Pomegranate & Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes

Pomegranate Arils, Blueberries and Sourdough Starter… and suddenly there were pancakes! This recipe was one that simply came about out of happenstance. Those are usually the best kind.

After working diligently on my sourdough starter for the last several weeks, I am always trying to find new uses for it, as it needs to be fed daily and that means, “Use it or lose it” (More on my sourdough project and how you can make your own starter here). The starter must be divided daily (or better yet twice daily) and fed unless refrigerated to continue yeast production. This leaves me with about 1 ½ cups of starter every day. I have been baking different shapes of sourdough bread and experimenting with various kinds of flours and baking methods. I have used the starter in various recipes, batter for squash blossoms and pancakes are among the things I have found joy in creating. I no longer need recipes, I know the texture I need for bread and those needed for other things. And so Sunday morning I decided to whip up a batch of pancakes.

I had blueberries in the fridge, but only a handful. I had just harvested the arils from three pomegranates and put them in a bag. Generally from October to February I use the arils in a variety of ways, eating out of hand, in salads and my favorite way, in a glass of bubbly champagne.

It was a natural course of experimentation that brought me to wonder how the arils would do in the pancakes. Here is how I made them (keep in mind these amounts are approximations, I did no measuring):

1 ½ cups Sourdough Starter

1-1/2 cups bread flour

¾ cup of milk or buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

½ teaspoon of salt

Whisk all together and allow to sit for 15 minutes, you may need to adjust the amount of liquid or flour to make a nice batter. I do a small test pancake to see if the batter is the right consistency. Sourdough pancakes are usually not thick, but you do not want them too thin either, especially if you are adding fruit. 

Test Pancake

Heat a griddle and spray with non-stick spray

When the griddle is hot enough for water to bounce off of, you are ready to do the pancakes. You will need to work quickly. So have a warming drawer or a very low heated oven ready to hold the pancakes as you take them off of the griddle.

Pour about ½ cup of batter onto the griddle in one corner and again in another corner.

Onto each pancake add some blueberries and then fill in the spaces with pomegranate arils. Wait till tiny bubbles appear on the surface of the batter (about 1 minute) and flip carefully. Cook another minute and then lift a corner of a pancake to see how it is browning. It should be golden brown in some spots. If it is, flip it back over and then inspect the pancake to be sure it is done in the middle. Remove to the warming platter.

Serve with maple syrup and butter.

Notes: If you do not want to make sourdough starter you can use your favorite pancake recipe and use buttermilk instead of milk. This will add some of the tart taste that sourdough has, which will play on the sweetness of the fruit and syrup. Of course it will not have the complexity of sourdough. Another thing you can do with this recipe is play with various fruits. That is how I came to add the pomegranate. I think pomegranate/mango or pomegranate papaya would be excellent. I also have made ohelo berry pancakes… there are few limits on the fun to be had here.  

Looking for more things to do with the wonderful pomegranate? Here is my recipe for Chiles en Nogada. And from my photo site, another thing you can do with the arils… add to bubbly!  

Chiles en Nogada

Feliz Navidad! Mele Kalikimaka!


This recipe truly is a labor of love. It takes hours and hours of prep time, but it is a tradition at our house every Christmas and instead of making it just for three of  us for Christmas dinner, we made it as one component of our Christmas Dinner Party for some friends visiting from the mainland and some close friends from Hawaii. Along with the Chiles en Nogada, I also smoked a Beef Brisket in Mesquite and a Ham in Apple wood with chipotle, beer, mustard and brown sugar glaze.  All that remained after 16 guests filled their plates a few times was a ham bone.

So, without further ado... here is the recipe. I urge you to set aside a full day to make this and have an extra set of hands for the walnut peeling! My son Jay (aka Butchy Fuego) was kind enough to help me with the walnuts. This tedious (but worthwhile) part of the sauce making can be done a day ahead and the walnuts stored in milk.

Chiles en Nogada

I first learned how to make Chiles en Nogada while in Cooking School in Cuernavaca Mexico. This is a signature dish of the Morelos region and it is traditionally made for the Christmas Holidays. It represents the flag of Mexico, with the red, green and white colors. This recipe serves 8 people and takes about 3 hours to make, it is one of those dishes that is well worth the effort.

