GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Wonder what the purpose of the water is? At best I might be inclined to use stock instead. Any liquid would evaporate fairly fast anyway + get absorbed into the potatoes.
According to the recipe, it's to prevent the garlic from burning. I think that's the reason it takes so long, though - the surface of the potatoes can't brown while they're submerged, so you're waiting for the water to evaporate and then waiting for the potatoes to brown. It really shouldn't take that long to brown potato wedges.
I don't think the potatoes would absorb much flavor from the liquid. When they're steaming, they're forcing moisture out, not absorbing it. That's why the Cooks Illustrated recipe I posted has you toss the aromatics with the potatoes after cooking - when they cooked it all together, the garlic burned and the potatoes didn't have much flavor.
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