There’s a lot of dishes out there, and it’s hard for your average home cook to become familiar with the basic or master recipe of such a wide variety of cuisine.  So I try to make a point of learning at least one basic recipe for as many different dishes as possible, just to familiarize myself with the process and technique.  Hence the realization that I really had no idea how to make guacamole. Sure you peel the avocado and add some lime juice and salt/pepper, but it’s just not something that really attracted my attention.  Maybe it’s because I grew up loving cheesy nachos with only salsa or maybe it’s because [gasp] I’m not that huge of a fan of avocado.  So once I got a few requests to do a good guacamole recipe I figured it was time to get this dip down pat.

Starting with a little research, I settled on an America’s Test Kitchen recipe that included some bacon, spices, and a few veggies.  Nothing fancy, but definitely worth a try.  What I was really intrigued by was not so much how the various ingredients worked together, but how important the seasoning and lime juice played in making the guac really tasty.  I think I get it now, guacamole really is kinda brilliant in it’s simplicity.  And with a few little techniques on how to remove the avocado flesh, it was an easy and enjoyable little dip to throw together.

Ingredients:
3 ripe avocados diced
4 strips of bacon crumbled
3 scallions sliced thin
1 clove garlic minced
1 tomato deseeded and chunked
juice of one lime
big pinch of cumin
big pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 Tblspoon salt, 1/8 pepper)

Bob Marley and the Wailers – Burnin’

Prep up your ingredients saving the avocados for last since they’ll turn a little brown if left out for too long on their own.

Test Kitchen, I think, rightly recommends mashing up one avocado with the salt/pepper/spices and then adding the other two diced avocados with the rest of the ingredients for the final mix.  I like the chunkier variety personally, but feel free to mash to the texture of your liking.  I fucked up a little here, but made it work.

Add the tomatoes, bacon, scallions.

 Old bartending trick that still comes in handy here and there is rolling your citrus to crack open the fleshy insides and get yourself some more juice.  Word.

Start with about 1/2 lime squeezing out the juice, then add more to taste.  I used both halfs completely.

Stir till ingredients are mixed and taste your way to perfection.  Mine came out a little bland the first couple tastes so season a little at a time till you’re happy with it.

Get yourself some chips, sit outside and crack open a Corona.

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