Easy Homemade Guacamole
"Cook" Time: 5 minutes or less
I give you the coincidence of a guacamole recipe befor Cinco de Mayo.
Common sense food science tells us that warm fat is better than cold fat. Therefore, the best way to eat an avocado is at room temperature. If you are making this recipe to consume immediately and your avocados are in the refrigerator, take them out at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
If you like spicy guacamole I recommend either using a serrano pepper (seeds and all) or cayenne. I find that if you leave the ribs and seeds in the jalapeño it is just too spicy for a guacamole made with two avocados.
The other topic I should touch upon is oxidation. This is what will turn your beautifully green avocado brown. This recipe addresses that by adding lime juice immediately after you cut and add the avocado the mixing bowl. If you are making this guacamole in advance, just make sure you adhere to step 7. Again, since warm fat is better than cold fat, take the guacamole out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you plan to enjoy it.
Here is a goal for the rest of 2018 – continue to post recipes relevant to upcoming holidays or events.
Here is a goal for 2019 – create a techniques section on this site for things like prepping vegetables and cutting avocados. But until then, I will link to existing videos for things like cutting avocados for guacamole.
Servings/Suggestions
Chips & Gaucamole
On a taco
On top of a burger
Ingredients
2 avocados, ripe
1 jalapeño, diced
1/8 red onion, diced
1 lime, juiced
2 heaping tables spoons of fresh cilantro, chopped
kosher salt (approximating 1/4 teaspoon)
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
Directions
Step 1
Cut the avocado. If you already have a preferred technique, use that. If you don't, I prefer the first method in this video.
Scoop the avocado into a medium sized mixing bowl. Save one of the avocado seeds. Immediately juice the lime into the bowl and stir to coat the avocado with lime juice. This will help prevent the avocado from oxidizing (aka turning brown).
Step 2
Rinse and dry the jalapeño. Then cut the stem end off the jalapeño. Slice the jalapeño in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the ribs (the white part) and the seeds. This is where the heat is in the jalapeño, so try not to touch that stuff with your fingertips. Place each half skin side up and press down to flatten. Then cut into very thin, long strips. Rotate the strips 90 degrees and cut them into a very small dice. Add the jalapeño to the bowl.
Step 3
Cut the red onion. I used around 1/8th of a red onion and cut into very small pieces. They should be at least as small as the jalapeño, and smaller is good too. Add the the bowl.
Step 4
Chop the cilantro. You don't need to pick apart individual leaves, and if you tear off the top part of the bunch you will get more leaves than stems. You need roughly 2 heaping tablespoons of chopped cilantro.
Step 5
Use a fork to mash the avocado and incorporate all the ingredients. It is okay if you have some avocado chunks. I like a smooth guacamole but we aren't making a guacamole purée.
Step 6
Give the guacamole a taste. Add some freshly cracked black pepper and a pinch (~1/4 teaspoon) of kosher salt. Stir well and enjoy.
Step 7 (optional)
If you aren't eating the guacamole immediately, put the avocado seed you saved in the center of the guacamole. Then drizzle olive oil over the top of the guacamole and rotate your bowl to coat the guacamole. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate if you aren't eating in the near future. The oil on top of the gauc will help prevent it from oxidizing. If you recall that word from earlier, it means turning brown.
