Guacamole

This recipe is one I developed long ago, but I've recently made more often due to Alton Brown's "Live and let diet" episode. In his list of foods to eat at least three times per week, avocados were there. Tim doesn't dig on the avocado so I hadn't purchased or cooked with them very regularly. But since I've been incorporating the rules from Alton's lists in our weekly menu I found the perfect opportunity to make that guacamole recipe more often.

Like most things I cook or have made-up, the portions for ingredients are approximate and to taste. I'll also modify this recipe quite a bit adding items that work nicely that I happen to have on hand at the time. But I'll detail all of that. 

The basics:

• 2 or 3 avocados
• about 3 T Lime Juice - inhibits browning of the avocado, so apply immediately
• Cilantro - handful chopped
• 2 heaping t Cumin
• 1/4 t Cayenne (or chipolte powder) or more to taste
• 1/2 t Onion powder
• 2 t fresh Garlic or 1 t garlic powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:

• 1/4 C finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 C seeded and diced tomatoes
• pinch celery salt

In essence, anything you'd put into a homemade salsa would work nicely in the guacamole. Oddly I do like the onion powder here, even though I generally opt for fresh when possible. I'm not sure why, I think it just incorporates nicely while not competing with the other flavors. Cumin is the star of the show as is the fresh cilantro. 

To verify the avocado is ripe the flesh should give a little with a gentle squeeze. It's best to purchase the avocado while the flesh is still really firm and wait it out at home, giving a squeeze every day to determine the peak of ripeness. If the fruit is overly ripe, it won't really effect the flavor, but the color will be off due to brown patches and likely the nutrient content will be reduced. Carefully cut the avocado in half around the length. Remove the seed by gently whacking with a knife to embed the blade into the seed, turn to release the seed from the fruit and remove by squeezing from the back of the blade over the garbage to remove. Or save the seed to perform that elementary school experiment with the toothpicks and a cup of water. To remove the flesh, scoop with a spoon into your work bowl.

If using fresh lime juice (recommended, though I more often use organic, all natural juice in a glass jar that I keep on hand in the fridge), use a reamer to release the juice and pulp from the lime over the work bowl. If you squeeze by hand, you can get more of the pulp by using a fork to agitate the flesh. Just don't try and scrape out large chunks of the pulp or any of the bitter pith. this needs to be performed as soon as the avocados have been removed from their skins to minimize browning. 

Wash and remove the stems from the cilantro. I generally tear off the leafy tops, run under cold water to remove the grit and chop rather than pull off each leaf. The stems aren't woody and contain just as much flavor when near the leaves that this method works well. Also, when chopping herbs, don't macerate them to a liquidy pulp on your cutting board. You're looking for a rough chop. Essentially I make three passes with the knife. Right to left, scooping everything back to a pile in the center. Top to bottom, again scoop everything back into the pile in the center. Then at an angle, and that should do it.

Add in all of the remaining ingredients with the exception of tomato or onion if using. Then take your potato masher and get to work. The masher I use is a thick stainless steel hardened wire that forms a wave at the base. In geek-speak this wave is a tight sine-cosine graph. I prefer this formation to those waffle mashers as there are no holes to clog up. However, that's why you leave out the tomato and onion until the product is the desired consistency; these ingredients don't require a mashing. 

Stir in the remaining optional ingredients if using. Taste to confirm your seasoning and modify as needed. Store in the fridge in an air tight container with a piece of plastic wrap touching the guacamole. This prevents air contact which will further inhibit browning. Browning, doesn't really affect the flavor, but may affect your desire to eat. Which would be tragic.

Speaking of eating. I take a small 1/2 C container with the guacamole and a snack sized baggy of carrots to work. Around 3 pm this is my snack. It's flavorful and healthy.

Some opponents of the avocado will tout the high fat content in this fruit. Well, it does have a lot of fat (29g per each), but it's mono and polyunsaturated, which is necessary to absorb fat soluble vitamins and nutrients. It's also considered a bonafide Super Food due to the nutrition density that is not found in other fruits/vegetables. Avocados also contain a healthy dose of lutein which may help maintain healthy eyes.

So, eat up and enjoy!