let me start by bursting your bubble. while i am about to give you my tips on how to seed a pomegranate efficiently and with out making a huge mess, it is still not easy. it is not hard, just takes a few minutes. however, it is very much worth it. one pomegranate yields about 2 cups of beautiful, versatile seeds. pomegranates are great on salads, on top of baked goods or in a tasty cocktail. 

now, i've watched all kinds of videos of all the quick and easy tricks for removing the seeds. however, i have found that most of them are a bunch of bologna. i find that the most important thing is the way you cut the pomegranate. cutting it into smaller pieces enables you to easily break it apart with your hands. 

you will need 1 pomegranate, your favorite knife, a glass bowl and some water. 

start by slicing your pomegranate in half. 

then into fourths. 

and finally into eighths. 

you will find that there is a thin membrane covering most of the seeds. you can gently peal this back to expose the seeds. 

once the membrane is removed, use your hands to flatten out the wedge of pomegranate. 

working over you bowl, gently use your fingers to break the seeds loose from walls of the pomegranate. it should take you about 5 minutes for the whole pom. 

the membrane can be a sticky little bugger so even after you have removed all the seeds, there is usually some still floating around. fill your bowl of seeds with water and run your fingers through the seeds to release them from any remaining membrane. let the seeds settle and the remaining membrane will float to the top. 

use a spoon to remove the floating membrane from the water. once it is all removed, strain your seeds and you are ready to use them. 

enjoy your delicious rubies of flavor and if you have tips and tricks of your own, please send them my way!
xo, a

these days, i'm hitting some sort of food store at least seven times in a week. some days, i'm in four or five stores. and at a certain point, it all starts to blur together. so a trip to the farmer's market is always a welcome treat. 

i'm always on the hunt for new food to play with. when i was in barcelona years ago, i remember their large outdoor market being filled to the brim with these dragon fruit. it was really early on in my foodie journey and i had no clue what to do with them. 

fast forward five years to the irvine farmer's market and this little guy. 

but of course, i've never actually used dragon fruit so it took a week of staring at it on my counter before i came up with something good. i needed something to really display the beauty of the fruit. enter deliciously simple cheesecake. together they make the perfect pair. 

dragon fruit cheesecake
serves: 10-12
prep time: 10 minutes
bake time : 45 minutes
total time: 55 minutes
ingredients: 1 dragon fruit. 1 cup all purpose flour. 1 cup finely chopped pecans. .5 cup butter, melted (1 stick). .25 cup packed brown sugar. 1 lb cream cheese (2 8oz packages). 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla. parchment paper. spring form baking pan.

start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. line the bottom of your spring form pan with a round piece of parchment paper. 

in a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans and butter. mix it together until it forms a loose ball. 

place the crust into the spring form pan and spread it along the bottom and about an inch up the side.

poke the crust with a fork and bake it off until lightly golden. about 15 minutes. 

while the crust is baking, combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. mix on a medium speed until creamed together. 

with the mixer on a low speed, add in one egg at a time and then the vanilla. when everything is combined, turn off the mixer.
press all the ingredients down the sides of the bowl, and then mix again until well combined and smooth.

reserve about .25 cups of your cheesecake filling.

half your passion fruit and scoop out the flesh. place it in a blender and puree.

combine the dragon fruit and cream cheese filling in a small bowl. 

too small... 

our your filling into the baked crust. use your dragon fruit cream cheese filling to create your desired pattern. i used a spoon to place 1 inch sized drops around the cake and then used a toothpick to create hearts by swiping the pick through the middle of the circle. when you have your desired design. bake the cake till set, about 30-35 minutes. you will know it is done when the center no longer jiggles. 

allow the cake to cool to room temperature and store in the fridge until you are ready to serve. 

xo, a

dragon fruit cheesecake
serves: 10-12
prep time: 10 minutes
bake time : 45 minutes
total time: 55 minutes
ingredients: 1 dragon fruit. 1 cup all purpose flour. 1 cup finely chopped pecans. .5 cup butter, melted (1 stick). .25 cup packed brown sugar. 1 lb cream cheese (2 8oz packages). 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla. parchment paper. spring form baking pan.
start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. line the bottom of your spring form pan with a round piece of parchment paper.
in a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans and butter. mix it together until it forms a loose ball.
place the crust into the spring form pan and spread it along the bottom and about an inch up the side.
poke the crust with a fork and bake it off until lightly golden. about 15 minutes.
while the crust is baking, combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. mix on a medium speed until creamed together.
with the mixer on a low speed, add in one egg at a time and then the vanilla. when everything is combined, turn off the mixer.
press all the ingredients down the sides of the bowl, and then mix again until well combined and smooth.
reserve about .25 cups of your cheesecake filling. half your passion fruit and scoop out the flesh. place it in a blender and puree. combine the dragon fruit and cream cheese filling in a small bowl.
pour your filling into the baked crust. use your dragon fruit cream cheese filling to create your desired pattern. i used a spoon to place 1 inch sized drops around the cake and then used a toothpick to create hearts by swiping the pick through the middle of the circle. when you have your desired design. bake the cake till set, about 30-35 minutes. you will know it is done when the center no longer jiggles.
allow the cake to cool to room temperature and store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.