Guacamole, my way
I’m often asked why I don’t have a guacamole recipe on my site. I reckon the simplest answer is because I don’t have a recipe for guacamole. Instead, I just add some ingredients to a smashed-up avocado and call it a dip.
When my mom was in the liturgical nacho stage of her life (so-called because she made her daily lunch of nachos always the exact same way) she’d whip up a batch of guacamole to go with them. She totally cheated, however, as she mashed an avocado with bottled hot sauce.
My mom can do many things very, very well, but I have to admit that this guacamole was not the best I’d eaten in my life. (And, for the record, she insists that she no longer makes guacamole this way.)
Guacamole is all about freshness and using a bottled hot sauce is anathema to this underlying principle. While you want the avocado to be the star, the other ingredients need to be heard as well, and nothing is louder than the crunch of fresh chiles, the tang of lime juice and the bite of fresh garlic.
There’s also the problem of bottled salsa having tomatoes as a base. I’m a firm believer that tomatoes shouldn’t be in guacamole; the texture is just wrong. Tomatoes are too juicy and soft and I want my accents to the avocado to be firm. I realize most people would disagree with me, but that’s OK as that’s probably the best thing about guacamole—everyone makes guacamole the way that they like it.
Take my uncle, for instance. He stirs in a heaping spoonful of mayonnaise into his guacamole, which he swears makes it super creamy. Then there’s a friend who’s been known to add sesame seeds to her guacamole, which is a subtle yet surprising accent. Obviously, the ways to make guacamole are infinite.
So, I’m happy to share with you how I make my guacamole, but what I really want to know is how you make your guacamole.
Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, and cut in half
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Serrano chile, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Mash the avocado with a fork in a bowl or Mexican mortar and pestle (molcajete) until desired consistency. Stir in the garlic, Serrano, cilantro, lime juice, and salt, then taste and add more salt if desired. Serve immediately.
1. Never put an unripe aguacate in your backpack. It will ripen quickly and you will have funny stains on your clothes.. (I learned this in Oaxaca in 1973.)
2. The Joy America cafe at the top of the American Visionary Art Museum in Bawlmer's Inner Harbor used to make guacamole at your table using huge volcanic stone molcajetes.
3. Listen to the Texas Tornados song, GUACAMOLE, written by Augie Meyers.
Ted
Yum! thats pretty much how i make my guacamole, except i add a some onion and a tiny stream of milk. Sounds weird, but thats how my suegra makes it and hers is always delish!
i use packaged salsa in my guac, but i get it from HEB as i am still in Texas. i use the 'hot' fresh salsa (yes the stuff in the bag). i've tried the chili piquin salsa, but for some reason it lacks heat, despite the pepper rating on the bag. also: salt, red onion, garlic, orange and lime.
I make mine with a little bit of fresh salsa or pico and yes, a dab of mayo – and salt & pepper. I do agree that when the avocado is just perfect, it gets sprinkled with a little salt & pepper and eaten before it ever makes it to the "guacamole" stage!
Fresh is great, but I like to just mash the avocado with a fork, sprinkle on a bit of Morton's Nature's Seasons Seasoning Blend and stir in several drops of Tabasco sauce or a bit of powdered cayenne. I used to make it that way almost every day in the 70's, then put it into taco shells and add some fresh alfalfa sprouts. I only recently remembered the Tabasco and realized that it definitely adds a special flavor that I love, but it does have to be just the right amount.