green gold
Recipe: guacamole
Christine had commented on the avocado mound that was sidling up next to the stacked enchiladas from a few days ago. Funny that, since I was planning to blog it! She’s an observant one.
My first true exposure to the beauty of avocados was the first time I lived in California. My pal, Melinda, had two giant avocado trees in her backyard and she always asked me to make the guacamole whenever they hosted parties for the club volleyball team. Then before we’d head home for the evening, she would grab me by the arm and foist a grocery bag full of avocados on me. “Take these!” she would insist. Gladly, Mel.
the goods: avocados, sweet onion, tomato, jalapeño, garlic, lemon, salt
In New York, I recounted how we used to roll avocados across Melinda’s backyard to see if her cat would be fooled enough to pounce on them. My lab mate looked at me incredulously and said, “Oh sure, roll $3 here, $3 there!” I realized how ridiculous it sounded, and it became more painfully clear when I started shopping for avocados in the Northeast.
pit the avocado – free the flesh
Back in California for a 3-year stint, I had my eye on different recipes and preparations. I took mental notes somehow knowing that we would eventually settle where you can’t rely on good guac anywhere you go. [Digression: I have a horrible habit of mutilating pronunciations for fun – so I call it something that sounds like Wack-a-Mole instead.]
make a garlic and salt paste
Because my better half eats the guacamole I make, I have modified it so that there aren’t chunky bits to offend his sensitivities. Jeremy has expanded his culinary horizons since the day we met to beyond what I thought was humanly possible, so I cannot complain (too much). His objections are mainly with the raw tomatoes, raw onions, garlic, and jalapeño being chunky. Basically everything but the salt, lemon, and avocado. Sheesh. But he admits that the flavors are important. This is why I mince the garlic and then sprinkle the salt on top and use the flat of my knife blade to pulverize it into a garlicky paste. I must admit that I find a honking huge chunk of raw garlic to be a little disconcerting in guacamole.
i mash the avocado with… my potato masher
add the rest of the vegetables that have been chopped to oblivion
I deseed the tomato because I don’t like the added moisture from the guts. Just chop it along the equator and squeeze/shake out the guts or run a spoon or finger through to remove it all. Then I cut it into a fine chop so you’d never know a tomato was in there save for the color in the guacamole. And when handling a jalapeño pepper, do yourself a favor and wear a glove because rubbing your eyes after handling one with bare hands is a miserable, miserable, wholly unhappy existence (ask me how it is I know).
add lemon juice to taste
Did I mention that Mel had lemon trees in her yard too? How convenient. It was like the guacamole yard because she usually grew her own tomatoes in her garden as well. This guacamole is definitely on the creamy side. If you like chunky, by all means – just don’t offer any to Jeremy. I know some folks like to add sour cream, but I just can’t. I love the freshness of the ingredients without any dairy (and I have this lactose intolerance problem too) and I feel that it’s already pretty spanking creamy since none of the ingredients measure more than a micron across…
planting the white corn tortilla chip on mount guacamole in the name of good eatin’
Guacamole
[print recipe]
4 avocados, ripe
1 tomato, deseeded and minced fine
1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced fine
1/8 sweet onion, minced fine
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 lemon, juice of
salt to taste
Halve the avocados and remove the pits. Scoop out the flesh into a sturdy bowl. Mash the avocado to a consistency of your liking. Smash or mince the garlic clove and sprinkle the salt over the garlic. Turn the knife blade on its side and press the salt into the garlic forming a paste. Add the paste to the avocado. But the tomato along its equator and remove the seeds. Dice the tomato to a consistency o your preference. Add to the avocado. Deseed the jalapeño and mince the pepper. Add to avocado. Chop or mince the sweet onion and add to the avocado. Mix the ingredients together and then pour lemon juice to taste. Add more salt if needed. If not serving right away, wrap the guacamole in plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down to touch the surface of the dip so you minimize the amount of air between the two layers. Refrigerate.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Guacomole is my favorite thing to eat a loud and fun dinner parties where the booze is always flowing and you can’t remember the last half of the night. And yet the next morning, the guac dip is GONE!
March 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
The perfect guacamole! Forget the sour cream. I’ve got to slather guacamole all over my Mexican food!
March 7th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
You got that last post in. Good for you. I’ll be thinking of you this weekend. No hope of any pow or decent stuff off piste, but we’ll have fun bombing the groomers. I’m dragging you along in spirit. xo
March 7th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Gorgeous! I think I’ll make some ASAP, although I’ll keep mine chunky!
P.S. I’ve ALWAYS wanted an avocado tree in my back yard! Your friend is so lucky!
March 8th, 2008 at 2:40 am
I love homemade guacamole! Nothing compares to it! Yours looks delicious and beautiful!
Cheers,
Rosa
March 8th, 2008 at 3:14 am
guacamole is the most underrated and undeservedly ignored condiment. can it be called a condiment if i could, would, and do eat it with a spoon? so cool and creamy and delicious.
great, now i’ve made myself hungry and there’re no avocados in sight.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:56 am
beautiful guacamole! thank you, thank you for not adding sour cream. such nonsense would be criminal!
March 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Delicious, I wish I thought of it before!
I just ate avocado with salt, yogurt and rainbow pepper couple of minutes ago… ;)
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=106
March 8th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Gorgeous photos!
