Pomegranates and more

First - I never finished my last post about Forth Worth. While in Fort Worth, TX I interviewed at a program there and was so impressed that I surprising found myself wanting to return to Texas. It is still early in the interview season so it's hard to say what will happen, but unexpectedly Texas seems to be calling my name again!

Now onto a foodie note. My wonderful Grandmother (i'm sure my aunt ed is making a gagging face as she reads this believing that I'm sucking up to my Grandma - which is ok since today is her birthday!) sent me a box of pomegranates. They are one of my absolute favorite fruits. The hardest part is peeling them and not staining your clothes with pomegranate juice.

This weekend, I had the special occassion of my boyfriend coming back to town after being away for 9 weeks. What better way to welcome him home than to make dinner with the focus being pomegranates! Well, really I just wanted an excuse to make something with my pomegranates and my roomie had a new recipie to teach me.

The menu:
Pomegranate marianted cornish game hen
Twice baked potatoes
Fatoush

This was the first time I had ever made cornish game hen. I had to split the little suckers in half. Not particularly a fan of cutting through bone. As both my dad and my roomie stated - I would not make a good orthopedic surgeon.



Next the marinade consisted of pomegranate juice, honey, cinnamon, allspice, garlic, and coriander. I marinated the little guys overnight and they turned purple from the juice!!!




And what is Fatoush you ask? Well, it is an arabic salad that consists of lettuce, pomegranate seeds, cucumber, bell pepper, green onions, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, with toasted pita chips in sumac. The dressing is olive oil and lemon.

I made my own homeade pita bread which was an adventure in itself. Waseem left me with pita dough and went out on Friday night. He left me with instructions on how to properly bake the pita bread. Roll out the dough, put in oven at 500 degrees and take out after a few minutes once it has puffed up, then wrap my hand in a towel and poke the pita so the air can escape. The towel around the hand prevents steam burns. Let's just say it's easier said than done. I ended up with 3 good pitas out of 10. 1 frisbee and the remaining 6 were flat. Also, in the course of cooking I managed to set off the fire alarm in my apartment. Good thing for the Fatoush the pita bread is toasted and it doesn't matter that I made flat ones.

Here's a picture of the Fatoush.



And the finished product!! YUM! YUM!