Guacamole

I feel a little ashamed to admit it, but I had never tried real guacamole until my sister made it for me this past summer. Since then I fell in love with the dip because it goes well with tacos or salsa and chips. I also just discovered these new whole wheat crackers at Whole Foods that are delicious with Guacamole. They are called Carr's Whole Wheat Crackers. Here is how I make guacamole, but you are more than welcome to experiment with different ingredients yourself.

Ingredient List:

3 avocados (for the purpose of this demonstration I only used one avocado but to make enough for guests use three avocados)
A tomato
An onion
A garlic clove
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
A lime

Note: Using avocados that are perfectly rip will result in the best guacamole dip. Avocados are ripe when they are dark green and the insides feel soft when you squeeze the avocado.

Finely dice up the onion, tomato, and garlic clove into the smallest pieces possible. Then carefully cut the avocados in half and remove the seed. Cut horizontally and vertically across both halves of the avocado to make it easier to remove the insides.

Then scope the contents of the avocado out into a dish and mash it up with a fork or spoon. It is okay to have a few chunks in the dip, but I like a smoother texture for my guacamole so I try to get the chunks out as much as possible.

Next slowly add the chopped up bits of onion, tomato and garlic clove to the avocado. Mix the ingredients in thoroughly to get an even consistency and flavor. The way I judge how much tomato, onion, and garlic I should add is by tasting the mixture as I am making it. If you think it needs a bit more garlic then add more garlic if you think it needs more onion then add more onion etc. etc. This technique allows the cook to individualize the recipe. Then squeeze in a few slices of lime if you are using three avocados and one slice of lime if you are only using one avocado. Add salt, pepper, and Cayenne pepper for flavoring. Once again taste the mixture as you are making it to judge the amount of seasoning you want to add. Enjoy the guacamole!!!!

Here are some links to websites for other guacamole recipes:

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000159perfect_guacamole.php

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_20356,00.html

http://www.willsavocados.com/index.php/guacamole-recipes