Seedy

Thank you all for understanding that we have taken the past few days off to enjoy Thanksgiving with our family and friends. (Not to mention that one of us has had a rather, um, larg-ish project going on right now...)

My recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla Pecan Butter turned out to be absolutely gorgeous -- colorful and exciting -- but was the most iffy tasting dish on the table**. The only photo I got of the finished dish was a blurry cell phone photo (I forgot to bring my camera to my sister's house...aaaargh!) so I can't show you how beautiful it was. What I would do differently -- cut the brussels sprouts into halves or even quarters, parboil them for 8 minutes or so and then toss them in to roast them, add more pomegranate molasses (YUM!). However, my real inclination is that the recipe would be BEST made with an entirely different veggie, and I will be letting you all know how that works out, as I intend to give it a try!

Meanwhile, here's the trick to de-seeding a pomegranate:

Cut the crown off the fruit.
Just slicing through the skin, score it well from crown to base, making 4 - 6 cuts.
Put the fruit cut (crown) side down in a deep bowl of cold water -- let it sit for 10 minutes. (the only photo I got, of course. Sigh.)
Working underwater, pull the sections apart and roll the seeds right out into the water. They will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the white membrane will float to the top, where you can easily scoop it right off.
Drain the water off the seeds through a colander and enjoy!



**The Vanilla Pecan Butter, however, was a HUGE hit and people kept wanting to spread it on everything in site. It tasted like ice cream...or better. Mmmmmm...I can imagine it on fried apples, on cooked carrots, on scones ... you get the picture. And for THAT, Mr. Bobby Flay, you are still a hero in my book.