Fresh made guacamole

Fresh made guac can bring new life to any Mexican meal and is oh so good with a bag of chips and a partner bowl of fresh salsa.  It’s super easy to make and well worth the minimal effort involved.  Definitely food for the soul, but also good food for your body as avocados are a good source of fiber and the good kind of fat and can help reduce cholesterol.

I wanted to post the simple ways that I make guacamole.  One of my favorite ways is to use a mortar and pestle to mash up the ingredients and give the green goodness a really nice texture.  Here are the basic ingredients that you’ll need for one avocado, which will make enough dip for about 2 people.  As with most recipes, treat this as a guide and feel free to customize amounts and flavors based on your own taste.

Basic Ingredients

• 1 avocado- To me organic avocados have the best flavor.  Look for one that’s slightly soft to the touch but doesn’t have pockets that collapse when you feel it
• 1/2 fresh lime
• 1/4 to 1/2 clove of garlic – depends on taste
• 1/2 Tablespoon minced onion
• fresh jalapeno or other pepper minced – optional
• fresh cilantro and tomato for garnish – optional
• sea salt or kosher salt

If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, simply use a bowl and a potato masher or even a fork.

Steps

1. Mince the garlic and onion.  You can play with the amount that you use depending on how strongly you want each flavor to come through
2. Mince the jalapeno or other chili if you are using it.
3. Add a pinch of salt to your mortar or mixing bowl
4. Add the minced garlic and onion and optional jalapeno and mash with pestle / masher / fork
5. Mash these ingredients for a bit to break them down even more and get the flavors blending
6. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the green flesh into your mortar / mashing bowl
7. Mash away!  You can leave some larger chunks of avocado or mash it up to a smoother consistency depending you preference
8. Squeeze in the fresh lime juice from your 1/2 lime
9. Mix
10. Taste
11. Start with salt – it may need a bit more salt at this point.  Add more, mix and taste again.  Then add more lime juice as you like to get more tart
12. Garnish with diced fresh tomato and/or some cilantro leaves

Storing

If by some odd circumstance you don’t finish off the fresh guac in one setting, you can store it with some success in the fridge in the following way.

1. Put the leftovers in as small a container as you can to fit what’s left
2. Give a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice over the top of the guac, covering as much surface as you can.  The acid helps fight off oxidization and keeps the ugly browning away.
3. Place plastic wrap right on stop of the guac, so that it actually touches the surface.  Air is the enemy here so you want the entire surface contacting the plastic wrap.
4. Store in the fridge but enjoy again ASAP

That’s it folks.  Leave any questions in comments.