Shel_B

I'm not looking for a strong flavor. The boiled garlic won't be eaten, it's just to add flavor to the potatoes.

Not the effect I'm looking for ... thanks.

Covering the potatoes with garlic paste, cooked or otherwise, is not the result / effect I'm seeking.

OK, more garlic in the water seems appropriate ... will try it. That's one of the things I was going to try anyway. What does the word "alterating" mean?

There are two roasted potato recipes that I make that require some boiling of the potatoes before roasting them. One recipe uses yellow potatoes, like Yukon Gold, which are boiled and roasted without the skin, and the other uses small red potatoes that are boiled with the skin and then smashed and roasted. I would like to infuse the potatoes with a garlic flavor, and have tried doing so by adding smashed cloves of garlic to the water used for boiling the potatoes. Even though the water is redolent of garlic, the potatoes have virtually no garlic flavor. Would using a substantially greater amount of garlic be helpful (I now use four large, smashed cloves in a quart of water), or perhaps adding garlic juice to the water be a viable solution? Might poking some small holes in the potatoes with a fork get the garlic infused water into the potatoes and help get a more intense garlic flavor to the 'taters? I don't want a very strong garlic taste, just something noticeable but subtle. Adding minced garlic to the spuds when roasting them results in a noticeable burnt garlic taste, so that doesn't seem to be working for me. Thanks for any suggestions. Hmm ... I just thought of something. Instead of coating the potatoes with plain oil before roasting, maybe I could coat them with garlic-infused olive oil. That shouldn't give a burnt taste...

Bison and wild boar sound interesting. I don't have "odds and ends of mince" as I don't eat much meat, and usually only buy what I'm going to use when I do want meat.

A regular meatloaf mix often consists of beef, pork, and veal. But what about a poultry meatloaf, which is what I'd like to make some time soon. I was thinking of dark meat turkey (thigh meat) duck breast or thigh, and perhaps chicken breast. Does this seem reasonable? What about adding other or different meats? Any thoughts?

I'll look for the recipe. Just perusing the book last night was a real pleasure, and it gave me a few ideas. I like her laid back style and flexible approach. This book is a keeper ...

Yesterday I picked up Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone for $1.00 at a garage sale I just happened to stumble upon on my way to the theater in Berkeley. It had a sticker on it from Half Price Books showing their price to be $8.99. I've wanted a copy of this, and other books by Madison, for a while, so it was truly a happy moment. Here's a crappy cell phone pic ...

Indeed! While it's not a big deal to many, it frosts my pumpkin when I hear someone describe grilling as BBQ.

Not so good, regardless of taste. There are others that I know taste well, with good heat, and which don't have the added ingredients like soybean oil, water, etc. I avoid shelf-stable brands with fillers and, when I do but horseradish, go straight to the refrigerator aisle, making sure the label reads only “grated horseradish, vinegar, and salt.”

What are the ingredients in the horseradish?

Your post and the reference to the KAF recipe has been very helpful as I continue on my quest for the perfect brownie. Thanks!

The pan looks pretty good in the pictures. Have you tried going over the interior with the steel brushes mounted on a drill, as in the video? In any case, it seems that cleaning the skillets using the self-cleaning feature of your oven is working out well for you. I've only done one pan in that manner and had good results. I may try running my old Lodge through the process to see if I can make the surface a little better and smoother.

I need a vegetable filling, maybe something like spinach or kale, or some other vegetable filling, that's light on cheese (even no cheese may work) as the tortellini will be served in a Parmesan broth. Cheese in the tortellini and a Reggiano-infused broth might be a little too much. Any suggestions?

Next month I'll be making a batch of baked beans. Checking the larder yields only Ranch Gordo Tarbais beans. How well will they work in a baked bean recipe? Would I be better off using some other type of bean? What bean(s) might you suggest?

This question of a metallic taste when using lemon has come up before ... you are not alone in your experience. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/40823-lemon/?hl=%2Bmetallic+%2Btaste

One of my first cookbooks was written by her ... I may still have it stored away somewhere. It was a book about salads, and it was both useful and enlightening at the time. Thinking back, with many years of cooking and recipes behind me now, I'd say the book was a little simplistic, but for a beginning cook it was quite helpful and informative.

I got the original of this recipe from Toots, and she called it a frittata. She got the original of her version from a school lunch program in Michigan about fifty years ago, and they called it a frittata. Both Toots and I modified the versions we got to make it our own, but it's still essentially the same amount of eggs and cheese, and the amount of spinach used hasn't changed much over the years either. I never would have thought to call it a casserole, but I've always wondered it it's really a frittata. Still, whatever it really is, it is good ...

Posted the frittata recipe in Recipe Gullet section ....

Shel's Spinach-Cheese Frittata 2½ 1-lb pkgs frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, water pressed out, leaves separated 1 can canned corn (I use TJ's), drained (not creamed corn - you cab use frozen or fresh kernels as well) 1 pkg TJ's condensed Portobello mushroom soup or equivalent 4 large eggs, beaten 2 heaping TBS A/P flour ⅓ cup ground dried shiitake mushrooms 12 oz pkg shredded cheese (Gruyere, Emmentaler, Pepper Jack - I usually use TJ's pepper jack) 1 4-oz can diced green peppers Some diced bacon, pancetta, or ham (optional) ½ cup finely diced leek, lightly sautéed S&P to taste (I use no salt and add about ½ - 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper depending of type of pepper Sauté leeks in a small amount of oil, let cool. Prepare bacon and set aside to cool and drain. Set aside prepared spinach in a large bowl or colander. Dump condensed mushroom soup into another large bowl. Grind in pepper and add ground mushrooms and mix. Add eggs, drained canned corn (or you can use frozen corn), green chile peppers, cooled leek mixture, optional bacon, and lightly sift flour over all. Mix together to incorporate, then add shredded cheese and spinach and mix well. Lightly butter/oil (or use a little bacon fat) an 8x8 or 2-quart Corningware baking dish and add the mixture. Bake @ 350-deg for about 40 minutes, or to an internal temperature of about 170-degrees.

Have you tried the Union Square Café bar nuts? Been using the recipe for a couple of years. Here's a link to the version I've been using: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=7039143

Ratto's is still around. Rarely get to that area any more, but I'll call and ask what they have. Last time I checked, they were carrying Molinari, but hey, times change.

Looking for a good quality sweet Italian sausage with fennel in the San Francisco Bay Area. It can be a quality national brand or, probably more to my liking, a good quality local brand. Molinari makes a pretty good version, but is there something better or more interesting. It'll be used in a Sunday gravy and eventually in a few other dishes, like sausage and onions or sausage and peppers. Any suggestions from our Bay Area contingent?