12 Cooking Facts You Never Knew

I recently received some "junk mail" in the form of a sample copy of Cook's Illustrated magazine. I never really know how some places get your address, because we always get the most random things. But I actually enjoyed this bit of junk mail. What started as just a quick flip-through before tossing it in the recycling turned into a detailed read of almost every page.

Many of you may already know of Cook's Illustrated and the myriad of facts they provide to home cooks. The publication falls under the domain of America's Test Kitchen, the culinary group that is famous for testing out 10 different recipes for chocolate chip cookies (for example), and then reporting back about which baking method resulted in the "best" cookies. They apply this tried-and-true testing method to almost every dish and cooking product you can imagine. 

Below are a few fun cooking & food facts I learned from this issue that you may not know....

1. To keep cut fruit from getting soggy, keep it in a salad spinner or colander so the juice can drain into the bowl beneath.
2. Use large coffee filters to line a cake pan instead of parchment paper - no need to cut the paper!
3. For the best roast chicken in under an hour, cook in a skillet at 450 for 25-35 minutes, then turn the oven OFF and let it continue to cook for 25-35 more minutes or until meat temp reads 160 degrees. 
4. Thicker asparagus spears actually have a slightly better taste than thinner ones.
5. The best eggs are scrambled with a bit of half-and-half, for only 1-2 minutes.
6. The smoothest hummus is made if you microwave the chickpeas for 1 minute before pureeing.
7. Land O'Lakes butter was rated highest for supermarket butter brands in a recent taste test (this is thanks to their specially patented wrapper that keeps the butter's flavor fresh).  
8. Spices lose their freshness after one year.
9. Baking powder & baking soda lose their oomph after 6 months.
10. Olive oil lasts for only about 3 months once opened; 1 year unopened (so don't buy in bulk at Costco).
11. Vinegar and vanilla extract last pretty much forever.
12.  Store butter, nuts, cornmeal, and yeast in the freezer for best results.

I hope you had time to cook something fun this weekend! For breakfast this morning I made this amazing apple oven cake again - one of my favorite weekend dishes. I also made two other dishes (one sweet, one savory) that I will be sharing soon!