Guacamole

If you have never had home made guacamole you are defiantly missing out. Avocados are probably my favorite fruit, they are so rich and creamy, just really delicious. There are many different recipes out there, some people put in tomatoes (you will very rarely see me use fresh tomatoes, I do not like them at all), some people add sour cream. This is the way I like to make it.
Simple Guacamole
2 ripe Avocados
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper diced
1 lime, juiced
salt to taste

Picking out a avocado can be difficult if you do not know what to look for. First off you want a avocado with dark green skin. Next you want to gently squeeze the fruit, if you squeeze it to hard you will bruise the flesh and when you cut into it you will have brown spots. If the avocado is very soft it is over ripe and you do not want it. If it is rock hard it is not yet ripe. If you plan on using it later in the week it is OK to buy them like this and wait for them to ripen, just leave them out on the counter and check them in a few days. A perfect avocado should just give slightly when you squeeze it. If you find yourself with ripe avocados and are not ready to use them put them in the refrigerator and they will stay perfectly ripe for a few extra days.
I think another thing that deters people from eating avocados is they do not know how to cut them. Take a sharp knife and cut all the way around the avocado vertically. Twist the 2 halves and pull them apart.

Use your knifes blade to carefully whack the seed, twist it gently and the seed should come right out.

Be very careful taking the seed off the knife, I like to use the edge of the cutting board to pull it off.
Next you want to take a spoon and scoop the avocado flesh out of the skin into a bowl. Juice your lime and pour it over the avocado, if you let the avocado sit out with out the acidic lime juice it will start to turn brown. (You can also use lemon juice instead if you prefer.)

Next chop up your onion. This is how I chop mine, cut yours in what ever way is most comfortable to you. You could even pulse it in the food processor if you want.
First cut the ends off the onion. Slice it in half and peel off the outer layer. Stand your onion half up, and carefully make horizontal cuts leaving about 1/4 - 1/2 an inch uncut at the bottom.

Next lay your onion cut half down and make vertical cuts leaving the same small amount uncut at the end.

Leaving the onion cut side down slice it horizontally and you will have a perfect diced onion.

Now for the jalapeno. I always wear gloves when I do this, I do not trust myself not to touch my eyes. If you do not have gloves make sure you wash your hands very well, rubbing lemon juice on them will help, and do not touch your eyes or your mouth. You can buy boxes of latex gloves at the hardware store, I buy mine from the beauty supply store. Start by slicing the jalapeno in half.

The real heat is in the seeds and the white membrane, you want to carefully remove these.

I use 1/2 of a jalapeno for medium heat guacamole. If you like it hot use the whole thing. If you like fire throw some seeds in. If you like it mild leave the jalapeno out completely. Simply slice the pepper vertically and then horizontally to form a small dice.

Now add everything together and throw in a generous sprinkling of salt. You do not want to leave the salt out, it pulls all of the flavors together and the guacamole would be lacking without it.

I like to mash the guacamole together with a potato masher, you can also use a fork.

Serve this with tortilla chips, on tacos, over chicken, on sandwiches you have so many options. If you were to ask my sister Leeann I bet she would say it is best served with a frosty margarita!