Winter Fruit

Today it was cold and rainy at the local produce market. Now is the time to taste the Best of the Winter Fruit. Texas grapefruit, navel oranges, tangeloes, and pomegranates are at their peak of flavor. Pomegranates have that exotic flavor just right for salads or just snacking out of hand. When selecting pomegranates look for a fruit free of soft spots. But how do you prepare and use the fruit? Some people suggest cutting the fruit in half and then pulling the juice nuggets apart under water. Here we will suggest a method without water and nuggets are not lost from knife cutting. First, use a sharp knife and make a shallow cut around the waist of the pomegranate. Cut only about 1/8 inch deep. Next stick your finger nails in the cut and separate the pomegranate into 2 halves. You can also use a knife and use it as a wedge to separate the 2 halves, but don't go deeper than 1/8 inch. The next part is easier. Take one of the halves and break into 2 quarter sections.

Next take one of the sections and use your thumb to gently remove the nuggets from fruit webbing. The particles come out easy without damaging the nuggets. And finally pick out the few web pieces that may have fallen off.