Carne Asada and Guacamole (Summer Recipes)

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Step 5:

Slice through the avocado lengthwise then widthwise, and you'll get nice cubes that come out very easily.

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Step 6:

Peel, seed and chop about half a tomato. To peel, score the skin, blanche in hot water and then dunk in cold water. The peel comes off easily, but it also comes off easily on good, ripe tomatoes. Then cut in half and scoop the seeds out with your finger. Now you have lovely tomato meat without skin and without watery seeds!

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Step 7:

Finely chop your tomato and shallot, and mince the 1 clove of garlic. Also seed, remove the ribs and finely chop your serrano pepper (not shown). I highly suggest wearing gloves when chopping hot peppers, especially if you wear contacts as soap and water cannot and will not remove the capsaicin and you will burn the hell out of your eye. I am speaking from personal experience, unfortunately.

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Step 8:

Mush up your avocado so it's pretty smooth, but leave some chunks. Now, add everything else: shallot, garlic, cilantro, juice of 1/2 lime, tomato, red pepper flakes to taste, serrano to taste (1/4 for mild, 1 for quite spicy), chili powder (about 1/2 tsp), coriander (a pinch), cumin (about 1/2 tsp), salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce.

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Step 9:

Now cover it up and refrigerate it to let the flavors meld until you take out the carne asada to grill. Guacamole tastes best when it's cool, but not refrigerator cold. To prevent browning, put plastic wrap in contact with the guacamole. The browning is caused by oxidation, so cut out the access to oxygen, and viola, green guacamole! Putting in the pit to prevent oxidation is an old wives tale.