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Good avocados are relatively quite cheap in New Zealand. As I like avocados (and my wife adores them) this is generally a good thing. But right now we have a big honking bag of them, and I could use some ideas.
Looking through five pages of Recipezaar brought up dozens of recipes for guacamole by a handful of different names, a couple of drink and pie recipes, and some recipes for facial masks.
I've put avocados in burritos, in sandwiches with chicken and tomatoes, in salads... And, not surprisingly, in guacamole. If anyone has something a little more original to suggest, I would *love* to hear it.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Diced on top of chili or thick soup, or my personal favorite: cut in half, remove pit, eat with spoon straight out of skin.
Pies, huh? My Hawaiian friend used to mix hers with sugar. To my unsuspecting palate, thinking I was about to eat a yummy guacamole, that was just wrong!
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I love to eat them straight, too! They are also good with a tuna salad (curried is nice) piled on top.
I love bacon, avocado, and mayo sandwiches on toast (honey wheat is best.) Also a good addition to tuna, ham, turkey, and a ton of other sandwiches.
And my dad gets hard, underripe ones and fries them tempura-style. HEAVENLY! Especially dipped in soy or teriyaki sauce. (They have to be hard and underripe or they get too mushy and fall apart.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Also, make sure rivka sees this thread. Her parents have a tree, I'm sure she has some interesting things to do with them.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My grandmother made a tasty avocado grapefruit salad.
On a plate place one large lettuce leaf of whatever type you prefer. Then take some sectioned deskinned grapefruit and alternate the sections with avocado slices. Top with catalina or french dressing.
Posts: 686 | Registered: Sep 2001
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Well, let's see, Sterling, you could send some of those avocados my way...
I found a great new recipe idea in an Italian cookbook for a very easy salad: tomatoes (sliced), avocados (sliced), fresh mozarella (sliced) and basil (chopped). You can either layer them on top of each other, or mix them in a bowl like I did. There's not a fixed quantity -use more or less of whichever ingredient. For dressing I used my favorite balsamic vinaigrette. It was very easy, fresh and light.
Posts: 155 | Registered: Jul 2006
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Actually, we go through them so quickly plain, I rarely bother to do anything with them -- unless you count guac, sandwiches, or sushi. (And while I eat them in sushi, I must admit I'm almost never the one who puts them there. )
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I like them sliced on whole wheat toast with a poached egg on top. Sliced tomato and/or hollandaise sauce optional.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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No, really, we go through them so fast we can't do anything but guac, salads, sandwiches, or plain, either. We just don't have time, the kids snatch them right out of my hands!
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My friends makes a really healthy salad with: Fresh kale Sweet corn (off the cob) sliced avocado sea salt fresh ground pepper olive oil fresh squeezed lemon juice and I *think* pine nuts.
Delicious! I don't know anything about using them in baked or frozen things. Have you tried a recipe search at foodnetwork.com?
It really, really is. I want some RIGHT NOW. I think I know what I'm asking for for my birthday dinner (he still cooks me a birthday dinner every year.)
He used to make shrimp tempura to go with it, too. But I don't like shrimp much.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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An Avocado sandwich is the best. I love them, the local health food store/juice bar makes them.
Take whatever bread you think is good, scoop out the Avocado and spread it on the bread, add some sprouts, tomato, other veggies of choice, a slice of your favorite cheese, a bit of dressing or mayo, a pinch of assorted spices to taste, and bada-bing bada-boom, a healthy tasty veggie sandwich. Delightful.
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I like sandwiches like that-- but I don't like the avocado spread. I think it ruins the creamy texture. I slice it and pile it high instead. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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The tempura sounds lovely. Unfortunately I don't have access to my preferred deep-frying medium (big electric skillet- good for getting oil to specific temperatures.)
I also love some of the salad ideas, especially Dark as night's- I'll have to go a bit afield and see if I can find some fresh basil and mozzerella. I bought a basil plant from the tiny local grocer, but the poor thing has nearly been picked clean.
Sandwiches tonight.
Thanks for all the ideas!
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Sterling, my dad distrusts all electric frying media (although I agree with you-- electric skillets are great, that's all I make fried chicken in), he just uses a big wok and a candy thermometer. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:I bought a basil plant from the tiny local grocer, but the poor thing has nearly been picked clean.
