Pomegranates

[hatcheckgirl]

I've bought two, but now I need help!  When are they ready to eat?  Do you just cut it open and eat the seedy round bits inside? Or do you eat the flesh?  Would they go nice in a fruit salad? With mango?

 

Suggestions welcome!  They look lovely and red in my fruit bowl.  But they are a rather expensive ornament that I'd rather eat

[ReadYourBible]

I've bought two, but now I need help!  When are they ready to eat?  Do you just cut it open and eat the seedy round bits inside? Or do you eat the flesh?  Would they go nice in a fruit salad? With mango?

 

Suggestions welcome!  They look lovely and red in my fruit bowl.  But they are a rather expensive ornament that I'd rather eat

 (de-seeding)

 

 (mango and pom salad )

[bohemian]

Mmmmmm.  Pomegranates!

 

Definitely do not eat the yellow pith!  It is horrible anyway.  the seeds are the things to eat.  Deseeding with the wooden spoon is easy but beware of juice on your clothes!

 

As a child I ate these with a pin to extract the seeds! but now I am more refined.

 

Try them in a tabbouleh.

 

• 100g bulgar wheat (couscous is a perfectly fine alternative)

• 2 large, ripe vine tomatoes

• large bunch fresh flatleaf parsely leaves only, washed, dried, finely chopped (optional but nice)

• small bunch fresh mint leaves, washed, dried, finely chopped

• small bunch fresh coriander leaves, washed, dried and finely chopped

• 1 small red onion, peeled, finely chopped

• 2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

• a glug or two of extra virgin olive oil

• salt and pepper

• MY ADDITIONS TO THIS:

• 100g chopped pistachio nuts

• 100g skinned almonds

• seeds of a pomegranate (as many as you think proper for the size of the dish)

Soak the bulgar wheat overnight, couscous can be prepared immediately.  Follow the instructions to soak it with boiling water.

 

Chop the tomatoes into smaller pieces (I don't bother with peeling and de-seeding, but you can if you are posh!)

Add the tomatoes and all chopped items into the wheat or couscous and mix thoroughly, then add the oil and lemon juice and almonds and mix well again.

Finally add in the pomegranates and stir them in.

 

Serve with flatbread as a meal in itself, or use it to accompany a beautiful tagine!

[CHecker]

Christopher, you can come cook for us anytime! I'm copying this to my recipe book. My grandmother used to eat bulger, I've forgotten to eat it for a long time now. Guess it's time for a run to the Co-Op.

[bohemian]

I made a quick chicken tagine to go with the tabbouleh, but just cooked on the hob in a large pan:

 

4 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on are best, but any thighs will be fine)

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic chopped

thumb sized ginger peeled and grated (grating leaves less of the fine strands that get in your teeth!)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

2 tsp ras-al-hanout spices (easily bought these days)

half a cinnamon stick

pinch of saffron

up to 500ml chicken stock

2 tbs clear honey

2 large or 4 small diced tomatoes

1 red chilli finely chopped

2tbs chopped mint

2tbs chopped coriander

1oz butter

salt and pepper

oil for frying

 

Fry the thinghs skin side down until golden, turn over and colour the meat to seal. then set aside on a plate.

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add all the spices and cook for a minute, then return the chicken to the pan and stir well to coat.

Add the stock, chilli, tomatoes and honey and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through

Add the mint and coriander, then stir in the butter. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

 

Mmmmm

 

edited because I was all fingers and thunbs, not thumbs.

Edited December 17, 2014 by bohemian

[hatcheckgirl]

Oh, yum yum!  I went to sleep with pomegranates on my mind, and woke up to these lovely suggestions!  Thank you

I suppose they're ripe when they are red?

[CHecker]

Thanks Chris, I've seen Tangine cooking but have never done it and can't afford the Tangine anyway- man they can be expensive. You're recipe looks great. Nothing like I cook and looking forward to having something different. That said, how about leaving out the saffron? It's also really spendy for a 'pinch', maybe add a bit more turmeric? Unsure.

[bohemian]

Thanks Chris, I've seen Tangine cooking but have never done it and can't afford the Tangine anyway- man they can be expensive. You're recipe looks great. Nothing like I cook and looking forward to having something different. That said, how about leaving out the saffron? It's also really spendy for a 'pinch', maybe add a bit more turmeric? Unsure.

If I'm unsure of something like that (or cannot obtain it),if it isn't absolutely essential to the dish then I leave it out, or substitute something. Turmeric is an alternative, so a little extra would do the trick. For the authentic flavour, saffron is really needed.

When I make seafood paella I add saffron, I tried it with turmeric once but really preferred the saffron.

I know saffron is so expensive as it is so Labour-intensive to harvest. In Afghanistan some of the farmers have turned to growing saffron rather than opium poppies because the profit is greater! I am hoping it will becaome cheaper in the UK as growing it has resumed in this country. It used to be grown extensively - there is a town named Saffron Walden than was in the heart of the saffron growing region.

I'm sure the extra little turmeric would be an acceptable alternative.

I can't afford to buy a proper tagine, and for the few occasions I would use it it wouldn't be cost-effective. Most tagines (the food) are made with mutton which needs very long, slow cooking, but the chicken one can be made very quickly and still taste pretty authentic.

We have two local brothers coming to dinner on the 26th and a family from Paris are coming too. Since I made the tagine/tabbouleh my wife has designated that I cook it for that get-together for 6 of us, and she will make dessert!

