Pommegrantes galore - lucky me!

[chef chicklet]

I am busily juicing these lovely but sort of intimidating balls of the most gorgeous claret red I've seen. Extra juicy, I was given them about two weeks ago, I thought they might not be any good... Wrong! They are beautiful but a little work.

I am not wearing gloves and I have a white counter, using an old white plastic board to catch everything though. A little splattering but could care less. I have a mission.

Any ideas for the juice? I was going to do martini's or jelly? any other ideas?

[malibumike]

We use our juicer and strain and pour into ice cube trays and freeze to add to orange juice for our breakfast juice or screwdrivers.

[alkapal]

my gosh, i hate to stand in front of this rushing pommegranate train, but......
aren't those seeds a little TOO much fiber?!?!?!?

[Veggo]

Alkapal, think of it more along the lines of sandblasting clogged pipes...

[Gio]

Nice visual, Veggo. Thanx.

[alkapal]

holy moly, i'll stick with boiled peanuts, thank you very much! ;-)

[chef chicklet]

Nah... that didn't happen!

[pikawicca]

Get a big bowl of water. Cut the poms in half and submerge in water. Massage the seeds/fibrous mattter until they separate. Rinse away the bad stuff. I've been experimenting to try to find a way to freeze the seeds or fruit, but have not been successful so far.

[intomeat]

How would one juice a pom?

[chowetta]

For the past few years a friend and I have been makiing massive amounts of pom jelly. We finally found that using a 'press' style citrus juicer (like a mighty oj) was the most time saving way of juicing them. There is waste, but we are talking about juicing 15 grocery bags full of fruit.... One tree- an obscene bounty!

[HillJ]

I run the seeds through a juicer with no problems at all. Depending on size, one fruit generates 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 cups.

[hungry_pangolin]

Pomegranate juice in your kebob marinade? (beef, lamb, or chicken)

Pomegranate seeds in your basmati rice?

How about a pomegranate ice for dessert?

[chef chicklet]

Yes to all of the above! do you think people will end up with magenta tongues and lips with the ice cream? Love that idea!

[hungry_pangolin]

It has been a couple of years since I made it, so I can't give you the precise recipe at the moment, but it wasn't ice cream that I made but sort of a non-dairy semifreddo. Essentially it was water, sugar, pomegranate juice, pomegranate seeds, blended together, then placed in a shallow dish in the freezer, occasionally broken up with a fork. I don't recall stained tongues, but I didn't inspect very closely.

[chef chicklet]

A semifreddo? How wonderful, I have been eying a raspberry recipe in Donna Hay's magazine that looked so good.
Now what you made sounds exactly how I made a raspberry sorbet (sans seeds) about 12 years ago. It was delicious.
I think I could adapt the raspberry semifreddo to my pomegrante, just wondered if there is staining. Wouldn't that make a great scene at a lovely dinner party!!! There is that devil in my ear again!

[hungry_pangolin]

Sort of an Iron Chef secret ingredient? Five dishes with pomegranate. Two words for you, chef chicklet: Allez cuisine!

[HillJ]

chef chicklet, I remove the arils from six pomms this evening using the water bowl method and was done in 10 mins flat, no mess. Well worth removing the arils this way!

[chef chicklet]

arils? dummy over here... Please explain!

[HillJ]

oh the seeds! By breaking up the pommegrante inside a bowl of cold water. Sort of like the cranberry bog principle...the seeds drop to the bottom, the pith floats and the skin is removed. I wound up with a large bowl of seeds and strained away the water. Worked great.

[chef chicklet]

Hey that's a great tip! I was damaging some seeds when getting them out. I still have a couple out there on the tree (neighbors) that I will try this!
Thanks!

[JayVaBeach]

Stoli up chilled with a spit of Pomegranate juice - it's yumyum !

Also, a beautiful cut glass bowl full of them is a simple, yet stunning centerpiece this time of year.

[chef chicklet]

yes that is drink that would probably knock me into 2008 right now. I like that for the holiday, a little goes a long way with this juice, its nice.
They are pretty, they look gorgeous on the tree, and yup gotta agree they are real knockouts in nice bowl. I'm a sucker for a handsome yet rugged face.
wow, I feel like I just discovered gold or something today. Thanks for hanging with me everyone! love you guys and gals!!!!

[DiveFan]

I'm STUNNED!
No one else has mentioned a superior way to use the arils - Chiles En Nogada. If you know of a good recipe, please post or link (mine is just OK).

I also have a cookbook with a fesenjon recipe but haven't made it yet with success; I think I need more juice :-).

The California producers site http://www.pomegranates.org/nomess.html has a good tip on how to extract the arils, as well as some recipes.

[HillJ]

Thanks DiveFan. Chef Chick...they also have storage suggestions on the link.

[chef chicklet]

Thank you so much for the link!
I made a wonderful salad (not eaten yet) of baby greens, and red leaf, will top with a dressing i made with the syrup from the pomms. Topping it all with blue cheese and pomm seeds. I made pork with dijon mustard,wine cream sauce and rice. I think a gastrique would of worked with it really!
Love this stuff!!!

[HillJ]

chef, pace yourself....you might overload the tummy with all those great recipes in one day, lol!
pomm is versatile!

