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How to Peel Almost Anything
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Why bother to peel them at all? The main reason, I suppose, is for the sake of appearance. There is a tendency to believe that vegetables without their skins look better than those with their clothes on.
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In the case of carrots, I would have to agree. The skin, especially in older carrots, tends to go a gray color when cooked. It also shrinks and distorts the shape of the vegetable.
But in most cases I can see no really good reason for going to all that trouble. Simply wash the vegetables thoroughly, using a small nail brush you keep for that purpose, and then cook them in any way you wish.One added bonus for doing this is that you retain more of the nutrients of the vegetable, a large proportion of which are in the skin. Of course, if you prefer to add the vegetable skins to your compost heap, you will get nice fat, juicy, healthy worms instead!
No doubt the magpies (or whatever carnivorous birds you have in your area) will be very grateful.
Garlic
If you intend to eat the cloves either whole or as a paste, there is no need to peel them at all until after they are cooked, when the pulp will easily squeeze out of the skins like toothpaste from a tube. Peeling a raw clove is just as easy, once you know how. I learnt this trick from a kitchen hand, by the way, whose main job was to clean cooking pots, scrub mussels and peel garlic! Simply put the clove of garlic on to a flat surface and press down on it with your thumb. It will 'give' slightly and the paper-like skin will fall away in your hand.
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