Monday, August 06, 2007

Bueno!


Many of you are familiar with my sister's obsession with the Margarita Authentica. When my sister comes to visit, I make sure to have some good tequila on hand so she can make me one.

Similarly, my sister always wants me to whip up a batch of guacamole. And if I dare throw a party without making my guacamole, believe me, I hear about it from my guests.

So since sis has shared her recipe with you, I thought I might do the same.

First of all, you will need a molcajete. Oh, look, here's a good-sized one at a pretty good price. There are also some tips on the linked page for cleaning and seasoning your molcajete. While you do not have to pre-season your molcajete (using it will season it naturally), you do need to clean it as vigorously as possible before using it or the guac will come out gritty. A wire-bristled or other stiff brush will work.

Do not buy anything that is not made of volcanic rock, or is smooth inside. Unlike a mortar and pestle, the molcajete and tejolete (pestle) should be very rough textured.

I learned how to make real guacamole when a Mexican chef was kind enough to teach me. It is so simple, but you do need to use a molcajete or it just will not come out as good. Also, you really do need to make it right before you serve it. Guacamole just does not keep very well. If you do have to keep it for any length of time you should coat the top surface with a thin layer of lime juice and then put plastic wrap over it, pushing the wrap down into the surface of the dip, leaving no air in between.

The Recipe:

First, you take a big pinch of coarse salt and throw it in the molcajete. Coarse sea salt is good, but you can raid that little plastic sombrero you have in the back of your cupboard for some margarita salt if you have to. Add a good handful of cilantro leaves (some stems are okay), 4-5 scallions and one jalapeno (size is up to you), roughly chopped. Pulverize all with your tejolete until it is a gooey mush.

Now, what kind of avocados you want to use is up to you. Living in California, my farmer's market usually offers several different kinds, and to me they are all good. Ripeness is the only necessity.

Drop in the flesh of two large or three small avocados, one at a time. Use the tejolete to crush the flesh into your base mixture. Squeeze the juice of one good-sized lime over the avocados as you add.

Next, dice one medium ripe tomato. Add the flesh only (not the juice & seeds) to the mixture and stir gently. You may want to use a spoon for this part.

You're done. Eat a lot of it. Make it for your guests or eat it all yourself. Yum.

12 comments:

kiki said...

is it a requirement to prepare it in the biggest, fuck-off, mortar possible?

GETkristiLOVE said...

Hey, that looks like the batch I ate last weekend! I saved Spooney, like what - one bite?

Remind me to bring down some lava rock on the next volcano I climb. I still need one of those damn molcajetes!

vikkitikkitavi said...

Kiki: Don't be intimidated by the size of my molcajete, baby.

GKL: Cripes, I keep telling you, they have STORES for that kind of stuff.

Moderator said...

And best of all, it's meat-free.

bubbles said...

Yummmm!

Anonymous said...

GETkristiLOVE said...
Hey, that looks like the batch I ate last weekend! I saved Spooney, like what - one bite?

Yeah, but it was a tastey bite!

Joe said...

That sounds tasty, thanks for the recipe!

The best guacamole I ever had was in San Antonio, and they made it like this, in one of those big stone vessels at the table.

Anonymous said...

Too bad I drank my share of Tequlia already... I actually salivated at the thought of Tequila Authentica something something (hey it's only been 17 years, not near long enough to remove the obsession)

Oh yeah I guess there was something about avacodos in there too but I missed it, what with all of the salivating and everything.

Frank Sirmarco said...

I'm totally making your recipe this weekend.

vikkitikkitavi said...

Bro: If I had to choose between margaritas and guacamole, I'd choose guacamole every time. Guacamole makes me wonder sometimes if I might be wrong about the "no god" thing.

Frank: Let me know how it comes out!

Anonymous said...

I thought the recipe calls for the chef to drink at least one margarita autentico before starting preparation. Don't forget to pack your molcajetes for your next trip to Colorado!

Anonymous said...

I have a decent molcajete, but the one I covet is my mom's, she's been using it for over 40 years and it's got some wicked mojo attatched to it.