Guacamole

Holy Guacamole.

A great guacamole is so simple to make, it's a real shame that people don't ever bother to make it in their own home. Instead, it's pretty common in Australia to find people replacing this rich, chunky and fresh mole with some kind of bland, dull green paste. Nothing could infuriate me more. The intent of this post is to inspire people to never ever again buy guacamole out of a tube, but instead use fresh and readily available ingredients and take some time to make it at home. After making it a couple of times, a recipe wont be needed because you should have a good feel for the flavours you're trying to evoke, and it only takes about less than five minutes to whip together; great for unexpected company. 

Meet Napoleon.

Fresh ingredients is of the utmost importance. Second is this super-awesome, lava-rock mortar and pestle that is traditionally used to make salsas and moles, called a molcajete. To top things off, mine is even in the shape of a pig. It even came partially seasoned, which means that the rock has been ground to a smoother consistency to prevent pieces of grit left in the food you're preparing. A quick google search on how to season a molcajete brings up about a hundred horror stories, all basically like this: X buys a cheap molcajete from Y, and hours of use later it's still shedding grit. Many homewares and department stores selling molcajetes make them out of cheap concrete, which is too soft to actually be used for grinding spices and herbs, so are essentially just a centre piece. The real thing is excessively heavy, made out of basalt and should sparkle a tiny bit in the sun.

Back to the guacamole. It can be used for pretty much anything; fillings for tacos, toppings for quesadillas or just served or its own with a fresh batch of warm tortilla chips, which is usually best because the molcajete is also a great way to serve food.

Action shot.

GUACAMOLE

chunky avocado dip

Serves 8

for the chile paste

1/2         brown onion, finely chopped

2     tbs   fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

2           jalapeno, finely chopped

1     tsp   rock salt

for the rest

3           hass avocado, halved + pitted

1           tomato, diced

2     tbs   fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

1/2         brown onion, finely chopped

1           lime (optional)

grind onion, cilantro, jalapeno and salt together in a molcajete until all ingredients are finely ground.

hold avocados in the palm of your hand and make 4 lengthwise cuts, followed by a few diagonal cuts, ensuring not to cut through the avocado skin. scoop out diced avocado into molcajete.

gently fold the avocado into the paste, trying to keep the chunks as large as possible. add tomato, cilantro and onion and fold in gently.

serve in the molcajete with toritilla chips, and a squeeze lime if desired

MOL-CA-HET-EY