Cinnamon French Toast with POM Apple Compote

Cinnamon French Toast:

Prepare fresh pomegranate arils, if necessary.* Reserve 1 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside, (refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use), in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk (or soymilk), vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg, place the bread slices in a flat casserole dish, and cover with the egg mixture, let soak for 5 to 10 minutes, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a 12 " nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the slices of the soaked bread to the pan and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side, top the cinnamon French toast with the warm pomegranate apple compote, sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh pomegranate arils.

POM Apple Compote:

Heat pomegranate juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until it simmers, turn off heat; add sliced vanilla bean and dried cherries. Let rest for 15 minutes until cherries are plump, scrape vanilla beans out of the pod and add them back into the compote; discard the remaining pod, heat a 12 " skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan and add the sliced apples, cook the apples until they begin to soften but still hold their shape, about 5 to 6 minutes, add the maple syrup to the apples along with the pomegranate juice with the cherries, simmer until the juice reduces to syrup, about 5 to 8 minutes. Serve this pomegranate recipe.

*To prepare fresh pomegranate arils, score 1 large POM Wonderful Pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate under water to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl.