Gingered Sweet Potato Fries and Pomegranate Sauce

It is hard to improve ketchup and fries. So I'm not calling this an improvement but a revision. Sweet potatoes are so yummy and so healthy and this new "ketchup" (pomegranate sauce) is supremely versatile. I have some more awesome suggestions to use it in the Hints section.

Gingered Sweet Potato Fries with Pomegranate Sauce
1 large sweet potato
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Peel potato and cut into 1/4 inch thick fries and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine oil, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Toss potato strips in oil mixture to coat evenly. Place fries on a baking screen. Cook at 450 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until crispy and beginning to brown. Serve immediately with pomegranate "ketchup".

Pomegranate Sauce
4 cups pomegranate arils
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and keep at a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often. Puree using an immersion blender. Push through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds. Serve warm or chilled.

Two kinds of fries on a baking screen.

Hints: Getting the fries done at the same time without burning is made posible if they are cut close to the same size. A baking screen is the best possible way to get the fries crispy without deep frying them. Screens are fairly inexpensive, available at cooking stores and can be stored in minimum space. Fresh grated ginger root tends to burn in this recipe so opt for the powdered ginger here. The sauce is great by it self but you can add 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger root to 2 tablespoons of sauce for a really nice kick. The sauce is also great to garnish baba ganoush instead of pomegranate molasses. It makes a great base for saucing pork medallions or sauteed chicken: deglaze the sautee pan with a bit of orange juice (or grapefruit juice) and finish the sauce with some butter like in this recipe, adding about 1/4 cup of the pomegranate sauce with the butter. I could see this sauce replacing cranberry sauce, being used as a ice cream topping, as a syrup base in beverages or in frosting.  It would be great on a buffalo blue cheese burger! I had it on my multi-grain pancakes this morning. Endless options here folks...make some soon and please let me know how you used it.

An easy way to get the arils is under water. Score the skin in several spots and pull apart under water.

Pomegranate season is here! I love it! The pomegranates, the leaves changing, sweater weather! Thanksgiving is coming! What's not to love?!