Yes, I’m totally awful as I have not posted for a month and left you hanging with only one side dish for Thanksgiving. I got wrapped up in work and as much as I love writing, well, I do it ALL DAY LONG and when I’m done, I need a break from staring at my screen. So the last thing I usually think about is blogging.

But I’m back and ready to pump out some recipes for anyone who’s still remotely interested! I conjured up this next recipe as an experiment for my latest farmers market story on Coronado.Patch.com. The results were pretty good, if I do say so myself. Of course, I’m not a huge apple pie fan (or pie at all, really), but it’s the only thing I could think of to use persimmons for the holidays.

My favorite part was the pomegranate whipped cream. I first tried pomegranates when I was in junior high (maybe 6th grade?). I was up in Mt. Baldy for a volleyball party. My coach lived (and still does!) there and there were pomegranates everywhere on the ground. It was love at first crunch and I stained my clothes and hands munching on the tiny red arils. I “squeezed” my own pomegranate juice for the whipped cream recipe by removing the seeds (click here to read how to get those darn seeds out!) and pureeing them in a blender. I then took the mixture and strained it through paper coffee filters, as I had no cheesecloth. The result was delicious, sweet, pomegranate juice. I kept messing with the amount of pom juice I had to add to the whipped cream and it basically turned out to be 1/2 cup of the fresh stuff to get a strong pomegranate flavor. If you decide to use pom liqueur you might get away with a tablespoon of the stuff.

Check out some facts about different varieties of persimmons here and try out the recipe for Christmas Eve!

Fuyu Persimmon Pie Filling

Ingredients

• 9 medium fuyu persimmons, peeled, cored and diced (about a 1-inch dice)
• ¾ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. allspice
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. Triple Sec, or other orange liqueur. (Note: DO NOT OMIT THIS! This gives a great flavor boost to the pie. You could substitute a couple fresh squeezes of orange juice if you’d like to have an alcohol-free pie.)
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

What to do with them:

1. Combine the first five ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Toss to evenly coat.
2. Pour the spiced persimmons on top of your favorite pie crust.*
3. Combine the eggs, flour, sugar and melted butter in a separate bowl. Whisk until well mixed. The mixture will be thick.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the persimmons inside the pie dish and evenly coat.
5. Lay your top pie crust over the mixture and press edges down to seal. If you’d like, you can make a pretty design with a fork on the edges, or be rustic and let it do its thing.
6. Make sure you cut a slit or two on top of the crust to allow steam to escape.
7. Pop the pie into a 425 degree oven and bake until cooked through, about 40 minutes.
8. Let cool completely and serve with pomegranate whipped cream.
9. Wait for compliments.

*Note: I do not have a recipe for a pie crust. Because of time constraints (and a  possible lack of ability), I cheated and used a refrigerated pie crust. Use your favorite recipe to make a bottom and top pie crust for this pie. Or try out some puff pastry for a lighter dessert. You could even go crustless and make the filling in small ramekins and top off with a crumble.

Pomegranate Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup fresh pomegranate juice (you may substitute pomegranate liqueur or bottled pomegranate juice if you don’t have the time to juice your own)
• 2 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

What to do with them:

1. With a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, beat the cream on medium until it’s just about to form stiff peaks. (Novice whipped cream makers: this will take a while! Don’t lose hope and think that your cream is never going to thicken—it will.)
2. Add the vanilla, pomegranate juice and sugar.
3. Beat on medium until well mixed and fluffy. Stiff peaks should form.
4. Make sure not to overbeat the cream—it will get lumpy, as it’s on its way to becoming butter!
5. Serve on top of persimmon pie with a sprinkle of fresh pomegranate seeds.