Off The Counter: Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad

We've had a plethora of persimmons this season thanks to friends who must be farming them.  My usual approach to consuming these beauties is simple:  cut, peel and eat.  I haven't experimented mixing them with other fruits or vegetables until now.  Inspired by a salad I ate at Pizzaiolo, I combined bitter greens, roasted hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds with this divine fruit.  The combination creates a dish that's bitter-sweet, a little crunchy and seriously pretty.  A list of ingredients and instructions is provided below.  Take a look:

Ingredients:

2 Persimmons, 1 pomegranate, endive, radicchio, chicory, hazelnuts, olive oil, seasoned rice vinegar, honey and sea salt.

Instructions:

Spread a cup or so of hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes.  Peel and thinly slice the persimmons.  Halve a pomegranate and knock out the seeds with a wooden hammer.  Place torn greens in a bowl and top with the fruits and nuts.  For the dressing, combine olive oil and rice vinegar  and then slowly whisk in honey to your liking.  Drizzle it on the salad and sprinkle sea salt on top.

Enjoy!

For those who may be new to Cocoon Home's Blog Off The Counter feature,  I would like to warn you that I'm not one for measuring, especially when comes to a salad and its dressing.  I enjoy adjusting the ingredients to my own taste buds.  So to you I say:  go for it!

Off The Counter: Pomegranate Kid Cocktail

This week's Off The Counter was inspired by my son Benjamin's desire to create a cocktail.  He informed of me of this having already cut a pomegranate in half [by himself] and retrieving the cocktail shaker from a kitchen cabinet.  Reacting quickly to his sudden burst of culinary exploration, I gathered the only other fruit on hand and we began blending the Pomegranate Kid Cocktail, a frothy combination of pomegranate and persimmon fruits.  I warn you:  this is not a neat endeavor.  Pomegranate juice will stain just about anything except for (thank goodness!) my high-gloss kitchen walls.  Do wear aprons and prepare the fruit in the sink to contain the very red juice.   Take a look at how it turned out: