Guacamole a la Ricardo
This recipe has been central to summer barbecue for as long as I remember. It's an amazing bowl of deliciousness. We even have good Italian friends who have a standing request for barbecue and guacamole for their next visit. Guacamole usually conjures ideas of Mexican food and this is not that sort of guacamole. No cilantro. No lime. No garlic.
This is my dad's guacamole. I remember peering over his shoulder as I learned to make it. I remember learning that the chili oil really is to be feared and the burn of it under my nails or the time I accidentally touched my eye. But most of all I remember long summer nights, the grill, swatting at flies as we ate on hot nights and big boisterous dinners that make my heart swell with the ability of food to feed us way beyond the body.
Guacamole
serves 4-6
At home, this was always served with boiled and salted potatoes, grilled meats and veggies and organic tortilla chips. I try to limit how much corn I eat. If that's you too, then raw cucumber, radishes or peppers would all be worthy dipping options.
2 avocados
1 habanero pepper
3 green onions, white and very pale green part, finely chopped
1 small tomato (about 1/2 cup), small dice
sea salt
1 hard boiled egg
First, roughly chop the habanero. Be careful not to handle the fleshy part too much as this has the spicy chili oil and if you cut it and then scratch your eye, it's bad news. I hold the chili by the stem and give it a rough cut and scoop everything up with the knife into the mortar and then wash my hands well. Add a good pinch of salt to the mortar and a couple of drops of water. Smash everything with the pestle until you get a nice orange watery juice. Set aside.
Mash the avocado. Stir in the green onions and tomato. Using a small spoon, start to drizzle in a little bit of the habanero juice. You want to go slowly as the habanero packs a punch. Drizzle in habanero juice. Mix. Taste and repeat until you reach your desired spiciness. You'll likely have left over habanero juice. Season with salt. Roughly chop the hard boiled egg and stir in. Serve.
