Every month I’ve been trying to challenge myself to cook something I’ve never made before. I typically decide on something that would be a challenge for me, or that I’ve failed at before. This month after reading a recipe that called for pomegranate molasses, and realizing I could make it, I decided that would be fun challenge for the month. It might have been a little premature calling it a challenge though because, it was so crazy simple to make that I am scratching my head and wondering why I haven’t been making it for years!( I’ll have to come up with another challenge later on this month. )
It all started with coupons from PomWonderful for $1.00 off any product. Thanks to my local supermarket having juice on sale for .99 each this means I had a free 8oz container to work with. Not only was this crazy simple to make, but it also was nearly free! Now to figure out how to can this beautiful creation because it would make a wonderful home made gift.
Here is the recipe: (I kind of winged it)
8oz Pomegranate juice
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Add Juice and sugar and lemon juice to a sauce pan and cook on high until sugar is dissolved. Reduce the heat to medium and let cook for about 1 hour until it is reduced down to thick syrup.
That’s it! After that I poured it into a little jelly jar and put it in the fridge.
I couldn’t help myself! I started by placing it in a little orange seltzer water and it was delicious.
I also added it to the soup I needed it for and WOW! It added a subtle sweetness, instant flavor and instant depth to the soup. I was so impressed with this stuff I can guarantee you I’m going to start making it all the time!
A Bonus soup recipe!
Middle Eastern Chickpea soup-
1 large red onion
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 cans chick peas drained
1 red pepper roasted (or 1 cup of roasted red peppers chopped if buying jarred)
1 roasted eggplant (or 1 cup roasted eggplant chopped if buying jarred- often found in the European section of markets)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
8 oz of water
2 tbsp. Lemon juice
2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses
A large handful of parsley diced thin.
I put this into my crockpot with a generous portion of salt and pepper and I’m expecting it’s going to be pretty good when we serve it tomorrow.
