RUBIES.. Glossy fat red gems. One lot live in a dark green glass jar and the others live in hard shells.
"What is this bird talking about".. haha.. I know you well Dear Reader and I know when you're thinking that I've lost the plot but I haven't.. for she always has Barberries and Pomegranates in our YumYum HQ and they, my dears, are the red gems of food!
We also have Pomegranate Syrup, some people call this Pomegranate Molasses, no matter, for it is the same thing.
This morning she awoke early, slipped out of bed and went off to drink a glass of Slippery Elm ~ which she has to take at least half an hour before she eats or drinks anything else ~ then, as she was coming back to bed, she had one of those "EUREKA" moments!
Oh, such joy. She whispered my name to wake me up and then we slithered back into her cosy bed to have a canoodle and she told me about her revelation.
"I've 'cracked' it ~ it is Easter.. got it.. or are you still trying to work that one out? ~ GeeGee, I know how they make the Pomegranate Nougat" and because she's generous and I am full of food and feeling kindly disposed towards you all.. here is how they do it! We think..
You'll need..
A preheated oven at a low temperature ~ you don't want this rock hard or to burn the nuts.
A small but deep baking tray.
A metal stapula.. a wide one to get the nougat off the tray.
A blender or juice extractor.
Lots of Pistachio nuts.
Lots of Pomegranates ~ 4 at least.
100g caster sugar.
The reason she is using fresh Pomegranate seeds is she wants to make the molasses from 'scratch'.. I know, there's the Easter thing again.. chicken scratch.. sigh.
Method.
Chop your Pomegranates over a bowl and get all the seeds out, take off any of the bitter skin, put the seeds, not too many at one time, into the blender and whizz a couple of medium burst till all the seeds are mashed, strain them over a fine sieve into the bowl, pushing the seeds against the sieve to make sure you get all the liquid, repeat until you have LOTS of juice.
Pour the juice into a sauce pan and set it to boil gently until greatly reduced.. This, Dear Readers, is the REAL McCoy of Persian YumYum Dreams.. Pure Pomegrante Syrup aka Molasses.. it should be thick and slow to pour.. sharp and sweet.. tangy, I supposed is a good word to describe it.
Chop your Pistacchio nuts quite finely and fold them into the molasses and stir well. Add the 100g of caster sugar, stir it in well.
Pour the mixture into the baking tray and smooth it out.
Place it into the oven and watch it.. like a hawk! Too long, it'll set too hard, you'll never get it out of the tray and, if you do, you'll break your teeth!
When it is just begining to set, remove the tray immediately from oven and allow it to cool, take a sharp knife, which you have dipped into boiling water, to cut the nougat into chunks and push it off the tray with the metal spatula.
She's hot footing it out to get more Pomegranates and other fruit from our much beloved Karen and other goodly things, like Hummus for me from UR Supermarket, James White's Beetroot juice from Waitrose, eggs and lamb from Dickenson's, all of which are in the North End Road.. aren't we lucky!
And she'll use Barberries in the stuffing for the lamb. Blood Red Rubies.. our precious culinary gems.
GeeGee Parrot.
April 4th, 2015.
"What is this bird talking about".. haha.. I know you well Dear Reader and I know when you're thinking that I've lost the plot but I haven't.. for she always has Barberries and Pomegranates in our YumYum HQ and they, my dears, are the red gems of food!
We also have Pomegranate Syrup, some people call this Pomegranate Molasses, no matter, for it is the same thing.
This morning she awoke early, slipped out of bed and went off to drink a glass of Slippery Elm ~ which she has to take at least half an hour before she eats or drinks anything else ~ then, as she was coming back to bed, she had one of those "EUREKA" moments!
Oh, such joy. She whispered my name to wake me up and then we slithered back into her cosy bed to have a canoodle and she told me about her revelation.
"I've 'cracked' it ~ it is Easter.. got it.. or are you still trying to work that one out? ~ GeeGee, I know how they make the Pomegranate Nougat" and because she's generous and I am full of food and feeling kindly disposed towards you all.. here is how they do it! We think..
You'll need..
A preheated oven at a low temperature ~ you don't want this rock hard or to burn the nuts.
A small but deep baking tray.
A metal stapula.. a wide one to get the nougat off the tray.
A blender or juice extractor.
Lots of Pistachio nuts.
Lots of Pomegranates ~ 4 at least.
100g caster sugar.
The reason she is using fresh Pomegranate seeds is she wants to make the molasses from 'scratch'.. I know, there's the Easter thing again.. chicken scratch.. sigh.
Method.
Chop your Pomegranates over a bowl and get all the seeds out, take off any of the bitter skin, put the seeds, not too many at one time, into the blender and whizz a couple of medium burst till all the seeds are mashed, strain them over a fine sieve into the bowl, pushing the seeds against the sieve to make sure you get all the liquid, repeat until you have LOTS of juice.
Pour the juice into a sauce pan and set it to boil gently until greatly reduced.. This, Dear Readers, is the REAL McCoy of Persian YumYum Dreams.. Pure Pomegrante Syrup aka Molasses.. it should be thick and slow to pour.. sharp and sweet.. tangy, I supposed is a good word to describe it.
Chop your Pistacchio nuts quite finely and fold them into the molasses and stir well. Add the 100g of caster sugar, stir it in well.
Pour the mixture into the baking tray and smooth it out.
Place it into the oven and watch it.. like a hawk! Too long, it'll set too hard, you'll never get it out of the tray and, if you do, you'll break your teeth!
When it is just begining to set, remove the tray immediately from oven and allow it to cool, take a sharp knife, which you have dipped into boiling water, to cut the nougat into chunks and push it off the tray with the metal spatula.
She's hot footing it out to get more Pomegranates and other fruit from our much beloved Karen and other goodly things, like Hummus for me from UR Supermarket, James White's Beetroot juice from Waitrose, eggs and lamb from Dickenson's, all of which are in the North End Road.. aren't we lucky!
And she'll use Barberries in the stuffing for the lamb. Blood Red Rubies.. our precious culinary gems.
GeeGee Parrot.
April 4th, 2015.
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