As a fan of cooking and food, I love the challenge of guessing flavors from a dish at a restaurant and then re-creating them at home. Guacamole became my new challenge. Turns out...it's one of the easiest dips to make! I sort of winged the recipe and now I am going to give my secrets to you! I made the instructions super easy to follow for the first time guac maker! Here are the step-by-steps for my version of this classic party favorite! Enjoy!
I made this batch for a small get together I am throwing tonight, so you can use more or less ingredients based on the amount of people eating it. This will be for about 8 people.
Basic ingredients are: 3 avocados, 1 large roma tomato, 1 red onion, 1 jalapeno pepper and 2 limes. For this recipe, you will also need garlic salt, turmeric and chili powder.
STEP ONE:
THE AVOCADO
The first step in making guacamole, actually starts at the grocer when picking out your ingredients.
The key to great guac begins with picking the perfect avacados. You want to pick an avocado that is not too hard, not too soft, but somewhere in between. Think of the texture of silly putty....that's your 'just right", Goldilocks!
When getting all that pretty green stuff out of the avocado peel, you have to be careful and make sure you have the proper tools.
So, let's cut it open...
Get a good bowl with a lid (I prefer Pyrex glass mixing bowl with lid) and a sharp knife. Cut into the side of the avocado length wise and rotate knife around the avocado until cut all around the pit. Twist the avocado to create two halves.
Once halved, get a spoon and scoop out the pit. Set them aside for later. DO NOT THROW THE PIT AWAY!
Next, slide a pairing knife around the edge of the avocado peel to separate.
And use the spoon to pop the avocado out of the peel, Scrape any remaining avocado out of peel and place in glass bowl.
Basic ingredients are: 3 avocados, 1 large roma tomato, 1 red onion, 1 jalapeno pepper and 2 limes. For this recipe, you will also need garlic salt, turmeric and chili powder.
THE AVOCADO
The first step in making guacamole, actually starts at the grocer when picking out your ingredients.
The key to great guac begins with picking the perfect avacados. You want to pick an avocado that is not too hard, not too soft, but somewhere in between. Think of the texture of silly putty....that's your 'just right", Goldilocks!
When getting all that pretty green stuff out of the avocado peel, you have to be careful and make sure you have the proper tools.
So, let's cut it open...
Once halved, get a spoon and scoop out the pit. Set them aside for later. DO NOT THROW THE PIT AWAY!
Next, slide a pairing knife around the edge of the avocado peel to separate.
And use the spoon to pop the avocado out of the peel, Scrape any remaining avocado out of peel and place in glass bowl.
Use a potato masher to lightly mash up the avocado. (Note: Don't over due it or the guac will be too creamy). A lot of seasoned Guac makers use a mortar and pestel (Molcajete) for this part, but I'm not that fancy yet. A masher works just fine!
STEP TWO:
THE ONION AND THE PEPPER
The red onion and jalapeno go hand in hand in this recipe. If you use too much of each, it can over power the Guac. So be careful when adding these two.
I have an old school hand cranked chopper from TupperWare, as my go-to veggie chopper. It works wonders for fine chopping the onion and pepper in this recipe. I suggest you invest in one to save you from having to finely mince everything by hand. But, if you don't have one, use a sharp knife.
Cut the top off the Jalapeno and cut it in half lengthwise. Take a sharp pairing knife and cut out the guts and seeds. I rinse the jalapeno to make sure all the seeds are out of there! If using a chopper or food processor, cut the jalapeno into pieces.
Peel and cut about an inch and a half wide piece off the red onion. I don't use the whole red onion, that would give your guests dragon breath for a week! But, you can tweak the amount you want to use to whatever you prefer. Again, if using a chopper/processor, cut the onion into smaller pieces.
Put the onion and pepper into your chopper. Check this bad boy out...
Crank away until the pieces are all finely minced and juicy. If you don't have something like this, a food processor or knife works fine. Just make sure to finely mince. Don't make the pieces to chunky.
Chopped to perfection!
Now, add it to your avocado and gently fold in with a spatula until it's nice and mixed together.
Try not to whip it! Be sweet and gentle to your Guacamole.
STEP 3: THE LIME
Guac gets it's delicious citrus pop of flavor from this glorious little fruit. This is another ingredient that must be selected with care at the grocer. You want to make sure you get the limes with the most juice. So a little trick you can use is to hold the lime in your hand and test it's weight against other limes. whichever one feels the heaviest, that is the one to get! Sure, it takes a little extra time at the store, but it's worth it!
You want to roll your lime around on a hard surface before you cut it in half to make sure you get those juices flowing.
Cut the lime in half and squeeze with all your might into the bowl. It's a great stress reliever! You do not want to skip the limes. Not only does it add great citrus flavor, but it also preserves the color and the acidity softens the onion and peppers. I used the juice of one and a half limes for this recipe.
Now's the time to add those spices I mentioned earlier. These are my go to spices for my Guac recipe. I use Turmeric for it's anti-inflammatory properties, chili powder for a little kick and garlic salt because I don't like my food bland. I do not measure these out. So, it's a taste as you go kind of thing. Start out very light with these spices and taste as you add to make sure you don't do too much. It's really whatever you prefer with spice. Fold them into the guac with a spatula. Be as gentle as a summer breeze!
STEP 4: THE TOMATO
Oh, how I love this red little roman lady!
It adds such nice color to the dip and just a touch of "salsa" to the party.
To add it in, use a sharp knife and cut 1 large (or 2 small) roma tomato into quarters.
Clean out the guts. Rinse well to make sure all seeds are removed.
Petite dice the tomato and fold into the guac gently.
STEP 5: THE AVOCADO PITS
Remember when I told you to save the Avocado pits?? Well, this is where you use them!
Place the pits around the top of the Guacamole.
Then, gently press them down and bury them with the Guac using a spatula. This helps to keep the Guacamole and preserve the color (or so I am told). Just make sure to warn your guests before they dive in, or you'll have a lot of broken chips in your dip!
STEP 6: EAT AND ENJOY!!
So there you have it!
Nothing fancy, Nothing too complicated.
But, the result is a crowd pleaser. I serve it with cantina tortilla chips, but you can also serve it with veggies, put it on grilled chicken or a burger...whatever you want!!
Let me know if you try this recipe out by commenting below or on the Reciprocity Facebook page!
HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, ALL MY LOVELIES!
-Kat
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