The lovely organic avocados from last week’s CSA shipment are finally almost ripe, and I want to try a new recipe or two. There are only 3 small avocados - not really enough for a decent-sized batch of guacamole, anyway.
So what else can we do with them? I can probably lay my hands on just about any other random ingredient you can think of, but for some reason I’m feeling uninspired; my mom apparently fed me lots of guac when I was an infant in an attempt to fatten me up, and ever since, avocados haven’t really been my favorite. So suggest away!
Make some sort of spicy soup, like a tomatoey fish soup or a chile and pork soup, and add diced ripe avocado chunks to it. The creamy mild avocado offsets the sharp spiciness wonderfully. It’s a classic addition to posole, a Mexican stew of red chile, pork, and hominy.
Fill an avocado half with baby shrimp which have been tossed in some sort of sharp sweet dressing, like a tomatoey vinaigrette.
They key is to contrast the avocado’s buttery richness against something sharp, which will contrast with it. If you try to combine it with something else that’s rich, like cheese for instance, it’ll be too overwhelming.
You could make California rolls, if you can get some sushi rice, nori and “crab.”
A simple salad is sliced oranges and sliced avocado, drizzled with some mayonnaise thinned out with a bit of the orange juice. You can put some red onion and black pepper on this, too, if you want.
Here’s a good posole one. I wasn’t clear in my avocado use above; use avocado chunks as a garnish when you pass around the posole.
Posole
12 dried long red chile
10 lbs. Boned pork roast cut into 1" cubes
1/2 head of garlic peeled and chopped
A large pinch of Mexican oregano
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
Large can hominy
Salt
Preparation
Break open the chiles and remove the seeds and veins. Put the chiles to cook in a medium sized pot. Cover with fresh water and gently boil until chiles are very soft. Let the mixture cool and using a favorite method, blend the chile and the water to make a paste and strain.
Meanwhile, put the cubed pork, oregano, garlic, onion and salt into a large heavy pot and cover with water. Boil meat gently for 1-1/2 hours. When the meat is soft, add the chile and hominy and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture is boiling nicely.
To serve, ladle the posole into heavy bowls and serve with avocado chunks, thinly sliced cabbage and radishes, quartered limes, oregano, chopped onion, and fresh corn tortillas.
They’re really good grilled. I don’t have the exact recipe on me, but essentially, cut them in half, remove the pit, and gently remove the peel. Brush with lime juice and then olive oil. Grill cut side down over medium coals (or flame) for about two minutes, and turn onto the rounded side to heat trhough.
Great topped with tomatoes, sour cream, fruit salsa, you name it.
I saw this on Kitchen: Impossible and George grilled them because they were not quite ripe yet. Sounds delicious, but they might fall apart if they are too ripe.
Equal parts thawed, frozen corn and drained & rinsed canned black beans and diced avocado.
Red Onion, Jalapeno, Lime juice, cumin, sugar, salt, cilantro and spring onions.
Adjust so the sweet, sour, salty and spicy are in balance and enjoy on corn chips.
This salad always sells well whenever I have company.
Or mash it on your challah, which is what we always did with it growing up.
For a pretty appetizer-type thing, slice it up, fan the slices attractively on a plate, and trail green goddess dressing over it.
Make a salad out of bulgur and stuff. (Stuff: minced shallot/onion/scallions, herbs like parsley/mint/dill, chick peas or other beans, crumbled feta, lettuce leaves ripped small, nuts of your choice, whatever chopped raw or cooked vegetables you’ve got laying around, etc.) Add diced avocado at the last minute. Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. This is a standard lunch for me.
Florida Stone Crab Caviar, Avacado Caviar, and Beluga Caviar on Blintzes…
Brunoise Avacado and Stone Crab Claw Meat… gently toss the brunoise with a couple of tablespoons of Beluga Caviar, some key lime juice and a few tablespoons of creme fraiche.
Got this recipe on a handout at Trader Joe’s, and it is so good…the only problem is, the demo cook was telling people what to serve it on/with, and I couldn’t hear! I figured it was noted on the handout, but it wasn’t…so I have no idea whether to serve in as a topping on meat like pork (I think that was what he said) or in some other manner, but in the end it tasted so good we just ate it straight! It is sweet, like the ice cream above, but uses no milk products.
Summer Avocado Sorbet
4 ripe avocados
1/2 c fresh lime juice
1/2 raw sugar
Remove flesh from avocados, place in a bowl with the lime juice and sugar. Puree everything with an emulsion blender (one of those stick blenders) or in a food processor until smooth. Place in a container and freeze for at least four hours. Yield 2 cups.
I enjoy simply slicing a ripe avocado and drizzling it with soy sauce. The soy sauce really enhances the taste of avocado (something I noticed when eating sushi rolls). I just cut it in half, slice it very thin in the skin, use a spoon to scoop it out, and fan it out on the plate to get a bit more surface area.
Okay, okay, I was being facetious above. Here’s a salad I always make at least a couple of times every summer …
Tangy-Sweet Avocado Peach Salad
Makes: 4 individual salads
Ingredients[ul][li]1 tablespoon sherry vinegar []juice of one medium lemon (hold half a teaspoon) []2 tablespoons brown sugar []4 teaspoons clover honey []3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil []pinch of dry mustard []pinch of salt []1/4 cup granulated sugar []1 tablespoon water []1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped []pinch of salt []1 good-sized peach, ripe but not too soft []1 good-sized avocado, ripe but not too soft []half teaspoon lemon juice (held from dressing) []4-5 oz strong crumbled cheese (bleu, gorgonzola, etc) []4 cups soft greens (baby spinach, or mache, etc)[/ul][/li]Make dressing:[ul][li]Whisk together first three ingredients until sugar dissolves. Add next four ingredients and whisk until thoroughly emulsified. Taste and adjust. Set aside.[/ul][/li]Make salad toppings:[ul][li]Mix sugar and water in saucepan. Heat over medium-high, without stirring, until sugar has melted and is just beginning to color. Add nuts and stir, then turn out onto parchment paper on a baking sheet. Salt lightly and allow to cool.[]In a medium-sized pot, bring to boil enough water to submerge the peach. When rapidly boiling, add the peach. After one minute, turn off heat. After another minute, remove the peach from the water with a spider or slotted spoon, and set on a folded towel to cool.[]Halve and pit the avocado. In the skin, cut each half into eight slices with a small knife. Carefully remove skin, either by scooping slices out with a large spoon or by pulling the peel away. Brush the avocado slices with the reserved lemon juice. Set aside.[]Peel the loosened skin from the peach and discard; take care not to squash the flesh. Run a knife around the vertical circumference eight times to cut it into sixteen slices. Carefully pry out one slice; it’ll probably get a little mushed; set this one aside for your own plate. The remaining slices will now be easier to remove from the pit. Trim away any hard bits of the stone that adhere to the center of the slices. Set aside.Crack and separate any of the cooled candied nuts that have stuck together. Toss them with the crumbled cheese.[/ul][/li]Assemble salads:[ul][li]Dress each of four salad plates with an equal portion of the greens. In the center of each, arrange peach and avocado by alternating and partially overlapping the slices in a ring. Spoon the cheese and nut mixture into the middle of each ring. Drizzle the dressing over the salads and serve.[/ul][/li]Optional: Top with dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds.
Chopped chicken breast with paprika along with tomatoes, sweetcorn, tinned mushrooms, a few boiled and diced baby potatoes, a little lemon juice and garlic, and then the avocado diced and mixed through. Yum.