Certain foods really don't need to be made from scratch at home.Ketchup? I'm fine with the one in the iconic bottle, thanks. Croissants? The place down the street from me makes a version I can't hope to surpass in my lifetime.
But garlic paste is an entirely different story. The acrid, bitter stuff in jars (also labelled as "minced garlic") is miles away from the pungent but still fresh-tasting paste you can make at home. And that paste is easy to blend into salad dressings, mayonnaise, marinades, rubs—pretty much anywhere you want a subtle whiff of garlic without the annoying, raw-tasting garlicky bits.
Here's how to make mincemeat out of your garlic cloves in a flash: Just smash each unpeeled garlic clove with the flat of your chef's knife, pull away the loosened skin, and start slicing thinly. You'll instantly achieve chopped garlic. Now just run the knife across the chopped garlic a few times, chopping until you've gone from chopped to minced.
A sprinkle of coarse salt here isn't for seasoning—the rough grains act as an abrasive, helping to break down the minced garlic as you press against it (see below). Plus, the salt draws moisture out of the garlic, further softening it.
Collect the minced garlic into a flat, neat pile. Hold the blunt side of your knife with both hands and drag the sharp side of the blade across the garlic, holding the blade at a slight angle so it presses and flattens the garlic. Keep dragging the knife across the garlic, and in a couple minutes, you'll have a thick, rich, blendable paste ready to go.
