Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! May the year ahead be filled with abundant joy, hope and new adventure.

If you happen to be as fortunate as Sarah or Cenk and have easy access to gorgeous, local pomegranates - then more power to you! The only 'fresh' pomegranates we have access to at the moment are flown in from America and they are downright woeful. I have never been able to bring myself to buy them as they look like they've been sitting in cold storage for the better part of six months.

We do have quite a few miniature pomegranate trees growing in our Italian neighbours gardens, but unfortunately these trees are under constant surveillance. Hence, these fruit bearing trees are fiercely protected by omnipresent Calabrian grandmothers and I wouldn't dare dream of helping myself to their fruit, even if it is growing in abundance on over hanging branches, lest I be wrapped over the knuckles with a wooden walking stick and forever branded as a thief around these parts.

So when it came to making my own pomegranate sorbet I chose the safer option and used POM juice instead, as this alternative was far less threatening. The end result was an incredibly tangy and refreshing sorbet that would make a perfect end to any meal.



Sorbetto di Melagrana - Pomegranate Sorbet

Ingredients

1.4 litres of POM juice

Juice of one lemon + one lime

300g of raw caster sugar

Method

1. Stir the sugar and two cups of pomegranate juice over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Take off heat and combine with the remaining pomegranate juice. Add the lemon and lime juice and stir to combine. Taste and see if the mixture is tart enough as you may want to add more citrus juice if you prefer a sharper tasting sorbet.

2. When it is cool, place the mixture in a bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Put the mixture in your ice cream maker and proceed according to the manufacturers instructions.

There are certain flavour combinations that compliment each other so well that when one is presented without the other, it just doesn't seem right or complete. For instance, I find that I can't have tomato without basil or lamb without rosemary, dark chocolate without burnt caramel, lemon without the tart, quince without the blue cheese, gin without tonic and white chocolate without raspberries.

There are also certain times during a woman's cycle that can only be endured and made right with chocolate.  Thus, over the decades I've tried all manner of suggestions,  supplements and homeopathic treatments to help curb this craving, but at the wise old age of forty-something I've decided to throw caution to the wind and just roll with my hormones and enjoy the chocolate too.

One of the ways I explain away or justify this 'phase' of my cycle to those around me (including the little people), thereby making my food choices appear more responsible, is to pair the chocolate craving with a fruit. Hence, this white chocolate and raspberry clafoutis is a perfect example of me trying to convince everyone, that what I'm eating is in fact both healthy and nutritious because of the inclusion of fresh fruit, organic eggs and almond meal.