The night of November 14, 2010, we hosted our Chef Tom Cooks POM Wonderful dinner party. As the guests arrived, they were greeted with the sweet scent of pomegranate oil permeating through the stairwell. Upon entry into the kitchen the appetizer aromas were aplenty – our guests could not stop raving about how good the food smelled.

To start the night off, the guests were presented with our first specialty drink of the evening, the Pomojito. To make this drink extra special, we used heart shaped ice cubes with pomegranate arils frozen inside. This drink was a hit, especially with the rum drinkers. One guest asked to be replenished a couple of times. Shortly after we set up the table with our appetizers – the Bruschetta with Pomegranate & Mint and the Pomegranate Guacamole. The flavors of these two dishes were like a party in your mouth. One guest remarked that she would be making these two starters at her all appetizers Christmas Eve party she is hosting this year. She is an avid guacamole fan and loved the twist on this guacamole. Instead of mashing the avocado with the mortar and pestle like we normally do, this version is chopped and mixed with the sweet pomegranate arils. These dishes went so fast, we had to replenish them a couple of times.

After our guests enjoyed these delicious pomegranate appetizers, we commenced the beer tasting portion of the evening. The first sample was a Pomegranate Wheat beer by Saranac brewed in Utica, NY. This sample was well received – when poured into a glass, the color appears slightly cloudy with a brown tinge but the taste is sweet and light. Although a hit with our fruity beer drinkers, overall the pomegranate flavor could have been stronger. Our second sample was the drink of the evening! Not all who attended this party are big beer drinkers but this beverage really shined. The second beer offering was a taste of Delirium Tremens brewed by Huyghe Brewery in Belgium. This brew is delicious on its own but when mixed with freshly made pomegranate syrup – it was like all the stars aligned. We cannot even express the sentiments of the guests who tried this beverage but everyone wanted more.

Music is very important to Katie and I, so at this point we should mention the playlist to our dinner party included a mix of fruit and friend themed songs.  Katie compiled this playlist and as anyone knows, the perfect soundtrack is an important part of any event.

• Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino
• (Day-O) Banana Boat Song – Harry Belafonte
• Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
• I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
• Tutti Frutti – Little Richard
• Kiwi – Maroon 5
• Big Black Horse & The Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall
• Lady Marmalade – Patty LaBelle
• Peachy – Missy Higgins
• Tempted – Squeeze
• Come Together – The Beatles
• One Of These Days – Neil Young
• With A Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles
• Kind & Generous – Natalie Merchant
• Carry On – Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
• Our House – Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
• In My Life – The Beatles
• Youâ€ve Got A Friend – James Taylor
• Wildflowers – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• Thank You – Dido
• Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
• The Best Of Whatâ€s Around – Dave Mathews Band
• Home – Fio!
• Youâ€ve Got The Love – Florence And The Machine
• The Joker – Steve Miller Band
• Are You In? – Incubus
• Hey Kind Friend – Indigo Girls
• Mona Lisaâ€s & Mad Hatterâ€s – Indigo Girls
• You Are The Best Thing – Ray LaMontagne

We also played an informative and illustrative video (compiled and edited by Thomas) on our television about pomegranates including facts and a how to video demonstrating an easy way to open a pomegranate. This really kept an upbeat mood going all night. Our guests were singing and moving to the songs – the smiles were continuous and contagious! The video often sparked conversation and questions; almost all of which we were able to answer from the reading and research we did before we hosted the party.

The time neared for our main course to be presented. We set the table with our baby spinach and pear salad with a champagne vinaigrette, garnished with fresh pomegranate arils. We also served POM-marinated steak fajitas. Thomas marinated skirt steak overnight in fresh pomegranate juice and Lagunitas Imperial Stout beer along with fresh seasonings. This steak dish was the hit of the party. Everyone could not stop raving about how tender and flavorful this steak was.

After dinner, Thomas did a live demonstration for our guests on how to easily open a pomegranate and he invited our guests to jump in and try for themselves. All of our guests had never handled a fresh pomegranate before and many of them never even tasted one or its juice.

After the demonstration, we served our dessert. For dessert we prepared some fudgy cupcakes topped with fresh pomegranate icing. We also served pomegranate gelatin hearts drizzled with a pomegranate glaze.

We were extremely pleased with how this dinner party turned out. We put a lot of thought and work into the planning and preparation of this event and it was great to see how it all came together perfectly. It was great that everyone enjoyed the food but it was even better to see how interested everyone was in pomegranates and how much they enjoyed the whole theme of the party. In the end, we had a bunch of pomegranates left, so we made sure to send a couple home with each guest along with their POM gift bag. After the guests left, Katie and I enjoyed one last pomegranate cocktail while we reminisced about the eveningâ€s festivities. We would like to truly thank POM Wonderful for allowing us this opportunity and providing the pomegranates for our dinner.

View all the photos from our POM Dinner Party on Flickr!
View our informative and instructional Pomegranate video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufMG0VgSkkU

If loving spinach in my Tex-Mex cuisine is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. The best way to eat spinach with Tex-Mex is in quesadillas. This recipe that I’m sharing with you today can be made for one person or four hungry folks. It’s perfect as an appetizer, a snack or al la carte for a full-on satisfying meal.

HERE’S ALL IT TAKES

To serve yourself a quick satisfying meal-

2 teaspoons oil or bacon drippings
4 tablespoons thinly sliced yellow onion
4 to 6 whole garlic cloves

4 tablespoons canned spicy diced tomatoes
2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 big handfuls whole spinach leaves

1/3 cup grated cheese, Cheddar or Monterey Jack
2 fajita size flour tortillas

To serve snacks to 4 folks-

1 1/2 tablespoons oil or bacon drippings
3/4 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
12 whole garlic cloves

3/4 cup canned spicy diced tomatoes
6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 bunches whole spinach leaves

1 1/4 cup grated cheese, Cheddar or Monterey Jack
5 fajita size flour tortillas

Depending on how many folks you’re serving, use need either a small skillet with a lid or a 10-inch skillet with a lid and a griddle pan.

Using the skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onions and garlic cloves until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. (This is a good time to start heating the griddle over medium heat.)

With the onions and garlic, add the diced tomatoes, crumbled bacon and top with whole spinach leaves. Do not stir. Cover with lid and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir.

On the hot griddle, warm one side of a tortilla for 30-seconds or so. Check to make sure the griddle is not too hot and burns the tortilla, adjust the heat if you need to do so.

Flip the warmed tortilla(s), layer about a 1/4 cup of spinach mixture and grated cheese to one half of the tortilla. Use a spatula to fold the tortilla in half and cook for up to one minute, until tortilla is crispy. Flip and heat until crispy on the other side. Remove from heat and transfer to a cutting board, allow cheese to set for a minute before cutting each quesadilla into thirds. The crispier the quesadillas, the easier they are to cut.

Eat them alone or with a dollop of sour cream and your favorite hot sauce. Whatever suits your fancy.

Be sure to let me know how you liked these Spinach Quesadillas. I’ll bet you eat two whole tortillas and wish for a third.

Recipe and photo by Jill McKeever of SimpleDailyRecipes.com

I invite you all to read the interview here:

http://www.halfhourmeals.com/food-for-thought/featured-community-member-cheftomcooks/

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