Fresh Figs

The most experience I have with Figs, is with Fig Newtons. Before last weekend, I had never had a fresh fig (thank you Central Market) and now I'm hooked. I have heard other people (Dawn, I'm looking at you) rave about figs, but it just took me awhile longer to try them out. I have two recipes in mind,,, one sweet and one savory. This recipe was pretty darn simple, which I liked. The figs were good, but they weren't as sweet at the Figs at Central Market. There were 4 or 5 types of figs, so I guess I chose the not as sweet variety. Overall it is a very simple way to serve a dessert that looks all fancy smancy.

Ingredients:
· 8-10 fresh figs
· 2 1/2 Tbsp of brown sugar
· 1 cup of fresh ricotta cheese
· 1 Tbsp of honey
· 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
· 8-10 mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Preparation:
1. Pre-heat the grill.
2. Trim fig the stems, if any, and cut figs in half length-ways.
3. Lightly butter a shallow baking dish. Place the figs curved side down in the dish. Sprinkle each fig with a little brown sugar. -- I didn't do this, I just put them directly on the grill
4. Grill figs for about 3-4 minutes or until the sugar starts to bubble.
5. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, honey and vanilla in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Forgot the vanilla, and I'm pretty sure that it would have been way better with the vanilla
6. Remove figs from oven and gently place on serving plates with a dollop of honey ricotta. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.