I love a good Guac. When I lived in East Boston, Massachusetts, one of my neighbors hosted “GuacFest”—an annual guacamole competition where 16 competitors vied for the title of BEST GUACAMOLE. While I never competed in GuacFest, I happily attended and ingested my fair share of Guacamole. Inspired by eating lots of guacamole with the added advantage of being surrounded by loads of mexican and latin american bodegas with inexpensive and EXCELLENT produce, I created this recipe.
To me, a good Guacamole is silky with a little bit of chunk and a moderate amount of cilantro, rounded out with garlic, spices, red onion and a decent amount of lime juice for a puckerable zing!
Make this Guacamole only about an hour or so before you serve it and keep it at room temperature. IF you have leftovers, read tips below for saving it overnight in the fridge.
Tips for selecting avocados: If possible, buy green un-ripe avocados and make the guacamole when they become ripe. I find it usually takes 3-4 days at room temperature for “green” avocados to ripen. I prefer this method best, because sometimes avocados which appear to be ripe at the market are often rotten, and then you’re out $2 and a usable avocado! To tell when an avocado is ripe there are a couple of methods. 1) If the little bitty stem on the top of the avocado (looks more like a nub) pops off without too much force its ready —or— 2) when you press into the side of the avocado, it feels soft instead of hard. When you cut the avocado in half, the inside should appear yellow and buttery with just a rim of green on the edges. Any brown spots are rotten, taste disgusting, and should be removed.
Kate’s Favorite Guacamole
(serves 4-8 people, depending on the size of their Guac appetite)
INGREDIENTS
- 4 Ripe Avocados (see “Tips” above for selecting avocados above)
- 1 Red Onion, small (see photo below), finely chopped to equal 1/2 cup.
- 1-2 large Garlic Cloves minced finely or pressed thru a garlic press (any more and Garlic steals the show. Tread lightly)
- 1/2 Bunch of Cilantro chopped, equaling 2-3 tablespoons. Ditch the stems. Pick leaves off and chop only those.
- 3 Limes
- Chili Powder
- Cumin Powder
- Salt to taste
- In a medium size bowl place the 1/2 cup chopped onion, garlic, and 2 TB of the chopped cilantro.
- Slice & Squeeze the juice of 1 of the limes into the bowl with all of the above.
Here’s the fun part! Slice avocados in half and remove pits. With a spoon, scoop the flesh of 3 of the avocados onto a cutting board (see photos above) and mash with a potato masher RIGHT ON THE BOARD (that’s right! Get ready to channel your 6-year old self and get messy) or, more carefully with the back of a chef’s knife.- Mix the mashed avocado with the ingredients already in the bowl. Set aside.
- Scoop the flesh out of the 4th avocado onto the cutting board. Roughly chop into medium sized chunks 1/2-3/4″. Set aside.
- Season the almost finished guacamole in the bowl with 1/2 tsp each of chili and cumin powder. Season to taste with salt. Taste the Guacamole!
- Upon tasting, add whatever you think it needs more of: cumin, chill powder, salt, or more lime juice. Just keep adding and tasting until it seems just right. THEN…
- Gently fold in the chunks of the 4th Avocado.
Serve up with Tortilla Chips or use as a topping on tacos.
Tips for keeping it in the fridge: If you’ve made Guacamole before and thought, “Oh, I’ll save this for the morning and have some with eggs and toast!”, only to wake up to a brown, icky tasting sludge, you are not alone. To ward off rotting Guac, squeeze an ample amount of lime juice on top, and press plastic wrap INTO the guac so no air contact occurs. Wrap with a second, more secure layer of wrap keeping the 1st in place.
