I don’t think I’m unlike many Americans who don’t tend to slow down and just enjoy a task or activity. This became clear to me when my best friend Christine gave me a beautiful mortar and pestle that is perfect for making guacamole. The act of making guacamole by hand is one that takes patience to do well and you are definitely rewarded with the end product. The effort of scraping the onions, cilantro and jalapeno down to practically nothing but pure flavory goodness is very calming and relaxing. The rhythm, the eye appeal, and the fulfillment of starting with a handful of ingredients and ending up with a tablespoon or so of bright green flavor are all pretty cool. There is truly nothing like homemade fresh guacamole.
If you have the opportunity to use a mortar and pestle, please do. If not, feel free to chop ingredients by hand. And yes, you can use a food processor, but that kind of defeats the purpose of slowing down and enjoying the activity.
Guacamole
This is more of a guideline on how to make guacamole not so much a strict recipe. Do it by taste. Do you like it spicy or mild? Do you like cilantro? Do you have red, yellow or green onions? Notice how dry or liquidy it is. Check for salt balance. Some people even make a hybrid guacamole/salsa and add a bit of chopped fresh tomato at the end.
Ingredients:
½ jalapeno, finely chopped, keep seeds and veins if you like it spicy
1 handful of fresh cilantro, washed and roughly chopped
¼ red onion, finely chopped
3-4 ripe avocados, flesh scooped out
1-2 limes, juiced
Salt, to taste
Add jalapeno, cilantro and red onion to the mortar and pestle and scrap ingredients against the side and bottom until it is ground down to a beautiful green watery paste. Then add avocados and mash up. I like my to still have some chunks of flesh, but that’s personal preference. Then season with lime juice and salt. Remember to relax and enjoy the rhythm of the process.
I like to serve the guacamole with cut up veggies, but feel free to eat it with chips, on burgers, taco salads, or anything else that sounds good.
I hope you enjoy the guacamole and the experience
Love this! And never really thought to use the mortar and pestal … What a great idea! I don’t care too much for cilantro in guacamole, so the italian part of me added lots of chopped and smashed garlic instead. Great with multigrain or blue corn tortillas OR on toast I’m the morning with any of the following…crushed red pepper, a sliced hard boiled egg, a dollop of ricotta, sliced tomato, or salmon. I can’t help using guacamole for everything now, fresh made is so delicious! Bye bye pre-packaged!
Hi Lola,
Thanks for trying the recipe and I love your ideas! I haven’t had guacamole for breakfast, but I can’t wait to try it on a hard boiled egg. That sounds yummy!