Test Kitchen video tip: Peel peaches and other stone fruits the easy way

Because peach skins tend to be a little tough and can slip free to muddle some dishes, recipes sometimes call for peeling the fruit before using them.

There’s an easy way to peel them -- and the method works for peeling many fruits and vegetables. Simply mark an “x” on the bottom of the fruit with a sharp knife, dunk it in boiling water to loosen the skin (about 30 seconds for a ripe peach, slightly longer if the peach is somewhat firm), then quickly chill the fruit in an ice bath to bring the temperature back down. The skin should slip off easily.

Cooking is fun — at least it should be! No matter how long you’ve been in the kitchen, there is always something new to learn, whether it’s a simple twist on an old technique, or a handy tip to save time and energy. In this series of short videos, I demonstrate a variety of kitchen tips, ranging from how to hold a chef’s knife for maximum control to using a spoon to peel fresh ginger. If you have any gadgets, kitchen tips or questions you’d like me to explore, leave a comment or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.