Edited December 18, 2014 by bohemian

[hatcheckgirl]

Well, now I know how to deseed the pomegranate underwater.  Thanks for the video Sharon!

Another dumb question - I struggled to eat the seeds, but sort of just sucked off the juicy bit on the outside of the seed then spat out the kernel.  Is that right? Or do we eat the thing whole?

 

**The recipes here are fantastic!****

[bohemian]

Well, now I know how to deseed the pomegranate underwater.  Thanks for the video Sharon!

Another dumb question - I struggled to eat the seeds, but sort of just sucked off the juicy bit on the outside of the seed then spat out the kernel.  Is that right? Or do we eat the thing whole?

 

**The recipes here are fantastic!****

The whole seed is edible, so it is your choice. Enjoy them, they are so tasty.

[CHecker]

I love having friends over to cook for. And the recipe here sounds great. After I experiment with it I'll serve it too.

We have 7 coming on Saturday. We're doing salmon on the grill, flat iron steak and marinated chicken wings with veg salad and a fruit salad- planning on adding pomegranates to that. We were going to splurge with prime rib but at 7.69 a pound it's out of the question. 

[bohemian]

I love having friends over to cook for. And the recipe here sounds great. After I experiment with it I'll serve it too.

We have 7 coming on Saturday. We're doing salmon on the grill, flat iron steak and marinated chicken wings with veg salad and a fruit salad- planning on adding pomegranates to that. We were going to splurge with prime rib but at 7.69 a pound it's out of the question. 

 

Mouth watering!  mmmmmmm.

 

My local halal butcher sells boneless chicken thighs at £3.99 a kilo, diced mutton at £8.99 a kilo and goat at £8.99.  AND a fantastic chicken tikka masala for £3.99 which is absolutely jam packed with beautiful chicken and gorgeous marinade.

[CHecker]

That's a great price for thighs, which I prefer in cooking to breast because it's so moist. And mutton?  Have to say never ate it. Did try lamb in April though and LOVED it! Never thought I would. And I'm now into trying goat. A fella where I work can't eat meat, but he can eat goat. He and his wife raise them to sell now. And the Masala is wonderful, over rice or barley of course!! Maybe with some toasted garlic Naan? 

 

Just ate my breakfast of rice and beans- makes me feel sooo good- but have to say your choices in food is making me hungry!

[bohemian]

Lamb is the young animal, hoggett is between 1 and 2 years old and mutton is from a sheep over 2 years.  Mutton tends to be stronger in flavour than lamb or hoggett but it needs cooking for longer.  I love mutton and prefer it to lamb.

 

When I was in my butchers yesterday, a lady asked for 2 chicken legs.  He had just rev=ceived his delivery and he took a quite large chicken and cut off the legs then split them into two.  Did she want skin on? She said yes and it came to less than £3.  Huge amounts of meat.

[CHecker]

Wonder what she was using them for. I like chicken legs too, dark meat isn't my favorite but there are recipes where the dark meat is preferable to white meat. Not to mention cheaper. 

Is £ the symbol for pound?

[bohemian]

Is £ the symbol for pound?

Yes. Sorry for delay in answering.

Edited October 5, 2015 by bohemian

[Tortuga]

I've bought two, but now I need help!  When are they ready to eat?  Do you just cut it open and eat the seedy round bits inside? Or do you eat the flesh?  Would they go nice in a fruit salad? With mango?

 

Suggestions welcome!  They look lovely and red in my fruit bowl.  But they are a rather expensive ornament that I'd rather eat

 

I use to have a pomegranate tree in my yard, I would look at the star on the bottom of the pomegranate and if it was flattened out like a starfish then it was ready to pick. There are several methods to get the seeds out, you can eat them as-is or freeze them, they make a great snack.

 

I'm sure you have eaten them by now, what did you do with them?

[bohemian]

I use to have a pomegranate tree in my yard, I would look at the star on the bottom of the pomegranate and if it was flattened out like a starfish then it was ready to pick. There are several methods to get the seeds out, you can eat them as-is or freeze them, they make a great snack.

 

I'm sure you have eaten them by now, what did you do with them?

There are some great recipes in this thread, Richard - very tasty.

[Ahuvah]

Another way is to simply cut them in half, over a bowl with seeds facing down, just with a wooden spoon bang it on the top of the pomegranate half and all the seeds simply drop out into the bowl.

[Tortuga]

Another way is to simply cut them in half, over a bowl with seeds facing down, just with a wooden spoon bang it on the top of the pomegranate half and all the seeds simply drop out into the bowl.

That's the method we used, then turn the rind inside out to get the seeds that haven't fallen out. My wife would put the seeds in a ziploc bag and put it in the freezer.

[shali]

My husband recently bought a pomegrante home and didn't know what he was buying. I told him "you know it's full of seeds, don't you? that's the part you eat". No, he didn't know that - his reply was "yuck". I didn't want to waste it and I couldnt think of what to do with it short of just eating the seeds myself. Well, since we were having pancakes that night I decided I'd try to make syrup out of the seeds. So with some sugar, water,lemon juice, the seeds and cornstarch I somehow managed to pull if off. Strained out the seeds and served it on the side with regular syrup incase he didn't like the syrup I made. To my total shock, he said he preferred the pomegrante syrup!!!! Miracles do happen!

Edited October 7, 2015 by shali

[Luezette]

While growing up, they weren't called pomegranates. They were called Chinese apples. Maybe because they originated from China?

Anyway, as Solomon basically said...there's nothing new under the sun. sooo, pomengranates, Chinese apples...The same thing.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Luezette