Guacamole

I love Guacamole, I really do.


Today, I tried a new recipe for Watercress Guacamole which made for a nice change but I stand by it that one of the best recipes for Guacamole is in Bonnie Stern's Essentials of Home Cooking.

Here are both recipes:

Watercress Guacamole
from Bon Appétit, December 2009 via Epicurious.com

ingredients

3 large avocados, halved, pitted, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 cup chopped fresh watercress tops
Coarse kosher salt
up to a tablespoon of Chili Garlic Sauce, my favourite is the vietnamese kind but this is essentially hot sauce and my own addition to this recipe because I felt it was a little lacking on the spicy factor, especially considering the gold standard below.

preparation
Cube avocados and place in large bowl. Add lime juice and mash coarsely. Mix in watercress; season to taste with coarse salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and chill.


Spicy Guacamole
from Bonnie Stern's Essentials of Home Cooking

ingredients
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1-2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup to a cup of chopped french cilantro
1 clove of garlic, minced (sometimes I swap this for about 1/4 of a red onion finely chopped)
salt
3 tbsp lime juice
2 avocadoes

preparation
Combine first 5 ingredients and just before serving add the avocado in cubes. Mixture can be as smooth or chunky as you wish. (as you might see in the pictures, I like to leave the avocado pits in because it's said to keep it from turning brown as fast)