Walnuts for the sauce:
2 cups (7 ounces) walnut halves and pieces, you’ll need 50 (about 1 ½  pounds) very fresh walnuts in their shells

For the chiles and pork-and-fruit stuffing:
1 1/2 pounds ground pork shoulder with 2 ounces of chopped ham (or equal parts of veal, beef & pork with two ounces of chopped ham)
3 tablespoons lard or oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small white onion, diced
16 very large (about 2 pounds) fresh poblano chiles, choose good-looking chiles with their stems intact if possible
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Cups of chicken broth
½ cup raisins rehydrated in hot water & drained
2 generous tablespoons dried mango, candied biznaga cactus or citron, cut into 1/4 -inch dice
1 small pear, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 - inch dice
1 small Jonathan or McIntosh apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 - inch dice
2 medium fresh peaches (or extra pears or apples), peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4 - inch dice
1 ripe, medium-small tomato, seeded and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon dried marjoram or Mexican Oregano
A pinch of saffron
A pinch of ground cloves
A pinch of ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, preferably freshly ground Mexican canela
Salt, about 1 generous teaspoon
1/3 cup (about 1 3/4 ounces) silvered blanched almonds.
1 ripe, medium-size plantain, peeled and cut into 1/4 - inch dice.
For finishing the sauce:
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk
1 slice firm white bread, crusts removed
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt, about 1/2 generous teaspoon
1 cup of dry brandy
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, preferable freshly ground Mexican canela
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream or Mexican crema or crema fresca

For the garnish:
1 pomegranate
8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

1. Peeling the walnuts. If using mature-green walnuts, break away the soft, green, outer layer with your hands. Working with 5 or 6 at a time, crack open the nuts, remove the meats in the largest pieces possible. Drop the walnut pieces into a small pan of boiling water, immediately remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel, then peel: the thin, brown skin that covers each piece will peel off in fairly large pieces if the nuts are very fresh; use a small pick or pointed trussing needle to help lift the skin out of the crevices. Continue until all are peeled. Store the nuts in a bowl of milk.

2.  Heat the onions and garlic in the oil till the onions are translucent. Add the meats and then the tomatoes. Add the chicken broth and cook till most of the broth has evaporated and the meat has become tender.

3. Roasting the chiles. The open flame method: Place chiles directly over the gas flame or on a medium hot charcoal or gas grill. Roast, turning occasionally, until blistered and blackened on all sides but not soft, about 5 minutes. The broiler method: Lay chiles on a baking sheet set about 4 inches below a preheated broiler. Roast, turning occasionally until blistered and blackened on all sides but not soft, about 10 minutes. Place in a plastic shopping bag to steam. Peel the charred skin off the chiles and rinse them if necessary. Make a long slit in the side of each chile and carefully remove the seeds and veins.

4. The stuffing. Before you start cooking, complete all the initial peeling, coring & chopping  of the stuffing ingredients (put the fruit in a little sprite to prevent browning, though a little oxidizing of the apples and pears won’t spoil the appearance of the dish.)

Into the meat, stir in the raisins, candied fruit, pear, apple, peach, the tomato, herbs and cinnamon. Mix well, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the skillet and simmer until the apple and pear are tender (but not mushy) and the flavors are blended, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, usually a generous teaspoon.
While the meat mixture is simmering, heat  2 tablespoons of oil in a medium-small skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds and fry, stirring nearly constantly, until they are a deep golden color, about 3 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon and cool. Add the diced plantain to the skillet and stir it frequently until nicely browned and sweet, 3 or 4 minutes. Add to the meat mixture along with the almonds. Remove the filling from the heat and let cool uncovered. (There will be about 6 cups).

5. Stuffing the chiles. Stuff the chiles with cooled filling, packing it in well and re-forming them in their original shape. Place on a baking sheet and cover with foil.

6. Completing the sauce. Within a couple of hours of serving, prepare the sauce. Put the peeled walnuts into a blender jar along with 1 cup of milk (from soaking the walnuts), the bread, sugar, salt, brandyand spices. Blend until a drop of the puree no longer feels gritty when rubbed between your fingers (this will be more successful with the mature-green walnuts); if the mixture should clog in the machine or if only the mixture at the bottom is moving through the blades, add more milk a little at a time, until all the mixture is moving through the blades again. Finally add the cream and blend for just a few seconds; add additional milk if necessary to achieve a medium consistency. Taste for salt and sugar; the sauce should have a slightly sweet edge with just enough salt to bring up the flavor of the walnuts. Set aside at room temperature.

7. Finishing the dish. Half an hour before serving, place the chiles in a 250-degree oven to heat through. Break the pomegranate apart under water, pick out all the seeds and place them in a small dish.
When you are ready to serve, add a little cream to the sauce if it is thicker than a medium-consistency custard sauce. Place 1 or 2 chiles (depending on how you have chosen to serve them) on each warm dinner plate. Spoon the room-temperature sauce over the warm chiles, generously covering them half away from the stem. Sprinkle the sauce generously with the pomegranate seeds, garnish with the parsley, and serve at once. Or, you can serve them traditionally on a round plate with the chiles in a circle.

COOK’S NOTES:


Timing and advance preparation: Start a day or so ahead, peeling the walnuts (allow 1 1/2 to 2 hours); they will keep for a couple days in the refrigerator tightly wrapped. Finishing the dish will require a little less than 2 hours. The chiles may be prepared and the stuffing made a couple of days in advance; store them separately, covered and refrigerated. Complete Steps 5 through 7 shortly before serving; the sauce can gray if prepared too far ahead.