The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

Smashed garlic: This is what I use when I want to
slow-cook garlic and flavor an oil as the base for a
sauce. You can eat the slow-cooked smashed cloves
or discard them after they’re flavored the dish. To
smash garlic cloves, place each garlic clove flat on
your cutting board, hold the side of your chef’s knife
or a large cleaver against it, and press down on the
side of the knife blade to smash the clove.
Alternatively, you can use the bottom of a small
skillet to smash garlic cloves.