a simple salad of sorts, made almost entirely of stuff from within my county (and mainly from within my city limits):

Chevre with Fresh Herbs, Fresh Figs, and Salty Fig Paste

1. Prepare Salty Fig Paste (above) and use the back of a spoon to apply a heavy smear to the plate.
2. Slice a fresh baguette thinly on a bias - I'd use sweet rather than sour bread for this (my local favorites are Costeaux and Full Circle). Spread a spoonful of chevre on each slice of bread (so many good local goat dairies, this time I used Redwood Hill Farms' excellent young chevre) and sprinkle with roughly chopped fresh herbs (basil, flat-leaf parsley, and a little rosemary from our own garden worked great here), some fresh cracked pepper, and a few dried chili flakes. Arrange on the plate, next to the fig paste.
3. Cut a fresh fig in quarters - our black Mission fig tree had a few first-crop ripe ones, so I used those instead of the greenies for color and because they tasted pretty damn good - and arrange down the other side of the cheese-breads.
4. Drizzle the breads with olive oil and sprinkle the fresh figs with a bit of fleur de sel.

I think I'd round out this local meal with any number of the excellent and reasonably priced Sauvignon Blancs we produce here in the Russian River Valley.