Guacamole Heaven

I have met more people that claim they hate avocados and yet when they taste my guacamole they become true converts. There are some of you out there that cringe at the mere thought of putting something green in your mouth. Well to those of you that don't eat green I challenge you to eat my guacamole.

The first thing you must do is choose the best avocado and the cheapest are not always the best. Personally I feel that Haas are the best avocados are the best. Fuerte avocados are watery and have much less taste. The unripened Haas have green bumpy skins and when they are ripe they turn black.

To choose the best avocado choose one and very gently squeeze. If the fruit gives just a little then it is ripe enough to use. If the skin of the avocado is rippled or dented in any way the avocado is too ripe and you don't want to buy it. This is important because you want it ripe but not too ripe.

The less expensive avocados are not reliable because frequently they have been kept in cold storage for too long and they ripen too quickly. At times you may get avocados that have huge seeds in them with little avocado meat around them. For these reasons it is usually best to pay the price and get the best you can

If the avocado is over ripe it tastes bad and why pay all that money, even at sale prices, to get a nasty tasting avocado. If you are uncertain which to pick have your green grocer help you. Once you have picked the best avocados the ingredients to your guacamole are very simple. The ingredients are as follows:

2 - 4 avocados

1 - 2 lemons

Salt

Sour Cream

Salsa

Cut your avocado in half and remove the seed. You can remove the seed by whacking it with a knife and once the knife is imbedded in the avocado twist the knife in the seed and usually this will automatically remove the seed.

Once the seed is removed scoop out the avocado and put it in a bowl. Do the same with the remaining avocados. For each avocado used put a healthy tablespoon of sour cream and one of salsa. Next put the juice of a lemon in the bowl. It is important to note here that the more lemon juice the better. Lemon makes the taste of the avocado pop and personally I find most cooks are too timid in adding it to their guacamole. The more lemon the better.

The final step is to mash the avocado with the tines of a fork. I suppose there are other ways but this is the best. The fork mashes yet leaves a few lumps of avocado, which is okay. Add a little salt and then taste. You may want a little more lemon and that is okay. The key is to not use too much sour cream or salsa, and if you can avoid using mayonnaise, do so. That is the mistake the restaurants make

To serve you guacamole put a couple scoops on a bed of lettuce. Next drizzle a bit of salsa over he top. Sprinkle with grated cheese, (I prefer sharp); tuck tortilla chips around the outside of the guacamole and serve. When storing your guacamole put an avocado seed in the bowl, it keeps it from changing color and keeps it a pretty green.