What to Do With a Pomegranate

First, buy one:



Scratch that. Buy two. These bad boys are only in season from September through late December, so enjoyment must be optimized.

Every time I say that I've purchased one of these lovelies, someone asks me what to do with it. They seem to be intimidating fruits... which is a shame, really, because they're yummy. But first things first - before you can eat them, you must get the 600 or so seeds out of the rind. You'll need a paring knife, a bowl of water, and a bowl for the rind.

Step one: Score the fruit. I cut the nubby bit off the top and then scored down so I've made 4 sections. Then you can easily break apart each section, thusly:



Step two, in the bowl of water, turn the section inside out and push the seeds away from the flesh.(My first section is floating in the water in the above picture.) The seeds will come easily, but you're definitely going to burst some. The juice stains, but the water will help prevent this. Something about physics.

Repeat for each section and voila! You'll have a bowl full of seeds, and another full of compost.



Now for the good part: the eating. I make a salad with prosciutto and a warm balsamic vinaigrette that always benefits from Pom seeds. A quick foodtv.com and epicurious.com search reveals that compotes, molasses, sauces...all good with pom.

My favorite, though, is this little recipe:

1) Champagne Split
2) Pama/Cosmo mix
3) Pomegranate Seeds

Pour the above into a flute (one split will give you two glasses) to taste and enjoy! This is especially festive when wrapping Christmas presents.

Doing a bit around the house...check out the embrita blog for updates! Also updated my weardrobe account. Link at right.