How to Make Guacamole (with Recipes)

Guacamole is a dip recipe of Mexican origin, the name meaning literally, "Avocado sauce." Although guacamole is usually thought of as containing lemon juice, chilli peppers, fresh herbs, salt and pepper and perhaps even tomato, the name suggests that so long as we ensure the base of the guacamole is ripe avocado, it is possible to vary the recipe - within reason - and still legitimately brand the production guacamole. This page will look at a few ways in which simple guacamole can be varied in this respect to suit a number of tastes and also at different ways in which guacamole can be utilised in terms of serving suggestions and accompaniments.

The first task with which you are likely to be faced when making any form of guacamole is peeling and removing the stone from the avocado. This is a procedure which is often over-complicated, or deemed to be unsafe by the simplest method. Although there are theoretically many ways in which you can both peel and remove the stone from an avocado, the two slightly different options featured here are probably not only the easiest, they ensure that you get to use all of the delicious flesh of the avocado and that none of it goes to waste. Note that ensuring an avocado is ripe is not only important to the quality of your guacamole, it is necessary in order to remove the stone and peel it effectively.

Both of these methods begin in the same way and that is by removing the stone from the avocado. Although some may think that it would make sense to start at the outside by removing the skin, as we will see, that is not necessarily always the best option.

Hold the avocado broad end down on a chopping board with your weaker hand. Carefully, use a sharp knife to cut down through the top centre of the avocado until you feel the resistance caused by the stone. At this stage, hold the knife steady and use your weaker hand to simply rotate the avocado away from you through 360°.

Remove the knife, lay it aside and gently twist what are now the two halves of the avocado in opposite directions. They should easily come apart, with the stone still embedded in one of the halves.

In theory, the next bit is the dangerous bit so firstly protect your weaker hand with a thick, folded towel. Lay the avocado half containing the stone on the towel as shown. Place the knife on the centre of the stone (golfers - think of lining up a tee shot by placing the club just touching the ball and no more) before lifting it a few inches and chopping down again with moderate force. The knife should embed itself in the stone and a simple twist of the knife should remove the stone. Protect your good hand with the towel and pull the stone off the blade of the knife.

You are now at the stage where the stone is removed and discarded and the avocado requires to be peeled. The first way to do so is the obvious way and this is a further instance where it is vital the avocado be ripe. Simply use your hand to grab an edge of the peel and pull it gently away. It should come off cleanly and easily, in fairly large pieces, leaving you with two perfectly rounded avocado halves, ready to be included in your guacamole.

This second technique may be deemed to be removing the flesh from the peel of the avocado, as opposed to vice versa. A teaspoon is used to scoop the flesh from each half - careful not to pierce the skin - and deposit it in a small bowl. This serves to break the flesh up for easier mashing and also perhaps allows the prepared guacamole to be served in the empty peel as an attractive presentation technique.

Whichever of the above methods you choose to employ is really down to little more than personal preference.

It is almost always best when cooking to use fresh ingredients wherever possible. Guacamole is no different. One of the most popular additions to guacamole, however, is chilli pepper and very often supermarkets in particular will sell them only in multipacks, which means you may have to buy five or even ten to get the one you need and some of the others may go to waste. If this is the case in your area, simply use either dried chilli flakes from a jar or buy dried whole chillis and keep the remainder in an airtight container for up to several months.

Guacamole Ingredients

1 ripe avocado
Juice of half a lemon
2 cloves of garlic
½ tsp dried red chilli flakes
3 or 4 roughly torn basil leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Roughly chop the peeled and stoned avocado and add it to a mixing bowl. Pour over the lemon juice and mash with a fork. How finely you wish to mash it is up to you. Some people prefer guacamole as a smooth paste, others like a few smallish chunks left in it for a more substantial effect.

Add the chilli flakes. Peel the garlic cloves and grate them in to the bowl with a small hand grater. Season with sea salt and black pepper and stir thoroughly. Ideally, you now want to cover the bowl with plastic film and refrigerate for at least an hour to give the various flavours time to infuse. The torn basil leaves (optional) should be stirred through before service.

Spoon the guacamole in to a small serving dish and lay it on the serving plate. Arrange slices of tomato and soft, buffalo mozzarella alternately in a circle and scatter more torn basil over the top. Finish with some crackers and serve as a very tasty and satisfying light lunch or starter.

Bruschetta is of course an Italian creation but there is nothing to stop you combining it with Mexican guacamole to serve as a tasty starter or even snack.

Allow three slices of bread this size per person. The bread slices are taken from a French stick, each made to be about 1" thick. They are firstly toasted on both sides until golden and then rubbed with a peeled and lightly crushed garlic clove. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In the above example, the guacamole is then spread on the bruschetta and served with one small red tomato, one small yellow tomato - both halved - and a sprig of basil. Alternatively, you may wish to serve the guacamole in an avocado skin half with the basic bruschetta, as seen in the image below.

Guacamole is of course often served simply as a dip with other finger foods at parties or as part of a buffet. In this instance, the guacamole is served in the skin of half an avocado and surrounded by sweet chilli flavoured crisps/potato chips.

This guacamole recipe is slightly different from the one prepared earlier. It is made from an avocado, one grated garlic clove, half a red onion (finely diced), half a teaspoon of dried coriander leaf/cilantro, half a teaspoon of chilli flakes, the juice of half a lime and sea salt and black pepper, all mixed together.

This guacamole service suggestion is definitely an international affair. The Mexican guacamole is served with Mexicana cheese, a simple cheddar infused with Mexican peppers, tomatoes and pitted black olives to provide a hint of the Mediterranean and traditional Scottish oatcakes.

The oatcakes served in this instance come from the Orkney Islands and are absolutely perfect in both taste and texture. They are made by a company which has been around for more than a century called Stockan's and are widely available from major retailers throughout the United Kingdom and even beyond.

Goujons are in a literal sense strips of fish - or even chicken - dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and deep fried. Technically, the fast food referred to as chicken nuggets is actually chicken goujons. These goujons are slightly different in that they are coated in a simple flour batter instead of egg and breadcrumbs.

To make the batter, put a couple of tablespoons of plain (all purpose) flour in to a bowl. Slowly stir in cold water until you have the consistency of thick paint or cream. Season with sea salt. Ideally, leave your batter to rest and chill in the refrigerator for half an hour before use but this is not absolutely necessary if time is short.

The fish used in this instance is whiting but any reasonably firm fleshed white fish will do. Cut up a skinless fillet in to strips of about 2" by 1". Dip them in to the batter and allow any excess to drip off before placing them in to hot oil in your deep frier. Cook for about six or seven minutes until the batter is beautifully golden. Drain well on kitchen paper.

Spoon some guacamole in to a small serving dish, garnish with a sprig of fresh basil and plate with the drained whiting goujons. This makes either an excellent lunch or the perfect fish course with a difference for a more formal, set dinner.

Thank you for your visit to this page. I have tried to include a variety of suggestions for making and serving guacamole but there are any number of ideas which could never be incorporated in one place. If you have a different, delicious way of preparing or serving guacamole, please feel free to share details in the space below.