In a clip shared by Food Network on YouTube, Flay shows fellow chef Ina Garten his favorite trick for getting raw garlic to a texture where it will simply dissolve into the food, lending immense flavor without adding any texture. In the video, Flay shows Garten how he makes garlic paste. Flay roughly chops a few cloves of peeled garlic, then begins to press down and crush the chopped cloves with the side of his knife blade (although he refers to it as the "back" of his knife).
Getting out your best china is a good start, but a photo-worthy dessert relies on getting a clean slice. If you neglect to clean the crumbs and filling off the knife between each cut, these clumps can end up transferring to the next piece. Not only is this visually messy, but the extra bulk on the sides of the knife will prevent it from gliding smoothly through that classic banana cream pie.