Autumn is such a magical time for cooks and bakers. When that chilling breeze fills the air here in the Midwest, we begin looking forward to such delights as pumpkins, apples, cinnamon-scented-everything, chestnuts. And pomegranates.
Lucky are you with pomegranate trees! I, however, must prowl the stores, waiting for these fruits to make their way to my local grocery. And when they do … {woot!}. Those crunchy seeds, bursting with sweet-tart juices, I do so love them in my morning yogurt.
But most of all, I love pomegranate molasses. So tartly sweet (or is it sweetly tart?), it’s serious stuff for serious cooks, like you and me!
For some sad reason, pomegranate molasses is hard to come by in my ‘hood. I’m fairly certain one independent store, our regionally famous Jungle Jim’s, carries it, but an unfortunate mess of road construction surrounding that area on 3 sides has kept me from it for months (an impromptu trip to Hobby Lobby yesterday — Jungle Jim’s next door neighbor — took me 25 minutes to travel the three miles from my door to theirs. Once in the parking, fuming from three near-fender-benders (exhibitions of road rage from fellow drivers too impatient to wait their turns at temporary stopping points), I was barely in the mood to search for the candy eyeballs that had me on the road to begin with, much less plod around the ginormous Jungle looking for a bottle of pomegranate molasses).
And it’s so simple to make at home from easy-to-acquire pomegranate juice that it’s not worth the special trip, even if you know exactly where to look.
If you want to squeeze the juice from a fresh pomegranate yourself, here are a few tips:
1. Don’t wear a white shirt while handling pomegranates! Yo, seriously. Just don’t. Or any light color, for that matter. One of my favorite pale pink shirts is permanently misted with dark magenta dots from pomegranate splatters. I wish I could say it has an artsy Jackson Pollack effect, but really it just looks like some idiot wore a light pink shirt while handling pomegranates.
2. Use a juicer, if you have one, and strain the juice through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. (Even if you have an awesome juicer, still strain it. Pomegranate innards have a lot of textures going on, and you really just want the juice.)
3. Or, use a blender. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate, taking care to pick off the membrane. Pulverize the seeds, then strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.
I’ve got a few recipes coming up here that take every advantage of scrumptious pomegranate molasses, so I wanted to share this super simple recipe now, in case pomegranates are popping up in stores near you (and in the U.S., they should be: they’re in season now through January), and you have a sudden craving for all things pomegranate.
Oh! Speaking of all things pomegranate, if you love Pinterest like I do {Pinterest, muah!}, follow my Pomegranates pinboard. I love searching for and dreamily lingering over the most delectable pomegranate recipes on the web — I’ll be pinning to my board daily!
Karen xo
Homemade Pomegranate Molasses
Ingredients
- 2 cups pomegranate juice
- 1/4 granulated sugar I used raw
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Add the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice to a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the mixture has reduced to 1/2 cup, approximately 70 minutes (see headnotes for SoupAddict's observation on time). It should be the consistency of thick syrup.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the saucepan for 30 minutes. It's ready for use in your recipe. To store, transfer to a glass jar and allow to cool completely before covering and stashing in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Source: Alton Brown on FoodNetwork.com
Darlynne
Monday 7th of October 2013
One of the best culinary discoveries for 2012 (for me anyway, late to the party as usual) is to open the pomegranate in a large bowl of water. You still need to be careful, but this method has been way easier than anything else I've tried. Stop me if you've heard this:
First, cut off the top and bottom of the pomegranate and then cut the whole fruit into wedges, doesn't really matter if it's quarters or sixths. Put all the sections in a large bowl of water and then begin to tear them apart/remove the arils. The yellow fleshy part will float to the top, the arils will sink and the entire process is less stressful than any I've tried before.
So I'm looking at the lone pomegranate in my fruit bowl and will now attempt my own molasses. Our Whole Foods carries it, but I love to try things on my own. Thanks!
SoupAddict
Monday 7th of October 2013
Thanks, Darlynne, it's a tip worth sharing here! The Dexter-splatter shirt was pre-me-knowing-anything-about-pomegranates. But then again, just this weekend, I quickly cracked open a pomegranate over the cutting board without thinking, and then cringed, looking down. Happily, I was wearing black. Whew! :)
kirsten@FarmFreshFeasts
Sunday 6th of October 2013
Karen, Thank you thank you! I like to get lots of pomegranate when it's in season, and I make my I mean I empower my daughter to prep it for use. I'm excited to try making molasses! I've only been to Jungle Jim's once--and was so disappointed that it wasn't living up to the hype I'd heard . . . until I went around the wall and discovered the rest of the store! Silly me.
It's near a bike shop that my spouse likes, so I'm sure I'll go again. Thanks!
SoupAddict
Monday 7th of October 2013
It's lovely stuff, truly it is, and it's totally awesome on vegetables. Jungle Jim's ... I think I still haven't seen the full store. There's a room or something behind the wine section (wine warehouse, is more like it, it's so huge) that I haven't made it down to yet. I think it's a cigar room, but I'm not sure....
Cher
Sunday 6th of October 2013
Pomegranate molasses over roasted cauliflower... That's all I'm saying :-)
SoupAddict
Monday 7th of October 2013
There's an Ottolenghi recipe that I have to revisit soon ... roasted cauliflower with a tahini dressing, drizzled with pomegranate molasses. The last time I made it, I skipped the molasses, and have since been left wondering. ;)