Guacomole
An avocado mash borrowed from Mexican cuisine, seasoned with peppers and citrus
Equipment
- potato masher
Ingredients
- 2 avocados
- 2 lemons
- 2 limes
- ¼ c fresh cilantro, chopped
- ¼ red onion, chopped into small dice
- 1 poblano pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, then chopped
- ½ t Kosher salt
- ½ t black pepper, coarse ground
- ½ t ancho chili pepper, ground
- ½ t chipotle chili pepper, ground
- 2 t cumin, ground
- ½ t garlic powder
- ½ t onion powder
- ¼ t cayenne pepper
To serve
- Tortilla chips
Instructions
- Slice avocados in half, remove pits, and scoop flesh from skin into large bowl.
- To avocados, add juice of lemons and limes.
- Add the rest of the ingrdients to avocado mixture in bowl.
- Using a potato masher, mash avocado ingredients together.
- Taste mixture using tortilla chip to sample; adjust seasonings according to taste.
Notes
Many liberties have been taken with this recipe - and many more can be taken! A traditional Mexican guacomole usually has only avocado, lime juice, red onion, tomato, salt, pepper, cilantro, and jalapeño. But my version has been Americanized so it adds lemon juice, chipotle and ancho chili powders, cayenne pepper, ground cumin, garlic and onion powders, poblano pepper instead of jalapeño, and no tomato(!).
And I have to be honest, I even take liberties with my own recipe! If I only have lemons (or limes), then I use what I have. If I only have green onions or yellow onions, then that's what I use. If I don't have a poblano pepper, then I use a hatch pepper; I've even used pickled jalapeño peppers (chopped) right out of the jar. If I've run out of ancho and/or chipotle chili powders, I'll just use generic chili powder. I've found that the only essential ingredient in my mix is the ground cumin; I really miss that if I don't have it.
One more "ingredient" that I've found important is the tortilla chip to test your gucomole before serving it. The saltiness of tortilla chips seems to vary and that effects the overall saltiness of your guacomole, so go ahead and break into your fresh bag of tortilla chips and test your guacomole - just try to leave enough to serve!
Guacomole can be made a day ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. The lemon-lime juice may separate from the mash, so just give it a stir before serving. Buen provecho!