![\"Pomegranate](\"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Banner-Pomegranate1.jpg\" "\\"Pomegranate")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Pomegranates have been around a long time. A native of the Middle East, the pomegranate was written about in the Old Testament of the bible. They are like the armadillo of fruits. On the outside, pomegranates are normal enough: blushing red globes that fit in the palm of your hand. However, their leathery skin belies an ancient mystery. Can you think of another fruit with such a texture? Slice a pomegranate open and find yourself covered in burgundy juice. Their insides are strangely attractive, almost like the caverns and honeycombs of a wild beehive. Instead of sweet, juicy flesh, the pomegranate offers a multitude of seeds which must be cleaned of all the bitter white membrane before eating. It’s a messy job, but well worth the trouble. The seeds are attached to ruby-red sacs of sweet and sour nectar. Add them to salads, saut\u00e9ed greens, and roasted vegetables for a festive garnish. For me, pomegranates ease the sadness that comes when farmers markets close for the winter and I’m left with only the supermarket and its fluorescent lighting. The fresh fruit is good for seeds and juice, but there is also a pantry product called pomegranate molasses. It’s a thick, concentrated, maroon-colored liquid with a complex sweet and sour flavor. Pomegranate molasses is embraced in Middle Eastern cooking. Its role is like that of balsamic vinegar in glazing roasted meats and vegetables, dressing salads, or livening up dips for bread and crudit\u00e9s. Tomorrow is 10 Ways Tuesday at la Domestique, and I’ve got creative ideas for using pomegranate seeds, juice, and pomegranate molasses in your winter cooking.<\/p>\n
Pomegranates are picked ripe and do not ripen further once plucked from the tree. Available from September to January, they grown on trees in hot and dry climates all over the world. According to The Produce Bible<\/a>, “Larger pomegranates have sweeter flesh with well-developed flavor.” In The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook<\/a>, Rachel Saunders advises to look for fruits with “taught, shiny skin, as dull, leathery, shriveled skin is a sign of old fruit.” Store pomegranates in the refrigerator for up to two months. The seeds can be removed and kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, or frozen for several months. When cooking with pomegranates, it’s important to know that the juice will get everywhere and stain cutting boards as well as your clothing. Wear an old shirt and use only materials you don’t mind turning pink.<\/p>\n This week at la Domestique, we open the winter pantry with festive pomegranates. Their seeds add holiday flair to both sweet and savory dishes. Some call pomegranates labor-intensive, believing they aren’t worth the effort. I cringe at these comments, because I know there is a reason pomegranates have survived for thousands of years. Pomegranates are a beauty to behold and their juice is a lively balance of sweet and sour. Join me this week as I explore the many ways pomegranates add flavor to the dishes of winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pomegranates have been around a long time. A native of the Middle East, the pomegranate was written about in the Old Testament of the bible. They are like the armadillo of fruits. On the outside, pomegranates are normal enough: blushing red globes that fit in the palm of your hand. However, their leathery skin belies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[7,193,211],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9305"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19343,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9305\/revisions\/19343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dsweb.jessicaotoole.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}