Homemade Guacamole….

Guacamole is one of these dips that can be either amazing, too hot or simply tasteless… Most of the time, the ones that you buy at the supermarket belong to the last category and depending on where you are, the home-made guacamole are often amazing but sometimes too hot.
I had a lot of different guacamole in Miami and I have to say that I became a real fan of that dip even if I do not really like the avocado texture generally speaking.

Indeed, you can create your own guacamole recipe and get the texture you want by adding chopped tomatoes, onions and herbs…. be careful with the chili proportion, depending on where you buy them, they can be mild or extremely hot. Start with a little amount and adjust when you have reached the right consistency…

Last but not least… the avocados have to be ripe otherwise it’s not worth the experience. You’ll never get a nice creamy consistency, the avocado will be too hard to mash with a fork and instead of a melting feeling, you will obtain a grainy consistency and also struggle with the making of it!

Ingredients

• 2-3 ripe avocados
• 1⁄2 cup red onion, minced
• 1⁄2 red chili, seeds removed, minced
• 1⁄2 green chili, seeds removed, minced
• 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
• 1 lime juice
• 1 lemon juice
• 1⁄2 tsp salt and black pepper
• 1 small ripe tomato, pulp removed, chopped
• 1/2 tsp of ground cumin (optional)

Method

Cut avocados in half and remove the seed. With a spoon large enough, scoop out the avocado from the peel.

Put them in a mixing bowl and pour a lime juice on top to prevent them from darkening.
Using a fork, roughly mash the avocado. It still has to be a little chunky*.

Add the chopped onion, coriander, salt and pepper and mash some more.

Add part or all of the chili peppers to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness.
Chop the tomato, add to the guacamole and mix.
Adjust the seasoning and serve it straight away or keep it covered with cling film in your refrigerator to prevent oxidation.

Guacamole is often served with Tortilla Chips but it is also very good as a side for fajitas, tacos or spread in wraps.

*If you wish to use a food processor, depending on how powerful it is, keep one of the avocado on the side and roughly cut or chop the other ingredients. Process all of them except the avocado until you obtain a finely chopped mix. Add the avocado and lime juice and process again until you obtain a smooth mix. With a fork, roughly mash the other avocado and incorporate the smooth mix into it. Adjust the seasoning and serve it straight away or keep it covered with cling film in your refrigerator to prevent oxidation.

Ingrédients:

• 2-3 avocats bien mûrs
• 1⁄2 oignon rouge finement émincé
• 1⁄2 piment rouge, finement émincé, sans les graines
• 1⁄2 piment vert, finement émincé, sans les graines
• 1 petite poignee de coriandre émincée
• 1 jus de citron vert
• 1 jus de citron jaune
• 1⁄2 cac de sel et du poivre
• 1 petite tomate bien mûre, emondée et taillée en petits cubes
• 1/2 cac de cumin en poudre (optionnel)

Méthode:

Coupez les avocats en 2 dans le sens de la longueur et avec une cuillère à soupe, séparez la chaire de l’avocat de son enveloppe.

Placez-les dans un bol et arrosez-les de jus de citron pour éviter qu’ils ne s’oxydent et noircissent.

A l’aide d’une fourchette, écrasez-les grossièrement afin de garder un peu de texture.*

Incorporez ensuite l’oignon émincé, la coriandre, le sel et le poivre et la moitié des piments afin de contrôler la puissance de votre guacamole.

Goûtez votre guacamole, ajoutez le reste des piments, du jus de citron, du cumin si nécessaire puis ajoutez les dés de tomates et mixez une dernière fois.

Versez le guacamole dans un bol de service et servez-le immédiatement avec des chips mexicaines ou en accompagnement de fajitas, tacos, garniture de wraps….

Si vous souhaitez le garder pour plus tard, couvrez-le avec du film alimentaire a contact et gardez-le au réfrigérateur pour éviter qu’il ne s’oxyde avec la lumière et l’air.

*Si vous voulez vous simplifier la vie en utilisant votre robot, dans un premier temps, placez l’oignon et les piments dans le bol pour obtenir un mix finement émincé. Incorporez ensuite la coriandre, la moitié des avocats et les jus de citron et passez-les au mixer jusqu’à obtention d’un mix qui garde encore un peu de texture.

Ecrasez grossièrement les avocats restants et incorporez le mix aux avocats.

Goûtez et ajustez l’assaisonement. Finissez en incorporant les dés de tomates.

THE Chili con Carne

Once again, as you may guess….. this is not really one of my recipes… but one of my sister Sophie’s recipe.

She used to live in Connecticut, in a city called Pomfret.

When we came over, she took us to a very nice Cafe called The Vanilla Bean that reminded me of some of the rustic pubs you can find when you get out of London for a walk or a week-end.

Among all the great dishes they serve, one of them deserve a special attention and as you have guessed already, it is the Chili con Carne!

My sister has been doing it OVER and OVER and the whole family seems to enjoy it OVER and OVER.

Maybe it’s time to forget about Lasagna or Hachis Parmentier as a favorite family dish and try that one!

Just to be clear….. this is not a “fast and easy recipe”….. it takes quite a long time to cook!

It’s rather one of those recipes that you prepare on a week-end when family and friends have decided to come over. There is always a time when they all gather in the kitchen to chat and enjoy a tasty glass of wine or a fresh beer while you are cooking. Just watch your chorizo and tortilla chips, they may disappear along with the beer & wine!

Ingredients for the Chili con Carne – serves 10-12 –

• 900g (2 lbs) of minced beef (20%) 
  
• 1 tsp chili powder 
  
• 1/4 tsp cumin 
  
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (adjust for spice) 
  
• 2 Drops Tabasco (optional)

• 1 long Chorizo sausage peeled and diced 
  
• 1 tbsp diced jalapeno (adjust for spice) 
  
• 3 garlic cloves chopped 
  
• 3 tbsp beef fat (from the beef) 
  
• 3/4 tbsp chili powder 
  
• 3/4 tbsp cumin 
  
• 1 medium onion – diced 
  
• 2 celery stalks- diced 
  
• 1/2 red pepper – diced
• 1/2 green pepper – diced
• 1 can tomato sauce (16 oz/400 g)
• 1 can tomato puree (28 oz/800 g)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz/800 g)
• 1 can kidney beans drained (16 oz/400 g)

Method for the Chili con Carne

In a large and deep pan (such as a pressure cooker) gently cook the ground beef with the chili, cumin, pepper, cayenne

and Tabasco. Once it is cooked, drain it over a bowl and reserve 3 Tbls of spicy beef fat for later use.

Set the cooked beef aside for later use.

Using the same pan in order to built the taste, gently fry the chorizo for 4-5 minutes.

Add the onions, celery, pepper, jalapeno, garlic, chili, cumin and beef fat.

Cook until the vegetables are tender (10-15 minutes).

Add all the tomato products and cook on medium heat for 15 -20 minutes stirring occasionally.

At last, stir in the cooked beef and the kidney beans.

Simmer for 2 hours.

Serve in a crock with corn chips, grated cheddar cheese and a sour cream.

Typically, Chili is also one of those dish even better the day after. Do not hesitate to go for generous quantity when you prepare it. It also freezes very well. Just take it out of the freezer 24 hours before and bring it back to heat in a pan or even in the microwave…..