[chef chicklet]

thanks I am laughing, I did go a little crazy there. The salad was reallllllly good. DH loved he dressing and the seeds. I will freeze the rest of the juice tomorrow, what a fun day! And the two year old is rolling in his crib crying my name!

[Veggo]

DF, Chiles en nogada is among my favorite all-time dishes, and I think of it every time I hear about or see a pomegranate. It really is a complex dish, and my best home-made has yet to equal the worst I've had in a restaurant in Mexico. (But then they have all been good). Too bad it's so seasonal; I could eat it year-round. Great served chilled in warm weather.

[chef chicklet]

One added note, these are particularly juicy, I am surprised at the amount of juice I got from about 10 reg size pomms. I have no idea their cost, free to me, such a deal!

[Veggo]

My market in Florida is pushing them for 3 bucks a copy, so you may want to chain a rottweiler to your bountiful tree!

[farmersdaughter]

For a really nice take on a champagne cocktail, add a splash of the juice in a champagne glass with your sparkling wine of choice and a half dozen or so pomegranate seeds for color and texture. Really nice combo.

[chef chicklet]

Well I stopped squishing, I have well over a quart. Before I have always frozen the juice. But curious does it need to be boiled, or anything to keep the shelf life? I'm wondering how long it is good in the fridge, or should I just freeze it until I decide?
I ate so many seeds this morining and I mean by the spoonfuls, I'd forgotten just how good they are, the juice is gorgeous and taste great without anything added, definitely worth the sore fingers. Making a syrup sounds pretty interesting and so do the cookies. Those are ones I make I call them "jammies" but I love your version with pistachios, what a picture!!
I have aboout a cup of jewels for a salad tonight..yum. thanks everyone for your good ideas as always!
I know this sounds crazy, I've been thinking about making a gelee, an apple, or citrus. Wouldn't they be beautiful suspended in that???
I have about 10 left, and I see more on the tree... these are just too good to pass up and waste.

[HillJ]

oh and chef c, the seeds are awesome in jello and suspended in that jiggle they look darn cool!

[chef chicklet]

That's a visual! Thanks!

[hohokam]

There are quite a few Middle Eastern/Mediterranean recipes for roasted chicken with pomegranate glaze. I don't have any specific recommendations, but this could be a direction worth exploring. Have fun!

[Oh Robin]

add to plain yogurt... mmmm...

[HillJ]

Oh Robin, pomm seeds or juice really wake up greek yogurt-yum!

[Oh Robin]

I see Fage in my future!

[HillJ]

don't foget the honey!

[LNG212]

I used some of the juice I had to make jelly and then used the jelly for thumbprint cookies (they had pistachios around the outside and they came out really good).

I also used some to add a dash to sparkling wine. It was very tasty. And quite pretty for the holidays.

And I love the idea of freezing them in ice cube trays (thanks, HillJ). I'll have to try that too.

[HillJ]

LNG, they are pretty in cocktails as cubes but I also keep pomm cubes on hand to add to smoothies or baked goods.

[HillJ]

Cook down 2-3 cups of seeds as pancake/french toast/hot cereal syrup
Great over a tossed green salad for crunch
Dry some and add to granola
Juice em and freeze in ice cub trays
Add to orange muffin batter

Enjoy, I love pomms too!

[chef chicklet]

"Cook down 2-3 cups of seeds as pancake/french toast/hot cereal syrup" Seeds too? or remove and just the juice to make the syrup - great idea by the way!! I'm on a french toast kick as of late.

Dry some and add to granola - I have a convection oven- just low and slow??? They will dry out???

Thanks for ideas - salad tonight will star these beauties and making juice with this cool little hand juice thing a pouring spout, pretty cool. Now is when I wish I owned a juicer.
Juice em and freeze in ice cub trays - ditto!
Add to orange muffin batter - just found a great muffin recipe from another hound for these - will do!

Can these go into smoothies???

Thanks for the ideas!!

[HillJ]

chef chicklet, YES to all of the above! You inspired me to hit the green grocer and nab myself a 6 pack! Here's what I do, simple simple for the syrup

Once you have those beauties out of the mother ship to the tune of 2 cups pour them in a small simmer pot and add a tsp of honey and a tablespoon of orange juice. Stir slow and low and add a tablespoon of oj as the sauce thickens. Once you have the desired sauce pour the entire (slightly cooled) pomm in a blender and puree. Delicious!

If you want to add pomm to smoothies I would use the puree version. Those suckers can get stuck in the straw (bg).

ENJOY!

[chef chicklet]

oh geez yes! I have all the ingredients, tomorrow morning guess what I'm making! YUM. Thank you for the details!!!

[creativeusername]

yeah HillJ...give it up. I want to know how to do the syrup and granola thing too!

[HillJ]

creativeu, on the granola mix I place a cup of pomm seeds on a baking pan lined with brown paper and oven dry (checking every 20 mins) at 200 degrees.

Cooled they are good to go!

[creativeusername]

Thanks! I'm at 40 minutes already and they are still plump as ever. Approx how many 20-minute intervals should I expect? :) Will they look like mini craisins when they're done?

[HillJ]

It's a slow process I'm afraid, so a big batch is a good idea.
If you go too high on temp or rush the drying you'll wind up with crisps, yucky ta boot. Patience, for just rewards.