<p>We’re avocado purists at my house. I use this guacamole recipe from famous Santa Fe Mexican Restaurant (from Best of New Mexico Cooking)</p>
<p>1 avocado (preferably Haas)
garlic salt (1/8-1/4 tsp)
juice from 1/2 lime </p>
<p>Mash well with fork or potato masher.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>Optional: 1-4 tbsp chopped roasted green chile</p>
<p>Optional: 1-4 tbsp finely sliced scallions or finely chopped onion</p>
<p>I have been known to adulterate my guac with jarred or homemade salsa if I’m in hurry. The salsa replaces lime, onions and green chile.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>Lime juice will prevent browning for period of several hours (Actually any acid component–lemon juice or tomatoes-- will prevent browning.)</p>
<p>The other way to prevent guacamole from browning is to use a mechanical barrier–a sheet of plastic wrap laid tightly against the surface of the guac. Press out any air bubbles. I use plastic wrap and my guac will last several hours to several days without turning brown.</p>
<p>2-3 mashed avocados
1 small can chopped green chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons fresh salsa
1/2 chopped red onion
3 mashed garlic cloves
coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
1/2 lime</p>
<p>Just discovered a delicious tortilla chip at Costco last weekend that would go great with all of this delicious guacamole. They’re by WildRoots and are called Wildchips Premium Tortilla Chips with Kale and Chia. They’re listed as gluten free, non-GMO and kosher. According to the WildRoots Facebook page, the chips are only available in the southeast right now. They are WONDERFUL! If you’ve ever had actual kale chips (the kind you bake in the oven), these taste quite similar except that they are made primarily from whole grain corn. The kale flavor is yummy.</p>
<p>Lets talk avocados. I sometimes get suckered into the smaller avocados that can be like 3 for $2. Sometimes they are fine, sometimes I regret them due to dark spots etc. The Haas are larger right? Better flavor? Less dark spots??</p>
<p>A couple of weeks ago H and I stopped at a roadside stand selling avocados $5 for 25 here in SoCal. These were the small ones. When I bought the avocados they gave me an additional bag of 25 ripe ones for free! These small avocados turned out to be wonderful. We had several batches of guacamole and I gave some of them away before they went bad. In the end I think I only had 2 or 3 out of the 50 avocados go bad before we used them.</p>
<ol>
<li>Citric and similar acids do delay the browning</li>
<li>Preventing contact with oxygen helps. Hence the plastic wraps or mayo protections.</li>
<li>Refrigeration helps</li>
<li>Keeping the pit in MASHED avocados appears to be a myth in terms of delaying browning. It works when leaving the pit in one-half avocado.</li>
<li>Adding salt CONTRIBUTES to the faster browning. See pictures for a proof.</li>
</ol>
<p>Fwiw, there are no better avocados than Michoacan’s. And, for a bit of trivia, one of the biggest exporters of avocados to Europe is South Africa. The difference in taste is, however, considerable.</p>
There are lots of types of avocados. The ones most prevalent in the USA are the Haas. The Haas is a medium size for an avocado that has bumpy skin that turns black when the avo becomes soft and about ready to eat.</p>
<p>Another variety one might find is Fuerte. These are smooth skinned with a dullish green color and the skin doesn’t turn black when the avo softens to the point of being ready to eat. </p>
<p>Anyone I know who has eaten fresh samples of each of these two varieties seem to find them equally delicious. I can’t really tell a difference in taste between the two but I’m not a taste tester. I’m sure one probably has a bit more oil than the other.</p>
<p>There are lots of other varieties.</p>
<p>IMO it’s best to buy the avos when they’re still firm and then ripen them yourself because you then have control over it - you know it hasn’t been sitting in a ripened state for too long and you know it wasn’t artificially ripened by heating and gassing (I don’t know if that process has any impact other than ripening the fruit quicker). </p>
<p>I don’t know what’s causing the dark spots on some of yours and whether artificial ripening is a factor or maybe they were bruised. If they were damaged on the tree you’d notice it in marks on the skin. Avos are firm when picked from the tree so even with some surface skin damage it doesn’t usually cause an issue with the inside.</p>
<p>I think small avocados can taste as good as large. I have a friend who has an avocado ranch and she sometimes brings crates of small avocados. They are the result of fruit falling off the tree early due to wind storms. They will ripen and taste good.
I don’t think the Fuerte taste as good as Haas. I live in an avocado growing county. I think most of the fruit we get in the grocery store these days come from Mexico. IMHO they may look like Haas but don’t have the flavor of California grown Haas. I find the best tasting avocados come from friends who have trees and the local farmers market. The stuff at the grocery store are hit or miss.
I make Guac different ways depending on how lazy I am. At the laziest I smash the avocado add fresh squeezed mexican lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, bit of cayenne pepper, cumin and a few spoons of jarred salsa. If I am serving guests I add fresh red onion, tomato, jalapeno pepper and the above leaving out the salsa. I prefer lime over lemon.
