Bon Voyage!! Pomegranate Infused Vodka

A cocktail post seemed appropriate on our departure day for the cruise!! We fly to Ft. Lauderdale today. We're leaving a couple of days early, just in case we encounter any midwest weather. We set sail for the Caribbean on Saturday. To all of my blogging friends, I will catch up on all of your great posts when I return on the 30th.

Hubby's camera was packed, so sorry no photo on this one!

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to purchase quite a few pomegranates at a really good price. What an interesting fruit! You cut the end off and break the fruit open and scrape out the ariels. Don't do this unless you have some time, it takes a while to get all of the ariels out of the fruit.

Now that I had all of these ariels, what am I going to do with them. I did some reading and saw the suggestion you can eat them. I tried them and while I didn't dislike them, I didn't find them particularly delicious. Maybe on top of salads or something like that but not just to eat alone.

When we owned our lake house, I used to make infused vodka. It made beautiful summer drinks or incredibly strong shots. Either way, it was an often requested item during the summers at the lake. Pomegranate drinks seem to be all the rage these days, so how about pomegranate infused vodka? I did some reading and based on several recipes, created my own version.

Pomegranate Infused Vodka

750 ml bottle of Vodka
2 cups ariels
Peel of two medium limes
Cinnamon Stick

Pour all of the ingredients into a large glass jar with a lid. Using a potato masher, smash the ariels. Secure the lid. Shake to mix all ingredients. Place jar into a cool, dark place for two weeks. Strain and pour into a clean vodka jar. Use immediately or allow to age further.

Use It Up!

Sandy Gluck does a great segment on Everyday Food on Martha Stewart Living Radio called "Use It Up". She takes the ingredient(s) you have in your refrigerator and comes up with a dish to make with them.

My Use It Up for this week is Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Pomegranate Soup. I had butternut squash leftover from the risotto, sweet potatoes in the pantry and pomegranates on the counter. I was actually looking for something to do with my pomegranates and ran across this recipe on the POM website.

This is such an interesting combination of flavors. Would I like it or would it be a failed recipe? I loved this soup. It has the wonderful butternut squash soup flavors with sweetness added from the sweet potatoes and pomegranates. The texture is beautifully creamy and smooth. This one's a keeper!!!

Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Pomegranate Soup
Adapted from POM Wonderful
Serves 6

1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup arils from 1 large pomegranate
1 1/2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons green chiles, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (or water)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
1/2 cup dry sherry or other white wine
1 cup milk (nonfat or low fat)
1 cup crispy corn tortilla chips
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Score 1 fresh pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate underwater to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.).

To make pomegrante juice, place arils in the blender, pulse until juiced. Strain, reserving juice.

Place butternut squash and sweet potato on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Roast at 400 for 30 minutes.

In a stockpot, add butternut squash, sweet potato, green chiles, chicken broth and pomegranate juice. Cook over medium heat until hot and flavors are well combined. Add salt, pepper and sherry or white wine. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Process soup in a blender or food processor until smooth.Return soup to the stockpot, add 1/2 - 1 cup of milk and reheat. Serve in bowls with crisp corn chips, pomegranate arils and sunflower seeds.