Pomegranate Sangria

Well I'd like to make a toast- to the ending of a week that belongs in parts waaaaay south of here, and definitely hotter than where I'm at right now. Yup, straight out of the pages of Craptasticville, Mayored, I'm sure, by that Murphy guy, every recipe my hands touched this week took a dive. I decided though, that with the good recipes I share, must come the bad, and I will fess up to my failures. Besides, it was the only lead in I could think of for tonight's post...

A few weeks ago the folks at POM Wonderful sent me a case of pomegranate juice. I was like a kid in a candy store- I LOVE pomegranate juice and POM Wonderful has the best. So I immediately started thinking of all the mouthwatering things I could create. My mind wouldn't stop. Still hasn't.

I love spicy foods, and I especially love the combination of spicy and fruity. So when I saw these gorgeous looking Pasilla Peppers at my local farmer's market, I knew right away they'd be perfect with pomegranate. Thinking I had everything else I needed at home, I hurried back there so I could quickly make the dish I had in mind- Chicken stuffed roasted pasilla peppers, deep fried with seasoned Panko bread crumbs, with a pomegranate Jalapeno sauce. I was so excited! But when I got home, the roasted chicken I already had in the fridge was nothing more than a carcass... I guess someone else had plans for my chicken.


So I went to "plan B". I had 3 cans of canned chicken in my pantry, and that was going to keep my meal excitement going... ok, really, I said a few things I shouldn't have said once I saw the roasted chicken gone, and then when I found the canned chicken, my excitement returned.

Meal made... and as always, photo's first. I was trying to hurry so I could dig in, I was so hungry. While the flavors were really good, I really should have waited, or run back up to the store and just bought an already roasted chicken. The texture from the canned chicken was awful. All the preparation, all the excitement, totally down the tubes. So while I was able to get a pic to post, I thought I'd wait until I have all the ingredients I need, and make it again, before I share with everyone.


This past week I had also been thinking quite a bit about my aunt. As a child I remember her making this incredible strawberry cake with the most delicious strawberry icing. She also had the best pound cake recipe ever. The more I thought, the more I craved, and I knew I had to make this cake. I got even more excited when I thought that if I replaced the strawberry juice with pomegranate juice, and maybe combined the two recipes, that I would truly have an amazing cake. But as I went to pull the recipes out of my box, they were no where to be found. Trying to find something similar, I looked in all of my cookbooks, and found two recipes I thought would merge well... but they didn't. I really should have researched a bit, and realized that there is a reason cake is cake, and a reason pound cake is, well, pound cake. The cake, while big on flavor, was like eating a dense pomegranate sponge. So, like my meal experiment above, I think I'll wait till I figure this one out before I post a cake recipe destined for disaster.


I was bent, though, on ending this week with a Pomegranate recipe to share. But I was sick of cooking, and baking, so a drink it is- Pomegranate Sangria for all!

Pomegranate Sangria

1 bottle Chianti
1 bottle semi sparkling wine
1/3 c brandy
1/2 c simple syrup
2 c POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
1 lemon, cut into thin rounds
1 orange, cut into thin rounds
1 pear, cut into thin wedges
ice, if desired

Mix all ingredients and chill. Makes 1 large pitcher.

Serve. Drink. Repeat.