Basic cooking skills: Chopping garlic and making garlic paste6

I think I've seen enough hints online about how to peel garlic that I could try a new method every time and never repeat myself.

Some of the favorites I've seen are:

• Smash the whole head with a rubber mallet. (It took several tries, but this sort of worked.)
• Break the head apart and put the cloves in a mason jar and shake vigorously until the skin falls off. (I know people who swear by this method, but it the work-to-results ratio is too much for me.)
• Rolling over the cloves with a rolling pin and picking the skin from the smashed cloves. (The cloves scattered when I tried this and weren't skinned.)
• Smash the cloves with the heel of your hand and peel the skin off with chopsticks. (I am pretty handy with chopsticks, but my skills are not to this level. Plus, using your bare hand to smash the cloves can be painful.)
• Wrap the cloves in aluminum foil and roast in a 450° F oven for half an hour, then squeeze the garlic out of the skin. (This is an efficient method if you're using cooked garlic. It's also a sticky mess.) 

• Cut off the root end and peel with your fingernails. (Ugh,,,No!) 

Once you've peeled the cloves, it's easy work to make a paste.

Garlic paste is an essential item for your kitchen if you are doing meal prep.It can be frozen in the squares of an ice tray with a bit of olive oil (just enough to cover the paste. It can be refrigerated and used all week for all your recipes. It makes, mixed with butter and whipped, an amazing spread for toasts.

How to make garlic paste with garlic, salt and nothing else

1. Put the garlic on its side and smash it with the flat side of the knife. Pull off the peel.

2. Chop it finely, then turn it the other direction and chop it even finer.

3. Sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt on the chopped garlic

4. Use the flat of the knife to scrape and smash the chopped garlic, turn and smash it again. Keep dragging it across the board with your knife. Collect the smashed paste and keep going until you have all of it made into paste.