The Aztecs got it right when they began preparing a wonderful fresh sauce made from mashed avocados, tomatoes and salt. Today, Mexican guacamole is a staple at many outdoor events and parties. The secret to success is perfectly ripe avocados. Accept nothing less or you’ll end up with a bowl of flavorless goop.

Over the years I’ve fine-tuned my recipe for maximum flavor, texture and color. There is nothing better on a blistering hot day, except maybe guacamole PLUS an icy cold beer. Sure you could rush down to the supermarket and grab a couple of tubs of expensive deli-made guacamole or—even worse—that artificial packaged green slime filled with preservatives, colors, fillers and hydrogenated oils. But why? Try this and you’ll never go back to store-bought.

I find that the rich and creamy Hass avocados, which are available year round, make the best guacamole. Choose ones with black, roughly-textured skins that yield to gentle pressure. Avoid avocados that are rock hard, bruised, or overripe with loose skins.

Cutting avocados for guacamole is easy if you follow these steps:

1. Hold the avocado in your hand stem side up. Insert a sharp knife in to the top and cut downward to the pit.

2. Move the knife lengthwise around the avocado using the pit as your guide.

3. Separate the avocado by gently twisting the two halves apart.

4. Hold the half with the pit in your hand and give the pit a good whack with the sharp blade of your knife.

5. Twist the knife slightly and lift the pit from the avocado.

6.  Carefully remove the slippery pit from your knife using a paper towel.

7. Scoop out the flesh by running a spoon around the edge of the avocado.

Guacamole

4      ripe Hass avocados
3      tablespoons fresh lime juice
2      ripe tomatoes
3      tablespoons minced scallions
1–2  serrano chiles, minced
½     cup  chopped cilantro
¼     teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½     teaspoon salt
1       bag  corn or tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Cut the avocados in half; remove the pits, scoop out the flesh, and place it in a medium bowl.

2. Mash the avocados with a fork until they reach a chunky-creamy consistency.

3. Add the lime juice and mix.

4. Cut the tomatoes in half, discard the pulp and seeds, and chop the flesh.

5. Add the scallions, chiles, half of the tomatoes, half of the cilantro, salt and pepper to the avocados. Mix thoroughly.

6. Taste the guacamole and adjust the seasonings.

7. Spoon into a serving bowl and decorate with the remaining tomato and cilantro.*

8. Serve with chips.

* If you choose to refrigerate the guacamole before serving, place plastic wrap directly on top of it to slow the browning.

Yield: 2 ½ cups

Get a printable copy of the Beyond Wonderful Guacamole recipe and an illustrated, step-by-step guide on How To Peel, Pit, and Scoop Avocados.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 8:24 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.