Baked garlic and star anise

I talk about these two wonderful products together because of the Asian Salmon recipe already mentioned, one I use a lot.

Is there anyone out there who hates faffing with peeling and chopping 1 or 2 cloves of garlic for one recipe? I bake whole bulbs of garlic at the same time – see recipe attached – it's not rocket science and I think originally this recipe was also used by Nigel Slater. If you use garlic regularly this paste makes life so easy when you've no time.

You can keep the it in a screw top container in the fridge or decant into tiny pots and freeze.

Check out the baby aisle in the supermarket/cheap shops for tiny pots – inexpensive and don't take up space in your freezer.

Lots of Asian/Indian/fusion recipes include star anise. These pretty star shapes are readily available in most supermarkets but, if you are fortunate enough to have access to a Chinese supermarket you can buy ground star anise which is much more practical when you want a quick marinade – you'll get a more powerful result from using powdered star anise when you're in a hurry. Note to self – remember that it's more practical to buy herbs and spices in small quantities. They will deteriorate and so is a false economy - unless you've friends you can share with – in which case it's cheaper still.

By the way, you can also get staples like dark/light soy and Kecap Manis (sweet soy) at much more reasonable prices. If you use these ingredients regularly then you'll be able to buy larger bottles more cheaply. It's a win win.