Poncy Pomegranate

Thank God Laura is Skinny

My friend Ian Ian said something like, ‘a pomegranate is highly overrated, all it is, is a slightly juicy pip, that’s sour.’ I must say I mostly agree with him, but hell those glistening pink pearls are sexy to look at.

For me food is all about taste. I don’t care much for visual art on a plate, especially at the expense of yummyness and practicality, but when you are walking in the hood with one of your pretty and acrobatic neighbours and you spot a pomegranate sort of within reach, you make a plan to schnab it. Once plucked, what do you do with it?  You swallow your pride and go for art on a plate, coz it’s guaranteed to impress your dinner guests. A few ooohs and aaahs will always greet a platter of food decorated with vibrant pomegranate jewels and I’ll take any opportunity I can, to be told how very cleaver I am, even if it means picking a slightly juicy pips out from between my teeth.

These super-food gems will make just about anything look pretty and actually, they taste all right too. In fact after our little neighbourhood pomegranate find, I’ve even realised, that they are not so overrated at all.

Pomegranate & Ostrich Steak Salad

Dippy Eggs with Marmite Soldiers.

I don't think you can have a more comforting brekki than this, it's like a huge warm and fuzzy hug before you start your day.

Delia Smith said something to the effect, that there are as many ways to boil an egg, as there are cooks. In my search for the perfect dippy egg, I came across a heaps of methods, each swearing to be ‘the only way’ to get a perfectly soft yolk held together in an oval of a wobbly white. 

You know, boiling an egg can get really scientific. After a lot of research I tried all sorts of finicky techniques like, boiling the egg at exactly 90 degrees for 4 minutes, pricking a hole in the shell so the egg doesn’t crack and the yolk settles slap bang in the middle of the shell, so it gets an even cook and doesn’t get hard bits of yolk in some places. In the end, I don’t think 1 method is a whole lot better than any other, so I chose to use one of the simplest and that works just fine for me. This method is easy peasy and energy efficient. If my egg is not quite perfect, that’s also fine by me, coz it’ll still be dippy and anyway eggs also need character to be special. If your grannies tried and tested method works for you, then I say ‘go for it’.

Method

Gently place your eggs (large room temperature ones) into a pot and cover them with cold water (starting with cold water, helps to stop them cracking), pop a lid on and bring to a boil, as soon as the water boils turn the stove off and leave for 2 and a half minutes before taking the eggs out. You had better eat them straight way, coz they’ll carry on cooking and might not be so dippy if you blither about.