March 8th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I love guacamole! your’s looks amazing! The avocados around here are not good quality so I’m trying to be patient…wish I could eat your photo!
March 8th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Pass the chips!!!
March 9th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Well that looks like really good guacamole, and so easy to make.
March 9th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I “have” to have avocados everyday….I love guacamole, bad, I could have it all day long…and that would be the death of my hips!!
March 9th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
WoW! You take fresh to a whole new level! I have gotten jalapeno oil from my finger into my eye and know that this is a horrible experience! Not only that, but 2 seconds later, I did it again. By then, my hubby thought it was kind of funny. Funny how the burn doesn’t just leave either =). Your guacamole looks delicious and easy! Very inviting to make. I have to also say that your photos are stunningly beautiful!
March 9th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Jen – my maternal grandmother’s house in Vietnam had an avocado tree (as well as a papaya tree). My mother says she often ate just those things for her meals. She claims they are the the reason she had and still has perfect skin and a perfect figure. Makes sense, right? :)
I think cutting the veggies no thicker than a micron does make it lovely and smooth :)
March 9th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
There are places where using lemon instead of lime in you guaq is considered sacrilegious.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:48 am
Hey!
Amazing! Love this dip-sauce! Thanks so much for this!!
greetings from switzerland – ann
March 10th, 2008 at 6:29 am
looks great, but no cilantro?? mmm… cilantro is my favorite part of guac.
March 10th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Where’s the cilantro? You can’t make guacamole without cilantro!
March 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I absolutely LOVE guacamole! Your pictures are beautiful!
March 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
i hope to plant an avocado tree in our yard soon, and limes, and tomatos. i’ll definitely give your recipe a try when they start bearing fruit!
March 11th, 2008 at 10:39 am
A suggestion – keep the pit (or a few if you make a big batch) and put it in the serving/storage container with the guac. This keeps the guac from going brown and slimey. It works and keeps everything pretty!
March 11th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Amanda – ha ha ha, that’s a great vision :)
Susan – I hear ya, sistah.
Cindy – hey thanks :) I consider myself dragged.
Caroline – yeah, I sure do love chunky guac too. I have avocado tree envy as well.
Rosa – thanks!
A.Grace – admittedly, I eat it with a spoon when I can get away with it ;) hee hee. I personally think it should be elevated to entree rather than a mere condiment!
Emilia – amen!
Coffee and Vanilla – oh yum!
JEP – thanks :)
Ginny – patience, yes – it will all be worth it in due time! :)
Peabody – you got it, girlfriend.
Nicisme – even easier to devour, tee hee.
Tartelette – oh, but aren’t avocados the “good” fat? please tell me yes? :)
Shandy – yeow. I feel your pain – and thanks!
Christine – that’s the life, no? Papaya and avocado… I think your mom should write a book on the secrets to beautiful skin, she’d make a fortune and then we could all move to So Cal and eat papaya and avocado all day long :)
Seventh Sister – yeah well, I didn’t have limes and I had lemons. I use the two interchangeably and love them both.
Annina – you’re welcome :)
Pete – sorry, but I can’t eat cilantro right now because of my immune system issues – have to wait until my chemo is over.
DivaDivine – um, let me refer you to Pete above.
Dani – thank you :)
Gaga – oooh, I am jealous that you can even think to plant them in your yard!!
Gesina – thanks for the tip! I’ve used pits before and they work where they keep O2 from contacting the guac, but where the surface isn’t covered, it turns brown. A good flat seal of the plastic wrap directly on the guac works quite well.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I just made it. Added a splash of honey and some spicy sauce. Tasttty.
Why do you crush the garlic and salt together?
April 7th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Seth – Mmm, sounds good! I crush the salt and garlic together to make a paste that is smoother. I don’t really like biting into bits of raw garlic in my guacamole :)
February 8th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
I like avocado and his recipes but give me another chance to eat guacamole with it ,thank you
February 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Zainab – Guacamole is truly wonderful food :)
August 27th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Confession time. Sometimes I don’t have tomatoes (or onions, for that matter) in my kitchen. Only avacados and they going over-ripe FAST so I have to deal with them. I add… salsa. >_< Salsa from a jar, not even the home-made stuff. I know, horrible. I should be shot, also, for sometimes adding sour cream or (*cringe*) just a DAB of mayo. Just a dab! Barely any at all, I swear! But the guacamole goes like hot-cakes so I guess it’s acceptable if it is popular….
Once I made I-don’t-know-how-much-but-a-lot of guacamole for a party once and I mashed up the ‘cados, diced toms, minced onion and garlic, lime (not lemon. Lime adds a certain lovely taste to it all), a dollop of sour cream, and some healthy spoonfuls of this amazing chipotle salsa. The color suffers a bit from the salsa, but the chipotle just adds this wonderful smokiness to it. I should probably add actual chipotle instead of salsa, but I don’t have any.
Have you tried oven-roasting the jalapeno beforehand? I never work with chilis, but once my mother made this amazing mango-ginger-jalapeno salsa for roast pork and boy, roasting the jalapeno beforehand made it truly nummy.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Luney – I’ve never roasted them beforehand, no. Sounds good though!
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:57 pm
This one is a killer. everyone loves it (even I, not at all an avocado fan, eats a little :P)
June 18th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
really don’t like cilantro. really like this recipe. like the idea of infusing the flavors by making a “paste”
thank you.
June 9th, 2011 at 9:54 am
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