I am not a cooking snob. Unless it involves green chile. I'm too lazy to be. Dinner 75% of the work week? Marinated chicken and a salad. I'm really not picky about food either. Unless it involves green chile or mexican food.

though I'm more interested in Hec's final-mash technique

That would be Jacques Pepin's technique, not mine. But the idea is simply that garlic has volatile oils and by smashing the chopped cloves you release the oils. (Moreso than just with chopping.) You do it at the end right before you put the garlic in your recipe because volatile oils evaporate very quickly.

Sometimes if I'm doing a lot of prep before hand I'll do the garlic and put it into a little olive oil so I don't lose the garlicky oils.

I'm not against the garlic press, actually. If you do it right over the pan you're not going to lose any juice.

I've got him on myWishlist, now. Too funny!

bon, coat the pot with oil (I use copious amounts of paper towels) and bake it for a couple of hours at 250-300 degrees.

But the idea is simply that garlic has volatile oils and by smashing them you release them. (Moreso than just with chopping.)

FWIW, this is also why ATK recommends the garlic press -- it's like smashing and mincing all in one!

I'm a big proponent of learning how to use a real chef's knife properly

I'm a self taught cook. and I grew up in house with bad knives. ( Matt always sharpens my parents knives when we go down there) Untill we had good knives, I would have done what JZ did . And even after I moved in with DH. Because all he had were 10 and 12 inch chef knives. Most of the time I am happier with an 8" or less . Strangely, some of the best knives wwe own are 6 inch Ikea santkou style. 8 bucks. amazing knives.

FWIW, this is also why ATK recommends the garlic press -- it's like smashing and mincing all in one!

Yeah, that's why I'm not really anti-garlic press. As long as you don't leave your pressed garlic juice behind on the chopping board.

Make fist with other hand (or use the palm of your hand) and SMACK THAT BLADE.

That's the part I can't do. I'm afeared of the sharp part, even if it is pointing away from me, and it makes my smashing timid.

Nora is right, I have the magic garlic press that peels the clove for me. I do have one of those rubber tube things lying around, but I haven't had to use it in a goodly while.

alternative smashing method. place clove on board. place flat of knife on clove. place fist on flat of knife. lean.

actually -flat hand will do , as long as no part of hand is near the sharp edge of knife

If you don't smash the garlic with a knife, how do you peel it? The rolling-between-your-hands technique is painful, and those garlic-peely devices always get lost in my house.

Get this! I cut off the bottom and peel by hand, baybee! Sometimes it's tougher than others, as the peel is very clingy, but most times I can get the outer shell off pretty quickly.