This enables an enzyme called allinase to come in contact and combine with the precursor or substrate alliin to form allicin, which contains the odoriferous constituent of garlic."

Ooh baby!

Hubby cooks. The only thing I do in the kitchen is tell him when the pasta's done, because his idea of al dente does not match that of the rest of the world. His either crunches or is mush.

I'm trying to achieve a thinner-than-paper state of Nirvana.

That's the theory in the Goodfellas scene. If you slice it thin enough it just dissolves into the sauce and so there's minimal loss of garlic oils.

You should be able to slice garlic thin enough that it's completely translucent. Not that it's necessary for most recipes, but that's definitely doable.

Nutty! You are vastly more likely to cut yourself badly with a dull knife than with a sharp one.

I think you people misunderestimate my ability to leave my fingers directly under the knife when I am, e.g., chopping onions. It's never the fault of the force or swiftness of the knife hand; it's the fault of locating the not-knife hand. (Really!)

garlic

Smashed flat, or whole, or sliced a bit. I never bother to mince. Although I have a strong, fond memory of the movie Goodfellas, in which one of the mobsters slices his garlic with a razor blade.

food processor

I just got one of these for Xmas! I haven't actually used it yet, but I will soon!

In other news, I have been to Sephora (I have a wedding to attend tomorrow) and have returned with brown mascara, lavender glitter eyeshadow, and a purple eyeliner. And sushi, because I needed lunch.

Damn, for some reason this just reminded me of a resturaunt in Boston that's no more called UVA.

There is, however, a place in Somerville called EVOO (opened way before Rachael Ray ruined that acronym for everyone)

allicin

Pronounced like Allyson?

No one watches you cook and/or criticizes your technique at a dinner party, they just eat the results and tell you how delicious it was.

Last time I cooked in front of anyone (at xmas) I managed to burn the pan of stuff and had to start over from scratch. Just wasn't paying close enough attention. THEN there was apparently a little bit of water left in the beans when they were dumped into the serving dish, so all the nicely crusty crumbs kinda went moosh. Eh, it wasn't fabulous, but it didn't taste gross and no one complained within earshot.

My parents have all that Cutco stuff, too -- knives in a block, shears that come apart -- and it's not bad. And they got to help a family friend!

Yes. You can use real figs, but then you have to add sugar. I can get you the recipe I used later today to compare with the recipe I'm guessing you dug up somewhere else.

I still really want this recipe Sean. Please?

I've tried the smashing garlic with a knife thing, and I just can't do it. Pretty much anything that involves using the flat of a blade is beyond me.

I can't do it either. I'm glad I am not the only one.

And they got to help a family friend!

I was once that friend for 3 wonderful (read: horrible) weeks.

But those shears do kick ass. I like the bread knife we have too.