Saturday, November 26, 2011

Pomegranate Granita - A Lovely Winter Dessert

Today's post is a tasty re-run while I spend a little time with family. I really think this pomegranate granita is fabulous - I hop you do, too. If you try it, please be sure to let us know in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter or on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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One day, outta nowhere, the POM Wonderful company offered to send this little blog writer a case of pomegranate juice. I accepted. Soon after, a full case of 100% pomegranate juice arrived to my door. (And, it was packed nicely with freezer packs, since it's perishable.)

We drank some. Wow, that's tart - but good, I thought. Tim liked it straight. I thought perhaps I should use it in cooking. I'd like to report that I made a fabulous pomegranate reduction for pork. (I'd like to, but I can't. The holidays are rapidly approaching and there are oh so many things at the top of the list.)

Since I needed something fast, I tried the Alice Water's Chez Panisse POM Grantia recipe found on the POM Wonderful site.

Well, sorta.
I added some white wine that I just happened to have laying around.
And, some additional water, to offset the alcohol - so it would freeze.
My granita did improve with the addition of a hint of fresh lime juice, too.
It was very...very...nice.
And, I think the color and flavor is perfect for the Christmas season.

POM Granita

Ingredients

* Juice from 4 to 6 large POM Wonderful pomegranates or 2 cups pomegranate juice
* 1 cup water 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup pomegranate arils

Directions

1. Place pomegranate juice in a large bowl. Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Pour sugar syrup into pomegranate juice. Taste and adjust the acidity with a squeeze of lime, if needed.
2. Freeze pomegranate mixture for 1 hour. Stir so that it doesn't separate into juice and syrup. Once frozen, chop it up with a knife or ice pick. Add arils to granita mixture and serve or transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

I have a flat Tupperware that I use for all of my granitas.
(Yep, I make a lot of them.)


Now, my sis asked whether I felt beholden to the POM Wonderful company to put in a positive word. Nope. I told her I would report the not-so-good stuff, too.

Like...the bottle caps.
Seriously- the bottles are adorable! But, I could NOT them open. Asked the boyfriend. He couldn't open them either. He literally got out the wrench - which worked great - thankyouverymuch! (Note to self: never hurts to keep a wrench in the junk drawer.) So, I really hope that either POM Wonderful decides to make an easy open cap - or that perhaps I just received a uniquely tough cap lot.

Now, I mentioned the cute little bottles. Well...
Wouldn't they make the most adorable little snowmen?
You crafty folks out there - you can see it, yes?

So, here's the scorecard:
Flavor - Tim and I both gave it thumbs up.
Health - Big ol' antioxidant. Read more here.
Flexibility - There are lots of recipes available - many at the . I think having another juice in the arsenal, er, fridge is a good thing.
Easy open - Um, no.
Handy - Yes, the bottles are. While you might want to go old school and immerse a pomegranate in water and fish out the arils, then squeeze them - I'll simply use the juice available at most grocers.

To thanks once again to the POM Wonderful company for providing some tasty options for dinner and dessert. Oh, and crafting. Let's not forget those little snowmen.



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