Should Restaurants Charge For Bread? Next on ‘A Chef’s Life’

Should Restaurants Charge For Bread? Next on ‘A Chef’s Life’

A heaping portion of anxiety is what’s being served in this week’s episode of A Chef’s Life. In this promo, Vivian Howard — Southern chef, restaurant owner, and star of this PBS series — is faced with a difficult decision at one of her restaurants. When she makes the choice to start charging for bread, customers aren’t exactly pleased. “If you start charging for bread, you better get a job somewhere,” one man remarks.

A more lighthearted anxiety comes about as Howard tries to seize upon the short-lived peak fig season and churn out as many jars of fig preserves — which she calls “the crown jewel of the preserve world” — before time runs out. “When figs come into season, we act like complete, crazed lunatics because the season is so short,” Howard says. To see Howard’s fig preparation in action, be sure to catch this week’s episode of A Chef’s Life, and to make your own preserves, check out the recipe below.

Check your local PBS listings to find out when A Chef’s Life airs in your area.

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Photos courtesy of A Chef’s Life.

Fig and Lemon Preserves
Makes 4 pints

2 heaping quarts perfectly ripe figs
1 quart granulated sugar
1 lemon, sliced thin, seeds removed

Wash your figs thoroughly, but treat them with kid hands. Broken figs will cloud the syrup and will not hold up during the cooking process. Lots of folks remove the stem. I do not. I like the way it looks in the finished product. So that’s your call…

In a medium bowl, gently toss together the figs, the sugar and the lemon slices. Cover the bowl and nestle it in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours or up to overnight.

When you’re ready to make the preserves, remove the figs from the fridge and transfer everything in the bowl to a heavy bottomed stainless steel or enamel coated cast iron pan. Bring the figs, sugar and lemon up to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Allow the preserves to cook at a good simmer for up to an hour. Try not to bother them too much, as the more you stir, the more figs you could potentially break.

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Over the course of an hour, the preserves will take on the color of strong tea and the figs themselves will shrivel, but amazingly hold their shape. For a lot of preserves, it’s important to skim scum from the surface like mad. For these, it doesn’t matter so much. 45 minutes in, check the preserves by dipping a spoon into the syrup, removing it and running your finger along the back of the spoon. If the syrup separates and holds it’s stance briefly, your preserves are done. If the syrup is watery and runs together as soon as your finger is gone, cook the preserves a bit longer.

These preserves will keep, covered in the fridge, for up to two months. If you choose to can them, follow the basic canning instructions on pg.00 and process them in your water bath for five minutes.

Love Vivian Howard? Check out these stories:

Why Vivian Howard is the Southern chef you should know

Vivian’s one-pot chicken and rice recipe

Vivian says: Don’t mess with Mom’s classic recipes