fresh pomegranate juice and raspberry jam

a ripe homegrown pomegranate is a beautiful thing..i just love peeling off enough of the pink leathery skin to get a purchase with my fingers so that i can tear the fruit open..but it's not just a tactile thing because the tearing open makes a lovely sound..and then inside is the visual delight of the glistening ruby jewels nestling in white papery folds..i know some advocate banging the back of the opened fruit with a wooden spoon to extract the arils but for me that's a bit brutal..i like to extract the fruit with my fingers..gently..gently..

some fruit just doesn't lend itself to public consumption..i'm thinking mangoes and maybe bananas..and for me it's also pomegranates because i don't like the seeds..i haven't come up with a way of extracting the chewed seeds elegantly from my mouth so i eat and seed spit in private..although i don't mind downing a few in a salad..

one way around the seed thing is to juice the pomegranate but that's easier said than done..well for me anyway because i haven't discovered a nifty non spattering crime scene way of doing it yet..it took me ages yesterday to press the arils with a spoon against a sieve to extract the juice for my jam but not as long as the bloody cleaning up took..but it was worth the effort!

fresh pomegranate juice and raspberry jam

tea with hazel
makes 2 jars of 250 mls and a bit

ingredients

500 gms raspberries*
500 gms sugar**
150 mls fresh organic pomegranate juice***
juice of half of an organic lemon

method

~ place ingredients in a large saucepan and heat over low heat until the sugar has dissolved
~ bring to the boil and boil until set has been reached
~ pour into sterilized jars and cap immediately

notes:
*     i used very reasonably priced fresh tasmanian raspberries..frozen berries could be used but i prefer not to use those available at the supermarket because they're imported
**   i like a tangy jam but for those who like their jam sweeter increase sugar quantity to 550-600
*** i needed 2 medium sized homegrown pomegranates to attain this amount of juice

now i want to make scones to have with my jam..with a whisker of cream too of course!

this post submitted to punk domestics

pomegranate jelly with orange custard

when i moved into my previous house i had visions of burgeoning fruit trees growing in our new and enormous garden so i went about planting a variety of fruit trees that i imagined the children picking fruit from as they played outside and i also envisaged myself bottling the fruit for my family to eat in the winter months..it didn't happen though..i struggled with the huge but beautiful ornamental trees in the garden robbing moisture and goodness from the soil, a possum plague, various diseases and beasties attacking the foliage and time constraints..

so, when i was researching fruit trees for my current garden, i opted for the hardier stuff and the more unusual such as feijoa, cumquat, elderberry and pomegranate trees..they're all doing really well and they require minimal work..i picked my first feijoa yesterday, the cumquat is massed with fruit, the elderberry produced eight umbels this year and the pomegranate has produced about 30 beautiful large  fruit..the pomegranate produced a smaller crop last year but the fruit wasn't as flavoursome and juicy as it is this year..

i made a pomegranate jelly with vanilla custard last week but i wasn't happy with the flavours because there wasn't enough complementarity between the two elements..this time i added some orange juice to the jelly and a subtle orange flavour to the custard with the use of orange zest and the finer crushed biscuit is much nicer this time too rather than the chunks i added last time.. 

pomegranate jelly and orange custard

tea with hazel

serves 3-4

ingredients 

pomegranate jelly

2 large organic pomeganates

juice of 1 organic orange* (retain the orange skin for the candied orange peel recipe below)

25 gms sugar

40 mls water

2 gold strength gelatin leaves

extra castor sugar (if needed)

orange custard

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon (tbs) sugar (or more or less as desired)

1 egg yolk

finely grated rind of 1 organic orange*

1 tbs corn flour

1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tbs extra milk

candied orange peel

skin of 1 juiced orange (see pomegranate jelly ingredient list above)

40 gms sugar

60 mls water

extra water

extras

2 savoiardi biscuits crushed into irregular sized pieces the largest being about almond sized

method

pomegranate jelly

~ remove the arils from the pomegranates

~ put the arils in a colander sitting over a bowl and press the arils with a metal spoon extracting as much pomegranate juice as possible

~ pour the orange juice through a muslin lined sieve into a measuring jug adding enough pomegranate juice to make up 200 mls of juice in total

~ put the sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat stirring until the sugar is dissolved

~ once dissolved increase heat, bring to the boil, then remove from heat

~ cut the gelatine in quarters, cover with water to soften, squeeze out water and add to the hot syrup stirring to combine

~ add the gelatine/sugar syrup to the juice and stir
~ test for sweetness and add extra castor sugar as required stirring well to dissolve

~ divide between 3-4 glasses, cover with foil, and refrigerate until set

orange custard

~ bring the milk, sugar and orange zest to boiling point then remove from heat
~ mix the corn flour with enough extra milk to form a paste then add egg yolk and mix well
~ while mixing slowly add a few tablespoons of the hot milk to the cornflour/egg
~ strain the cornflour/egg into the hot milk stirring well to prevent curdling
~ return to a moderate heat and cook until the custard just comes to the boil and then remove from the heat
~ add vanilla, cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming, and set aside to cool

candied orange peel

~ place orange skins in a saucepan, just cover with water, boil for 10 to 15 minutes then drain
~ make a syrup with the sugar and water, add orange skins, and boil for 30 minutes occasionally adding more water if the syrup becomes too thick
~ once cool cut the white pith from orange peel and cut the peel into fine batons 

assembly and serving

~ sprinkle the crushed biscuits evenly over the set jelly, dollop on custard dividing it evenly between the glasses and then top with a few pieces of candied peel
~ cover again with foil and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving

notes: * i used small homegrown sour oranges..if using sweeter and/or larger oranges adjust the amount of sugar, juice and zest accordingly

pomegranate wonderful..

'oh you are a wonderful thing..you've lived up to your name..only two years old and you're planted in a northerly position exposed to the hottest, driest and windiest weather in summer but this year you've produced your first crop ever of eleven pomegranates'..

'pomegranate wonderful'..punica granatum

'your fruit looks so lovely hanging on the tree like decorative and festive orbs that, on the one hand, i don't really want to pick you..but i'm also tempted to taste those secreted ruby jewels teasingly hidden among your white parchment like folds'..

i decide to tear one open and i find the palest pink facetted seeds that taste a little tart but that are deliciously juicy..they need another month to be fully ripe i think..but i will not waste these gems because i will use the juice in a salad dressing..

go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate
if you are interested in reading about the
pomegranates rich and fascinating
cultural and symbolic history