Greek Roasted Potatoes

And the solution has been there all along.

"Where do you keep all of your cookbooks?" asked my foodie friend. I replied, "All over the place." My cookbook collection, well, it's a real problem, getting progressively worse each year.

I have a four-shelf bookcase unit from Costco, it is built very well. But the shelves have collapsed three times and I've gone through two packs of those shelf reinforcements you get at the hardware store.

Then, there is my cookbook stash in the shelves next to my pantry. I have so many stacked so close together, they often fall down and scare the dog. Those cookbooks are primarily my Food Network celebrity chef books, with Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess in front (buttermilk birthday cake, buttermilk birthday cake, buttermilk birthday cake...). When one of those cookbooks fall of the shelf, I take it as a sign that I need to break out of my comfort zone and try a new recipe.

Lastly, I have a third cookbook stash on my bedside table. Piled high. Very, very, high. Like, don't even touch it with a feather-duster because the tower of books will collapse high.

If food magazines count, I have a collection of Cooks' Illustrated, Gourmet (old ones, sniff sniff), Food & Wine and Bon Appetit's near the, um...bathtub.

I have a cookbook problem. At the beginning of each new year, I usually take holiday gift cards or money and buy myself the new Jamie Oliver (i heart you) and a discounted holiday issue of Taste of Home.

But I have no room left, unless I start keeping books in the attic. I love my books too much not to see them everyday, especially my cookbooks, who wait for me on their shelves as if to say "You're gonna need us, sister, next time you wanna impress somebody!"

I went to the library today. I can check out up to 5 (FIVE!) cookbooks at one time!!

The recipes I want, I shall photocopy, keep in manila folders according to type of food (hors d'oeuvres, entree, cocktails, etc), and use much less space.

I can maintain my cookbook habit and not spend money. I can placate my food obsession and not clutter my home further, keeping my husband sane. I can reference the recipes I covet and dream of making without causing a landslide of hardcover first editions, avoiding concussions and waking up the pets.

With the solution that has been there waiting for me all along. My neighborhood library.

I don't have to go without and all the delicious answers lie within.

PATATES RIGANATES

from THE FOODS OF THE GREEK ISLANDS by Aglaia Kremezi

My mother-in-law makes these and they are the first dish to be scraped clean at holidays or Sunday dinners. They melt and crumble at once on your tongue in a slightly tangy, creamy, herby way.

3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes (my mother-in-law slices them thin, lengthwise)

1/2 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/12 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled

1 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup beef stock or chicken stock

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2-3 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano (m-i-l also skips this step)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the potatoes in a single layer in a 13 x 9 baking dish and pour the oil over them. Add the garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste and toss well to coat with the oil.

Bake the potatoes for 15 minutes. Add the stock, toss and bake for 15 minutes more. Add the lemon juice, toss and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the potatoes are cooked through. If you like, preheat the broiler and broil the potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sprinkle with the fresh oregano and serve at once.

VARIATION

Dissolve 1 tbsp. tomato paste in the stock, and reduce the amount of lemon juice to taste.

(I have seen my mother-in-law use a little canned tomato sauce too, but not decreasing the amount of lemon juice).