We make some version of guacamole every week. Sometimes it’s my daughter just smashing an overripe avocado with a fork, sprinkling salt and pepper and squeezing fresh lime on top until it satisfies her palate, other times it’s my recipe below. Both are equally satisfying.
Food 911! Did you know that avocados are hard to come by around Super Bowl season? The demand for guacamole is so great that most suppliers are in short supply and increase their prices. These are the kinds of things you learn when working day-in-day-out as a chef in a restaurant, and it’s a little known fact handed down to me by my great friend Head Chef Jason Cox of Opus.
Zero Waste Tips: HOW TO PREVENT OXIDATION AND DISCOLOURATION IN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
You can create a barrier from the air by covering what you want to be protected with water or even sometimes oil. You can also use some type of acid. I always keep citric acid in my food-styling kit and mix it with water to cover certain fruits and vegetables, keeping them perfect until ready to shoot. Apples, avocados, and artichokes all brown and discolor easily. You can soak cut fruit or vegetables in water with a few tablespoons of lime or lemon juice, vinegar or even a crushed vitamin C tablet—all these will help prevent discoloration until ready to use.
Guacamole
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice (approx.)
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) onion finely diced
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cumin
- 1/2 garlic clove puréed
- 1/2 jalapeno seeds and ribs removed, finely diced
- 2 ripe or overripe avocados
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1-2 Tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh cilantro to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, add all ingredients except cilantro and smash with a fork to desired consistency.2. Stir in cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and lime juice.3. To prevent oxidization, store in the fridge with plastic wrap touching the surface of the guacamole for up to 3 days. Another option is adding a thin layer of water over the entire surface. Pour off the water and stir before serving.
AVOCADO TIPS:
- Avocados do not begin to soften until after they are picked from the tree and they are usually put on the shelf hard. So basically, it’s pure luck if you need ripe avocados the day of and can find them. When buying avocados I typically buy unripe ones knowing they will ripen in the next day or two, rather than buying ripe ones that will end up in the garbage if not eaten immediately.
- How to choose a ripe avocado? The riper an avocado is the darker green its skin. It should yield to a firm but gentle pressure but not be mushy.
- How to get avocados to ripen faster? Put them in a paper bag in the warmest place possible, like a windowsill or close to your oven. Adding another overripe fruit, like a banana, will also help. They still may take up to two days to ripen.
Zero Waste Tips: HOW TO PREVENT OXIDATION AND DISCOLOURATION IN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
You can create a barrier from the air by covering what you want to be protected with water or even sometimes oil. You can also use some type of acid. I always keep citric acid in my food-styling kit and mix it with water to cover certain fruits and vegetables, keeping them perfect until ready to shoot. Apples, avocados, and artichokes all brown and discolor easily. You can soak cut fruit or vegetables in water with a few tablespoons of lime or lemon juice, vinegar or even a crushed vitamin C tablet—all these will help prevent discoloration until ready to use.
Photograph by Reena Newman, props by Laura Branson
Looking for more snack ideas? Check out some of my other recipes here.
