I awoke this morning and found myself, like Alexander from the children’s book, in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mood. The kind of mood that is only subjugated by doing something that makes me truly happy in a Zen sort of way. It’s an important day and I can’t take any risk of being flustered or aggravated. I need my wits about me and a sense of inner peace to prevail over the morning and afternoon to ensure I am in top mental form come 3pm. So I did what I always do when I want to shut out the world and tuck into my happy place; I rolled out of bed, pressed some coffee in my new french press and tied on an apron to get lost in some kitchen therapy.
I had a game plan. The fridge needed cleaning out. The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers needed to be thrown together into something edible. I had a new gluten free breakfast recipe I had in mind and I had a pile of persimmons and pomegranates I had picked up last weekend that needed attending to. Unfortunately, the persimmons weren’t ripe yet so I replaced them with pomegranate seeds in the oatcakes I wanted to try out. Being gluten free, some of the things I miss most are bread-y breakfast foods. I never ate them often before but sometimes you really crave things like waffles and pancakes. Crepes and croissants. Scones and biscuits. You get my drift…
I usually play around with a recipe several times before I like it and feel willing to share it with the world but today was one of those rare days where lo and behold, I got it right on the first try. Spot on deliciousness. (Mood improvement well under way.)
How many times have you come home with that pomegranate you couldn’t resist at the market? It’s jewel-like skintone begging it’s way into your shopping cart only to get it home and realize that apart from hacking it open and struggling to get the seeds out while bursting more of them open than you manage into your mouth, you really don’t know what to do with it? But only after staining whatever inevitably white shirt you had been wearing and plodding off in search of a slightly less labor intensive snack. Perhaps one not quite so messy. Well, pull yourself together and give it another go because these little fritters are the answer to your pomegranate conundrum.
How to seed a pomegranate: cut into wedges like you would an apple or orange and instead of pulling the seeds out, pull the flesh back and away from seed pockets releasing them from the pith. There will still be a certain amount of spray and collateral towel damage so wear an apron and use paper towels if you don’t want to stain your kitchen towels.
I fried these in a cast iron skillet with butter because that’s how I roll, but you can also bake these as a cookie type thingie at 350 for about 35 minutes and they are quite tasty and VERY healthy. I made one batch this way and they seemed to go over well. (I won’t lie to you and say they were as good as the pan-fried ones. Let’s be honest, butter really does make everything better.)
Pomegranate Oatcakes:
Get this:
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup rice flour (Or tapioca flour, or oat flour or any other gluten free flour.)(Or regular flour if you don’t need them to be gluten free.)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons good quality maple syrup plus more for serving. (I like grade B.)
1 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons butter
Do this:
Mix together oats, flour, soda, powder, and salt. Add milk and maple syrup. Combine and microwave two minutes. Mixture should be sticky but not wet. You should be able to get solid dollops. Yes, that’s the technical term. 
If it’s too wet to form add a little more flour. Gently fold in pomegranate seeds.
Melt butter in a skillet and drop tablespoon sized dollops into pan flattening out into patties as you go. Brown on both sides and drizzle with more maple syrup. Enjoy!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
