Hella Guac

A really good friend of mine lives in NY. She's a SoCal native though and therefore an opinionated gal when it comes to the topic of Mexican fare.

When she feels homesick, I'd say the single thing I hear the most about—besides missing family—are taquitos. Fair enough. Taquitos are great; crispy, deep fried rolls of meat-filled tortilla, often served with an avocado-based sauce. Apparently, she can't find a taquito in NYC worth a damn. I'm dubious and who knows how hard she's actually looked. In the meantime, her family shipped avocados from this coast to tide her over.

This got me thinking about guacamole. Yes, I've blogged about guac before, when I made the trip to Carpinteria for Avocado Fest in 2010. The haul of several pounds of avocado ultimately wound up in several batches of homemade guacamole. Each version nearing perfection, but never quite making it there.

So where do I go from there? I decided that in these parts, the burrito chain Chipotle makes a decent one. Well, I'm no Captain Obvious, so it never really occurred to me until recently that I could Google it.

Looky there! What I'd figured was a trade secret, out on the internet for all to see. Turns out a lot of valuable things that most people pay for, are available for free on the interwebs...ahem.

So I used a recipe (sorta) as opposed to my usual "eyeballing it" method. You know what I mean. Looking at good guacamole and basically guessing what went into it and in what amounts. I still eyeballed it, I would say. But I did use the Chipotle recipe as a guide.

Empirical-modified Chipotle Guac

6 medium avocados, purchased in 2 trips. So 3 were somewhat more ripe than the rest.

a small red onion

a large juicy lime

half a lemon

1 bunch of cilantro

1 large-ish jalapeno (Chipotle uses 12 serranos)

I pretty much omitted all but the tiniest pinch of sea salt.

Using a tall-sided mixing bowl to catch all ingredients...

Juiced the citrus and used about 1/2 cup of mostly lime juice. 

Mashed avocados.

Added chopped red onion. Again, this may be obvious to you, but I cut the onion into quarters first then soaked them in plain water while I worked on the avocados. I was trying to take out some of the oniony bite of raw chopped onions.

Chopped jalapenos.

Rough chopped the cilantro. I used the entire bunch because what the hell do you do with half a bunch in the fridge? I never use it again, it rots, it's a waste. And I like cilantro, so why not?

So mine turned out pretty close to Chipotle's. Of course it was less spicy without the 12 serranos, and that was fine with me. I do wish I had salty chips to dip into them. I decided to get a pack of corn tortillas and made some spicy jack quesadillas in the cast iron skillet. Not the healthiest thing in the world but certainly better than carb-loading at Chipotle for $12. The proof is in the pudding. Am I in a food coma right now? No. 

This recipe makes HELLA GUAC. Six avocados and an onion is a lot of food when you consider that guacamole is a dip or a sauce and not a main dish. Invite your friends over. Recommended for your next potluck. Everyone loves the person who brings the guac. I'd ramp up the spice though if you're trying to impress and go ahead and use the full 1.5 teaspoon of salt if you're taking it to a party. Tequila drinkers will thank you.