Earlier in the year my dogs were eating all the avocados from my tree before they were ready to be picked. I picked all of the fruit, let it ripen and I froze the mashed avocado. LilMom gave me the suggestion of just mashing the avocado with lime. I froze it is Glad small containers and I take out a container a few hours before I need it. The avocado remained the same pretty green color it was before I froze it.</p>
<p>Regarding Fuerte, that is what most people would say! For the Mexico part, one reality is that most people tend to favor what they are used to see and be served. It is no surprise that anyone living in an avocado region thinks the locally produced (and freshly picked) fruit taste better than the variety sold in the market. After all, the produce had to travel to reach you. </p>
<p>As far the Haas from Mexico not being a Haas, that is probably just as … well, as the prized variety is in fact a Hass --as in pass. It was named after the Californian who patended the varietal. This said, I do find it a bit silly to discount the Hass Mexican as the region of Uruapan is considered the very best area to produce avocados, a produce that was born in the neighboring Puebla. But as it goes for every natural product, the quality depends on many factors, including that there are probably 20,000 producers. Few would, however, deny that the Mexican avocado is the best. After all, there is a reason why the United States relied on trade restrictions (as it does very often) to keep the Mexican products outside the US. As it stands, the sales of Mexican avocado in the US are 2.5 to 4 times higher than the US because of year long availability. US outsells Mexico solely in the summer, and not always. The other smaller players are Peru and Chile. </p>
<p>But then, there are plenty of chauvins who think that Pace makes the very best Mexican salsa on the market. Or that the best Mexican food is found North of the Rio Grande. </p>
<p>I prefer chunky guac so I don’t mash the avocados or use a blender. I like the avocado to be diced. Because I don’t like it creamy, I also don’t use mayo. I just like it with onion, garlic, lemon or lime juice and tomatoes.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine mayo in guacamole.
The pit works for as long as we want it, but the truth is, it doesn’t stick around long enough to test it …
I put garlic, real garlic , jalepeno, finely chopped tomato, cilantro, lime juice and a little salt. There is never anything leftover, so I can’t say I have ever refrigerated it</p>
<p>Update: I had two avocados which were labeled “ripe” at the store but didn’t have a lot of give in them on Sunday when I bought them. Tonight they were more pliable so I mashed them with a fork and added chopped seeded tomatoes, cumin, onion powder (had no time to chop onions) – better than last time – but still needed more flavor. I think this is a personal taste thing. I have to tweak it for S (HS 2014) who will eat just about anything but is now having pronounced taste preferences.</p>
<p>I see the point of making it just before you serve – there are no browning issues if your son is scooping it out with a chip while you’re still mashing.</p>
<p>I think I need an avocado tree in the back yard.</p>
<p>That pretty much describes a guacamole night in my house You can make them ripen faster ( think morning to night ) by placing them in a brown paper bag too</p>
<p>I think I was the first to post about adding mayonnaise to my guac. I absolutely HATE mayonnaise and will only eat it if it is used sparingly and doctored up pretty well in salads and dressings. BUT, I do put a little dab (tsp or less) in my guacamole. I can’t taste it, but the little dab makes it just a little creamier.</p>
<p>Regarding texture: I was at a restaurant that made the guacamole table side. The person “mashed” up the avocado by using the sides of two spoons. I thought a fork would be much easier. It gave the guac a nice chunkier texture.</p>
<p>I came home with a bag of avocados but I forgot to get chips!
But since they are hard as rocks I will have time to go back.
Organic is now the same price, although they are a little smaller.</p>
<p>We use sour cream to “stretch” the guacamole and make it creamier. We often serve for about 15 - so stretching it a little is sometimes necessary.</p>
<p>I’m one of those people that never measures anything. Everything is to taste or until it looks right, or some other similar thing.</p>
<p>For just our family (4 people):</p>
<p>3 Avocados (mashed with potato masher)
1 Large tomato diced
3/4 of an onion diced
a bit of chopped cilantro (to taste)
Dash of vinegar (and then more to taste if needed)
Tony’s to taste</p>
<p>Just more of everything to make a larger recipe, and I’ll add the sour cream to cut cost. Really in a big batch, you hardly notice it taste-wise. It just makes it go further.</p>
<p>To store it, I put it in a bowl in the refrigerator with saran wrapped pressed into it. I usually make it about 2 hours prior to uncovering it and I don’t get browning.</p>
<p>Once it’s out, there’s too many people stirring the surface of it for it to ever get brown. That stuff goes fast.</p>
<p>Oh, I should have said - I don’t add the tomatoes until I get ready to serve.</p>
<p>I have always loved avocados and guacamole and would eat an avocado sliced with lime juice for lunch on occasion. </p>
<p>Then two separate times guacamole was sitting on a table during lunch and I was having a really hard time catching my breath, sneezing, etc. I assumed it was the jalapeno, the restaurant, etc.</p>
<p>I decided to eat an avocado to make sure it wasn’t that. Within minutes my lips went numb and I got very short of breath and debating for a few minutes whether or not I needed to call 911.</p>
You can make them ripen faster ( think morning to night ) by placing them in a brown paper bag too</p>