It’s been a week but it seems like it’s been months. This month we launched Red Bread. A place where I get to indulge my wild yeast and decadent imaginations in the form of something hearty and sweet that you can eat! It’s been a busy month of flour testing, chocolate tasting, walnut research, butter comparisons….you name it we have eaten it, in the name of Science!
So I haven’t been cooking anything wonderful up here at the home front, as most of my efforts have been in a much more high tech kitchen. In our little yellow cottage by the sea we’ve been snacking between the busy hours on nuts and fruit. So here are some tips from our week as forest animals.
1. ALWAYS TOAST YOUR NUTS. Not only does it bring out the rich flavor of the nut in the heat of the oven, but contrary to assumption nuts can and do go rancid. If you toast them they will last longer. They will last even longer if you toast them and store them in the freezer. We buy large quantities of nuts, especially walnuts, so this is what I do. Another plus, is you always have a delicious snack, toasted and all!
Most nuts toast nicely at 350 degrees for 10-15 mins. Bon Appetite has a good guidance for toasting different nuts. But all ovens have their quirks so just watch your nuts the first time.
2. I LOVE POMEGRANATES. But tend to buy them and let them sit in the fruit bowl for a long long time, turned off my craving by the inevitable mess that results from trying to extract all the tiny seeds from the web.
And then I learned something BRILLIANT! Cut the pomegranate in half crosswise, hold the half over a bowl and squeeze.
Almost everything will fall out effortlessly. What does remain is easily brushed out with fingertips once you invert the peel.
Hello delicious bowl of fruit!
xoxo
The Cultivated Life 
This gives me some confidence to attempt pomegranates. I LOVE them, but am super intimidated by a seemingly daunting process of extracting the seeds. I’ll give it a try! Where do you usually buy them?…They are in season now, yes?
I spied a handful at the farmers market last week, this is there last month in Southern California. But perhaps they will linger!! I’ve been thinking about jamming them!