It's been a week of learning in the kitchen this week. I've learned 2 specific things that have made my cooking either easier, or more successful, and I feel you'd appreciate being let in on the news. So here are 2 good things to know:

First: I was making a dessert that called for skinned and toasted hazel nuts the other day. Sheesh, what a pain it was to get those skins off. Then I found this handy nut-skin removing tip in an issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine that will save the day next time.

The article said that the most common method for removing hazelnut skins - toasting them and then rubbing them in a towel - can still leave skins stubbornly hanging on. No kidding - that's what I'm saying; it was a pain.

But the experts at Cook's Illustrated (which are the same people at America's Test Kitchen, by the way) had a better suggestion. They say to boil 1 cup of untoasted hazelnuts in 2 cups of water and 3 tablespoons of baking soda for 3 minutes (1 C nuts + 2 C water + 3 Min). Then transfer the nuts to a bowl of ice water with a slotted spoon; drain, and slip the skins off with a towel.

Cook's Illustrated folks say this works because the hot alkaline water quickly breaks down the pectin, the primary component in the skins, allowing them to peel off not only more easily but also more completely. Who knew?

Second: The advice is to rotate cakes, pastries, and breads in the oven halfway through baking to promote even browning. But I've always been afraid to rotate cakes - especially those delicate and airy cakes like angel food and white cakes - for fear they'll collapse from the handling. Well, I found some information in another Cook's Illustrated that puts my mind at ease.

These expert cooks tested the process with exactly the cakes I'm hesitant to jostle - angel food and white. They made two pairs of each, both containing whipped egg whites, which you'd think would make them prone to collapse if disturbed during baking. One set of cakes they rotated halfway through the baking, even jostling them clumsily in order to drive the point home. They left the other set alone.

The result? Neither one of the rotated cakes collapsed or showed any sign of being disturbed in any way. And both cakes were more evenly browned than the undisturbed cakes (which is the point of rotating - even browning).

The Cook's Illustrated pros concluded that it seems that even delicate cakes are fully set early on during baking, so there's little risk of collapse halfway through. They now say with confidence that we should always rotate all baked goods - even those delicate sweeties - halfway through baking. And if using both the upper and lower racks for backing, they also suggest switching rack positions and rotating the cakes at the same time. Once again, who knew?

So there you have it, 2 ideas to make your kitchen work easier and help ensure better results. If you have suggestions for making kitchen work easier, we hope you'll share. We like to say we're all in this together, so together we can help each other get better at what we so love to do!

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Sources:
www.cookiemadness.net
www.momsbyheart.net
www.diaryofagoodgirl.com
www.acakebakesinbrooklyn.com
www.justripeknoxville.com