Guacamole

If you think you don't like guacamole, you may want to reconsider.

My husband wouldn't touch the stuff until I made him this.

My mom wouldn't hardly look at guacamole...you guessed it: until she tried this.

There are as many types of guacamole as there are people in Mexico City.

But I'm simple when it comes to guac.

Avocadoes, lime juice, serrano, cilantro, onion, garlic, salt, pepper.

No tomatoes for me. 

Just green stuff.  And a little bit of white from the onion.

Fresh and chunky.  Delicious.

I made guac last night to with fajitas.

Yum.

Start with two avocados.  Hass are best.  They're brown and kind of wrinkled.  You want them to be just barely soft when you touch them - but not mushy.

Cut them in half

and remove the seeds with a whack of your knife.

Use a spoon and scoop out the bright green innards.

I just said innards.

This is not going to make a mound of guac.  It will make a couple of cups, which is the perfect amount for a few people to munch on with chips or for the Chicken Fajitas I will show you soon.

Now we need to add some flavor.

Chop up part of an onion.  I used half of a small Vidalia onion.  It was the perfect amount of onion for me.  But it would be too much for normal people. 

So use about 1/4 cup, which is about 1/4 of a medium onion.

Throw it into the bowl.

And now chop up a clove of garlic.  A really big clove.  And throw it in.

Take some cilantro and wash it well. 

Tell your 3-year-old that she is a great hand model.

Tear off about 1/4 cup of the leaves and mince them up.

Big Sister insisted on having her hand in every picture with the cilantro.  She loves cilantro just like her mama.

You'll have about 3-4 tablespoons of minced cilantro.

Now for the Serrano pepper (pictured above with the bunch of cilantro and Big Sister's hand).  Serranos look like jalapenos except they're skinnier.  And have more flavor.  I'm boycotting jalapenos right now because they're all overgrown and flavorless.

But serranos are great!  Cut off the stem-top of the pepper and split it in half with your knife. 

Try to explain to your 3-year-old how something can be cold on the outside and hot on the inside.  Try to explain the difference between spicy-hot and heat-hot.

Give up.

Remove the seeds and white veins from the inside of the pepper since that's where the heat - er, the spice - lives.

Slice each half into sticks.

Sorry for the blur.  I think I was holding Big Sister's hand to keep it out of this picture.

Now mince across to make tiny little pieces of pepper.

And toss it in!

Now add 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice.  And some salt and pepper.

Now here's the trick to this guac: texture.  Don't mash it to death and don't puree it. 

Use two knives and cut all the ingredients together.

Cut it until everything is mixed together but there are still some small chunks of avocado left.

Voila!

This stuff is awesome. 

Since avocados oxidize (turn brown) faster than bananas, you want to make this pretty close to the time that you're going to eat it. 

But if you need to store it for a couple hours, put plastic wrap directly over the guacamole.  It's kind of a pain to get the plastic wrap down in there because it just wants to stick to the bowl, but it's worth the effort.  Keeping air off of the guac will keep it green longer.

Easily double, triple or quadrouple this for a crowd.  But this is a good amount for the four of us.  Guacamole is not something that you want to have left over (or is it leftover? Hmmm.).

You'll definitely want to make this for tacos or fajitas.  Or for chips.  Or for a spoon.  Soon.

Guacamole

2 ripe Hass avocadoes
1/4 cup minced sweet onion (preferably Vidalia onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced (will yield 3-4 T chopped)
1 Serrano pepper, seeds and veins removed, minced
1/4 cup lime juice (about 3-4 limes)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Scoop the avocado pulp into a medium bowl.  Add the minced onions, garlic, cilantro, Serrano pepper, lime juice, salt and pepper.

Using two knives, cut the ingredients until the avocadoes are chopped and all the ingredients are mixed together.  It is important to leave some texture here, so stop cutting once the avocadoes are in small pieces and everything is incorporated.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.