Instructions
1. Select a whole bulb of fresh garlic whose cloves are held tightly together and are not discolored.
2. Separate the cloves quickly by placing the garlic bulb root-side down on a cutting board and pressing down on it firmly with the heel of your hand until it separates.
3. To peel the cloves, arrange them on the cutting board and whack or press them firmly with a heavy object, like the flat side of a chef's knife, a kitchen mallet, or small pan.
4. Cut away the woody end of the garlic clove where it was attached to the bulb.
5. Discard the skins and clean the cutting board before mincing.
6. First chop the garlic roughly. Use the same theory as with an onion: Make a series of horizontal cuts on the clove (separating it slices), then a series of vertical cuts (separating it into thin sticks). Then dice the sticks.
7. Mince the chopped garlic by chopping it with a rocking motion: Keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board and move the handle up and down.
8. Stop every few strokes and use the blade of the knife to draw the garlic pieces back into a neat pile before continuing. Scrape off the garlic that has stuck to the side of the knife blade, too.
Tags: cutting board, firmly with, into thin, separating into, separating into thin