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The upcoming festive season, an upset stomach and a friend's birthday have contributed to this post. I have an iron digestion so am not used to being laid low by tummy trouble, but I spent all of Saturday in bed, only crawling out to take the dog for walks. I have my suspicions about a piece of sushi I had to be sociable (never understood the attraction) but will point no fingers as I may have caught a local bug. Sunday wasn't much better and I missed a joint walk up to Pedasa with a local archaeologist, which was a real shame but luckily Roving Jay went along (despite eating from the same sushi plate so my indisposition must have been from a rogue germ) and we will hopefully get to read about the visit soon.
I wanted to take along something festive to writing group on Monday as it is our facilitator, Martha's birthday week. I wasn't up to baking so I decided to brew up a mulled pomegranate juice. It is very simple to make but I admit the squeezing is a pain. It is best done in an old fashioned pull-down orange juicer, but an ordinary push down one will do, if you cover yourself and all surfaces before you start. If you live in Turkey, take a jug to your local juice stall and get it done well away from your kitchen. If you are in the UK, I'm sure Waitrose sells fresh pomegranate juice by now.
In Turkey, we have sweet and sour pomegranates, you need the sweet for this recipe, unless you are prepared to add a lot of sugar.
Put half a litre of water in a pan with:
6 cloves,
6 cinnamon sticks,
A thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into sticks
The peel from 4 oranges
12 cubes of sugar
Boil until the water is reduced by half.
Juice the four oranges and add to the water and bring back to just under simmer,
Add 1 litre of pomegranate juice and bring back to just under simmering point.
Taste and add more sugar if necessary. You may need 4 or 5 more sugar cubes
You can sieve and serve this now, but it tastes much better if you cover the pan and leave the spices to infuse for a few hours then warm just before serving.
It makes a great alternative to mulled wined and if you are careful not to boil the juice you will still retain a lot of the vitamin content.
Cheers!
Well isn't that just so uncanny that we shared similar recipes - albeit ours has a rather sturdy alcohol content. ;) Hope you're feeling better soon and saw Roving Jay's blog post that she was in Bodrum now - will look you both up should we head Bodrum direction again. :) Geçmiş olsun.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to a bloggers get together
DeleteHere's a little poem I wrote years ago, when I read about Jack Scott having bloggers get together is Bodrum:
DeleteA Bluster of Bloggers just blew into town
Riding blank white pages, with corners turned down
Spilling words on the floor amid sawdust and spit
Articulating sentences full of merriment and whit
It’s completely impossible for a paragraph to stay
Cuz - 2 sheets to the wind, they all blow away
The Bluster of Bloggers just blew into town
Now they just wish – they’d written it all down!
Glad to be part of the next Bluster of Bloggers get together!
This poem is a good excuse to arrange a "Bluster of Bloggers" for next year.
Deletewhich alcohol did you use?
ReplyDeleteAn alcohol-free drink is an oxymoron in our house but after my bout of illness I seem to have gone off wine. This is a tea-total version but feel free to improvise.
DeleteGeçmiş olsun Annie! Meanwhile bottoms up and also 'cheers!'
ReplyDeleteThanks and hope to raise a glass in person one day.
DeleteB to B, What do you mean alternative? This sounds so delicious, I can just imagine it with vodka or wine. With or without, a nice, warm winter drink. BTW, a few years back, my husband broke down and bought one of those industrial-sized juice squeezers and it's definitely been worth it. Pomegranate juice all winter and orange juice all summer. (Geçmiş olsun.)
ReplyDeleteIndustrial size is what you need for this recipe. It takes at least 10 pomegranates.
DeleteSounds wonderful. Did I say that Granada means pomegranate in Spanish? I should be able to get my hands on a few round here. Feeling better, I hope. Axxx
ReplyDeleteThis must be where "Grenadine" comes from - All makes sense now.
DeleteWe've been laid low too - blogger's lurgy, I call it! A little hot toddy is just the thing to perk us up. Hope you're feeling a little better now.
ReplyDeleteA little shot of brandy added to this will perk you up even more.
DeleteGeçmis olsun. We gave an orange squeezer which said on the box that it was good for pomegranites and this seems like the ideal excuse to try it out
ReplyDeleteMake sure the base is well anchored or it will be skidding around spraying your new kitchen red.
DeleteSorry you didn't feel well after our lunch! Glad to hear you're on the road to recovery. I haven't bought any pomegranates from the market yet ... how do you tell the sweet from the sour?
ReplyDeleteYou can't, it's taste it and see - if they are sour , it's time to make pomegranate syrup.
DeleteCok gecmis olsun Annie - this is a gorgeous drink!!:)Ozlem x
ReplyDeleteThanks Özlem - I'm fighting fit again now and hopefully a couple of pounds lighter.
Delete