There are some things in life that need to be perfect...
...the perfectly crisp white tailored shirt always at the ready for those times you find yourself seated across a desk from the school principal unabashedly defending your child's reason for socking that really annoying kid in the eye.
...the perfect shade of lipstick that lights up your smile and brightens a bad day.
...the perfect phrase that manages to define your life view and applies to absolutely everything - mine is...
Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
...the perfect guacamole recipe. I have spent the last 20 or so years trying to get it just right. In college the guac was Joey's job. He has been my friend's (hi Kim!) boyfriend, fiance and continues to be her totally cool husband. He also happens to be the person who introduced me to Chris Isaak's music and so I am eternally indebted to him for that too. But since we have all grown up and moved farther apart than we were then...I no longer get to simply sit down to the huge bowl of the green perfection he used to create on many a Friday night. I have to make my own. Huge sigh here.
And on this gorgeous 85 degree Memorial Day I think I've hit the mother lode.
Make your guac this way and you will not be sorry...pick 3 perfectly ripe avocados - firm yet yielding to the gentlest of pressure. Grab a ripe Roma tomato and 3 green onions, your Lawry's Garlic Salt (it's okay, you don't have to admit out loud that it's in the back of the pantry and you use it all the time), a lime, and some Tapatio.
Quarter the tomato and slice the white part of the green onions and throw them into your food processor and whir 'em around until they are chopped up real tiny. (If you didn't happen to inherit your mother in law's food processor like I did you could absolutely chop it all up real little by hand.) In a bowl mash up your avocados (you know you should cut them in half and scoop all the flesh out without me saying it right?), but stop mashing before it's as smooth as you like your guac. It'll get a little smoother as you mix in everything else. I like to use to potato masher but a fork works too! I add a light layer of garlic salt across the top and generously sprinkle in the Tapatio. Add the onion and tomato mixture and mix everything in. Then, and this is muy importante, taste with the chips you'll be eating it with because that adds to the saltiness!!! Took me a few trips around the block to remember this little golden nugget of guac wisdom, so I thought I'd mention it. Adjust your seasoning to however you like your guac. I like mine not too spicy because I usually eat it with spicier Mexican dishes and use it to temper the heat of those. Also I live with a bunch of gringo dudes who can't handle the heat. Oh be sure to squeeze in about a quarter of the lime's juice and mix that in. Helps keep it from turning the color of the dryer we had when I was a kid and I like the hint of tartness it lends.
Some people might be wondering what the heck?! Where is the cilantro?! Well, I have a long and serious love affair with cilantro. Turns out I just don't like it in the guac. But if you do, well throw some cilantro in your food processor with the tomato wedges and green onion slices.
Well, that's about it. I hope it works out for you like it did me! Remember to thank those who have died for our country...it's what this holiday is all about.
xoxoxo
~Sherri,
The Guac Master
