this one is for elizabeth, to whom i owe a can of benjamin moore! the following is an instructional guide for collecting pomegranate arils.....with as little splatter as possible.
the first step is to run a sharp knife around the pomegranate. you want to make a shallow cut that only pierces the skin, not the inner pomegranate where the arils live. then use your thumbs to pry it apart::
the goal is to avoid slicing or dicing any of the arils. pulling it apart is the way to go. now that you have it in halves, you want to make small cuts in the flesh that will assist you in pulling the halves into smaller, more manageable pieces::
here comes the real secret. you will now be working underwater! fill a bowl about three quarters of the way full. use a bowl that is large enough to work in. submerge the segments and lightly brush the arils off with your fingers. this was hard to photograph, but the arils should pop off easily and sink to the bottom of the bowl::
continue in this manner, gently nudging the arils out and further separating the segments. you'll still have some bursting but the water prevents it from spraying your walls, your clothes and anything else within a 5 mile radius. also, the white parts float to the top. in other words, it separates itself for you! in the end you should have something that resembles this::
now just pick through some of the larger white chunks for hidden arils::
then scoop as much of the white out as possible. you can give a little stir to bring more to the top. all thats left to do now is strain, rinse, blend and strain::
this is a bit time consuming so i usually do at least five good sized pomegranates at once; some for crunching, a little juice for now and some for the fridge. there you have it!
do you have a question about any of my crafts or recipes? email me anytime, i'm here to help!
