pomegrante apple crisp!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium apples – peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/2 pomegranate, skin and light-colored membrane removed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the apples, pomegranate seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. In the same bowl, stir together the oats, flour and sugar. Rub in the butter between your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the fruit.
3. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the apples are soft. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 I made this awhile back when pomegrantes were actually in season-it seems to be fairly brief, but for the month or so that they were available it was a pomegrante extravaganza. I’m still sitting a recipe for pomegrante chicken, which was going to be replaced with seitan, which was going to be replaced with tofu, but my wingman rebelled and refused to substitute such excessively different textures to make the same dish. Which makes sense-but seitan can be hard to find.

 People really liked the crisp-I added more pomegrante, of course, but I like it being kind of tart. I appreciate how easy crisps are, but I get bored of the apples-and-raisins-ho-hum variety, so this makes things a little more exciting, and it’s still easy.

The crust/oaty topping in particular people liked, and a friend hounded me for the recipe, though evidently it’s all the butter. I should probably start halving butter. Anyway, it tastes great.  

Pomegrantes are one of my favorite foods, in general, so I’m really charmed when I find new ways to eat them, because as a general topping, they’re sufficient, and if you want to commit an afternoon to eating one/half one (possibly you can convince a friend to join you) and end up with your tongue raw and your fingertips purple, I enjoy that sort of thing, but I don’t always have the time for it.

I love how tactile consuming pomegrantes is by necessity and plying their seeds out requires this balance of dexterity and gentleness to eke out the sustenance being mindful of the temperament of the seeds and membranes and tough outer skin.  I often slice at mine gently, and then tear them open slowly, because if you do it too quickly you’ll get juice on your face and it’ll rain seeds.