Pomegranate : The Great Aphrodisiac

The Amateur Gourmet is a blog that I visit regularly. He visits different restaurants in the city and he cooks and then posts his successes and failures on his blog (hey! kinda, sorta like I'm doing). The other day he posted this - the Female on a Plate Contest. You can see by the comments, that some people were not happy about this. Is Usher objectifying women? Yes, definitely, without a doubt. But, Usher is an idiot. We all know from his break-up with Chilli, Usher was a sex addict and he cheated on her (go listen to Confessions). I don't think he meant he wanted a female slathered in bread pudding served on a plate. You can see that with his analogy of Sex on the Beach. The cocktail is just supposed to remind you of some good times that possibly happened on a beach.. not literally recreate some kind of scene in your glass.  He just wanted something good on his plate. So good, that it reminds him of all those times he did  all those females. Yeah, the whole female on a plate lingo is totally wrong... but the essence of it.. creating something that tastes so good that its orgasmic - it's an interesting challenge!

So I don't know if anything I make is THAT good (modesty is a good thing). Why not make a meal that is pretty good and get a boost from one of the ingredients by choosing an ingredient that is a known aphrodisiac? First thing that came to mind was the pomegranate. Autumn is the start of pomegranate season and it's seeds look like jewels. Look, purrty, ain't it:

I decided to make a meal that centers around pomegranates. In the words of Vincent from Project Runway, "it turned me on."

This is a skirt steak recipe I got from Epicurious that I changed around a little bit:

2 cups bottled pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sumac (this is a middle eastern spice, if you can't find it just substitute with half lemon   
    zest and half salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2lb skirt steak
3 tablespoons unsaled butter
3 tablespoons of finely chopped shallot
1/4 cup ruby or tawny Port
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

1. Bring pomegranate, juice, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a saucepan over moderately high heat, boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup, 20 - 30 minutes.
2. Stir sumac, pepper and the remaining salt. Sprinkle evenly onto the skirt steak. Let it stand for 10 minutes
3. In a skillet, on med-high heat sear the steak until internal temperature reaches 125 degrees, medium rare. It really depends on the thickness of the steak but I did it for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Transfer the steaks with the pan juices on a large plate, and let it rest , loosely covered in foil , 10 minutes.
4. While steak is resting, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over med-high heat, cook shallot in the melted butter until golden, 3  to 5 minutes. Add the Port and simmer until reduced to a glaze, 2-3 minutes. Add meat juices that accumulated on the plate and bring to a simmer. Whisk in pomegranate reduction and lemon juice. Remove from heat and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until incorporated. 
5.  Thinly slice steak diagonally and serve with sauce.

Heres another picture just because this post is getting too text-y and I need to break it up with another picture.

The steak was cooked perfectly --something thats gotten a lot easier for me once I started using an instant-read thermometer. Perhaps, one day, I'll become good enough where I'll just know by poking it, but for now, the thermometer works beautifully. You can taste each component in the sauce - the tanginess of the pomegranate and the lemon juice with the touch of sweetness, rounded out by the silkiness of the butter. Its a great sauce that doesn't overpower the meat, but only enhances the flavor.  Now, doesn't that just sound and look good? No? Then go sip on some pomegranate juice and read it over again? Change your mind?

Now, you can't discuss food that is supposed to turn you on and skip dessert. Going along with the autumn theme I decided on Roasted Bosc Pears with Pomegranate Glaze. Once again, the recipe comes from Epicurious.

3/4 cup dry red wine, such as Syrah or Zinfandel
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
6 Bosc pears with stems, peeled
Vanilla Ice Cream
Biscotti

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Stir wine, pomegranate juice, sugar, cinnamon stick, and orange peel in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
3. Using small melon baller, core pears from bottom of wide end. Trim bottoms flat and stand upright in 8x8x2-inch baking dish. Pour pomegranate-wine sauce over pears.
4. Roast pears until tender when pierced with knife, basting pears with sauce every 20 minutes, about 1 hour. If your pears aren't ripe then you may have to roast longer. I roasted for 80 minutes - came out perfectly.
5. Using spatula, transfer roasted pears to serving platter. Transfer pan juices to small saucepan. Simmer until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 5 
6. Spoon glaze over pears. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and biscotti. Dust with cinnamon.

And here is another picture:

The glaze reduction is just the right balance of sweet and tart while the warm pear contrasts with the ice cream drizzled with glaze. It is quite the elegant and classy dessert. Now thats what I call sexy.

Comments

[George]

Interesting posts you have here ... I can see that you put a lot of hard work on your blog. I'm sure I'd visit here more often.
George
from aphrodisiac.

[generic cialis]

This item was described as a dairy slab by Parnall & Son, and had the words
PURE BUTTER on it. I'm new to using the internet, and have tried searching for
every Keyword that I can think of from British antiques, whiteware, ironstone,
Maling whiteware, Bridgewater, Burleigh Ware, etc. etc. etc....all with no luck.
Please help! Thank You much....