Pomegranate Salad

My mom has fallen for R's tricks one too many times... As the story goes about the Boy Who Cried Wolf - now she assumes that everything he says is a lie or a set-up for some sort of trick.

Gotta love the trusting relationship, eh?

Sometimes this lack of trust plays out in weird ways. For example. during a previous trip to Toronto, my mom mentioned that she would be making a salad to go with dinner. R excitedly exclaimed, "Will it have pomegranate seeds in it?!?"

A suspicious look overtook my mom's face and she said, "Why?"

He gave the obvious answer: "I like pomegranate seeds".

"I don't believe you", she retorted.

"You don't believe that I like pomegranate seeds? I do....last time we were here you made a salad with pomegranate seeds in it and I really liked it". Of course -- by this point, R was laughing at my mom because she was making such a stink about him lying about liking pomegranate seeds, so the laughing made him seem even more suspicious.

Now fully engaged in detective mode, Giz said, "You're telling me you remember that there were pomegranate seeds in the salad and you just happen to want them again? You're not telling me something. What is this? Are you making fun of me? What's so special about pomegranate seeds?"

Of course, I'm just sitting back and watching the whole thing (I always know when R is lying and knew that he just genuinely wanted pomegranate seeds in his salad).

The conversation left off with my mom agreeing to put pomegranate seeds in the salad but still convinced that there was some sort of insider pomegranate conspiracy against her.

I can't help but think of this story every time I see a pomegranate. So, of course, I have to tell you about in this post since I'm showing you the pomegranate salad with pomegranate dressing I made for dinner yesterday.


The salad was a mix of fruit (strawberries and tomatoes, pomegranate), vegetables (lettuce, cucumber, greenpepper), cheese (feta), nuts (almonds) and cooked mushrooms.


From one pomegranate, I got a 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice. I used that just in this recipe:

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

1/2 cup fresh or bottled pomegranate juice
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin) or sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
Pomegranate seeds, for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped chives, for garnish (excluded)
Preparation:

In a medium bowl, mix the pomegranate juice, vinegar and honey, and let sit for 10 minutes. Whisk in the oil and adjust the seasonings. Mix in pomegranate seeds and chives, if using. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir thoroughly before using.

I also added a bit of dijon mustard to try to thicken it up a bit.



Delicious!

Go check out Chaya's "Let's Do Brunch" event at My Sweet and Savoury. This dish would be a great addition to a brunch menu.

Panama - First Stop on the Culinary Tour

Our friend Joan at Foodalogue has already completed 2 annual culinary tours. A labour of love, Joan has worked and researched and travelled tirelessly to find the countries for her tours that would give our culinary knowledge an eye opener. It's been fun both participating and reading about each country and I feel like I know a whole lot more than I did before.



First stop of the 2011 culinary tour is Panama, a country found in central America with a predominantly Spanish speaking population of under 4M. That's not to say there aren't other languages spoken; in fact there are many and the cultures that make up this country show themselves vividly in so many ways. Right now we'll just talk about the food.






I've always been intrigued by Empanadas - maybe I just like saying the word. Empanada is Spanish for "to bake in pastry,". I can think of many cultures who make empanadas; they just call them something else like dumpling or perogy. Sizes and fillings. savoury or sweet, they can be whatever you want them to be. They can be fried or baked and they're pretty simple to make. From what I've read and now experienced, the dough is critical.

Here is a simple empanada dough made with flour, salt, water, egg, vinegar and shortening.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour

•3 cups flour (plus a little more for kneading)
•1 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup cold water
•1 egg
•1 egg white
•1 teaspoon vinegar
•3 tablespoons shortening

1. In a bowl, beat the water, egg, egg white and vinegar together. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the 3 cups of flour and salt.
3. Cut the shortening into the flour mix with a pastry blender or two butter knives. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.
4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a fork until it becomes stiff.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but never more than 24 hours.

Tip: If you want to keep the dough longer than 24 hours, you can freeze it.

Servings: Makes approximately 10 six-inch empanadas.

I wanted to make a dessert type empanada and found an apple filling

Filling:

3 firm baking apples (such as Granny Smith)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Coat 1 or 2 nonstick cookie sheets with cooking spray or line regular (not nonstick) cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Peel and core apples. Slice apples into quarters. Slice each quarter across the narrow side into thin slices.

Place the apples, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the apples are soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Place in refrigerator to cool.

To Assemble:

Whisk together the egg and water to make an egg wash. Place a large spoonful of the apple mixture in the center of each dough circle. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the egg wash around the edge of half of each circle of dough, about 1/3-inch from the edge. Fold the dough over the filling so that the edges meet and using the tines of a fork, press the edges together.

I suggest you take your time and do not overload the pastry. Here's what happens when you do or if you don't seal it well.



Kind of looks like a crab sticking it's tongue out at me.

Arrange the empanadas 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. If you made small apple shaped designs with extra dough scraps, place them on top of each empanada now. Lightly brush tops of empanadas with egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the empanadas from oven and let them sit at least 5 minutes before serving.

Note: 15-17 minutes wasn't enough time - mine took 30 minutes



Makes 10-12 empanadas.



I was really blown away by the national dress (really a skirt) of Panama called the pollera. Hand made and costing a large sum of money the hand work is something to be admired. It can be made of wool or cotton and originates from Spain. Today it is used for festivities. It's usually accompanied by an elaborate headdress called a trembleque made of beads attached to a spring that causes the beads to bounce when you move.

This is our first stop. Stop over to visit Joan at Foodalogue to get all the details. Here's just a few interesting points. Next stop - Alaska and I have first dibs on any dishes with the name Palin in them :)

The Itinerary/Arrival Dates

January 9 • Panama
January 16 • Alaska
January 23 • Turkey
January 30 • Japan
Feb 6 • traveling (Joan will be and doesn’t want to take chance on wifi availability)
Feb 13 • Thailand
Feb 20 • Egypt
Feb 27 • Nigeria
[Blogger round-ups posted on following Wednesdays.]

You need to do this. Why? Because it's fun and isn't it your New Year's resolution to have more fun?

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin

The planning before Christmas had me combing trusted blogs in persuit of a side that was not our family's regular fare but still would be tasty and well received. I found this delightful recipe on Smitten Kitchen's blog for Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin.

There's no doubt that prepping the chard is a bit of work but the end result was so worth the effort. I slimmed down the heavy cream to 2% milk and found that the recipe didn't lose in translation.

Apologies for the dark picture but it was taken in a low light room.





Serves 12
1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups heavy cream or whole milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) coarsely grated Gruyére cheese

Prep greens: Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add chard leaves by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper then transfer greens to a colander to drain well and press out liquid with back of a large spoon.

Make sauce: Combine cream or milk and garlic in small saucepan; bring to simmer; keep warm. Melt two tablespoons butter in a medium heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, one minute, then slowly whisk in warm cream/milk and boil, whisking, one minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Assemble gratin: Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter deep 9×13 baking dish. Spread half of sweet potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and a 1/4 cup of the cheese. Distribute half of the greens mixture over the cheese, then sprinkle salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and 1/4 cup of the cheese over it. Pour half of bechamel sauce over the first two layers then continue with the remaining sweet potatoes, more salt, pepper, herbs and cheese and then the remaining greens, salt, pepper and herbs. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the gratin, pressing the vegetables slightly to ensure that they are as submerged as possible. Sprinkle with the last 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake gratin for about 1 hour until golden and bubbly, and most of the liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Note: I baked it the day before and warmed it the day of and it was great. I wouldn't hesitate to make this recipe again. It was a huge hit.