Did you transplant it so it can grow nice and big? Pick the buds off so it won't go to seed? (The flowers taste really good in salad and soup, btw.)
Or was it just small and you used it all up before giving it time to grow? (If that's the case, next time get three or four! You can have yourself a little windowbox full of basil. )
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:I bought a basil plant from the tiny local grocer, but the poor thing has nearly been picked clean.
Did you transplant it so it can grow nice and big? Pick the buds off so it won't go to seed? (The flowers taste really good in salad and soup, btw.)
Or was it just small and you used it all up before giving it time to grow? (If that's the case, next time get three or four! You can have yourself a little windowbox full of basil. )
Sadly, that's where the "tiny town in northern New Zealand" thing comes in. I got the only basil plant that was available within half an hour's drive.
It continues to survive, but I'm trying to give it a little time to recover. If I want more than about a tablespoon of fresh basil, I have some driving in my future.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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*nods* Understandable. In that case you COULD let this one go to seed, and next spring you'd have probably 4 or 5 plants...
Oh, and I forgot one of the best avocado foods ever-- the teriyaki avocado bacon cheeseburger. You grill hamburgers like, you know, regular, and then as they're finishing brush with teriyaki sauce on both sides for, like, a glaze. Then top with a slice of cheese, lettuce and tomato (if you like them), crispy bacon, avocado, and onion or sprouts, if you like, on a big bun with mayo and more teriyaki sauce. It's a specialty of a local chain around here called Yaki's, and it's divine.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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In the summertime, I like to make a cold avocado and grapefruit soup. I puree ripe avocados and pulpy grapefruit juice (I prefer white, because it doesn't muddy the color) with the blender. And that's it. Very simple. Salt and spice is optional.
I love the combination of avocado and grapefruit, and will mix them together for a salad, sometimes with fresh pineapple. You get a great combination of tangy, juicy, creamy, rich, and sweet. Sprinkling it with kosher salt is a good thing.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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*nods* The avocado is treated like a sweet fruit in the Philippines. I've had very yummy avocado milkshakes and avocado ice cream at several Filipino friends' houses.
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Tasting a somewhat underripe avocado today, it was rather surprising how much the flavor was like a citrus fruit. I tend to think of the flavor of avocados (ripe ones, anyway) as kind've smooth and smoky.
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Oh, and I forgot one of the best avocado foods ever-- the teriyaki avocado bacon cheeseburger. You grill hamburgers like, you know, regular, and then as they're finishing brush with teriyaki sauce on both sides for, like, a glaze. Then top with a slice of cheese, lettuce and tomato (if you like them), crispy bacon, avocado, and onion or sprouts, if you like, on a big bun with mayo and more teriyaki sauce. It's a specialty of a local chain around here called Yaki's, and it's divine.
(drool)
That sounds exquisite. 'Course, my wife is trying to diet, so she might do me bodily harm if I serve her a bacon avocado cheeseburger for dinner.
...Though she might thank me later. That does sound really good. May have to consider it.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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You could sort of make it healthy by using a grilled chicken breast instead of the hamburger. Also very, very good.
---
We usually eat them as halves out of the skin, sprinkled with kosher salt & pepper and drizzled with olive oil. They are also a tasty addition to a Greek salad.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I like to halve it, pop out the pit (and why in the world is the pit so BIG? It's really excessive. Other fruits get by with petite pits. But I digress.), sprinkle the half with kosher salt or (or maybe and) lime juice, and eat it with a spoon. The skin acts like a bowl, and I scrape out the last bits of 'cadoey goodness from the bottom of it.
It's my once-in-a-while treat.
And, in general, I prefer the green, smooth-skinned Florida avocados to the black, pebbly-skinned California avocados. The black ones are richer, but the green are juicier, and lighter, and don't leave me feeling like I need a swig of seltzer to clear my palate.
For spreading on toast like butter, though, go with a soft, ripe California avocado. They are indeed buttery.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Florida avocados are watery and lack substance. Give me a California Hass or Fuerte every time.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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It's a small tree, and this year it is not having the ridiculous bumper crop of last year. Also -- and here's the important part -- it's my parents' tree, not mine. The kids and I get lots of 'em, but not as many as people seem to be thinking.
OTOH, I'm sure my parents could spare a couple. Not sure how to ship any in a way that would get past the state agriculture folks (although that may be only an incoming concern in California, and does NJ have such an organization) and not have them arrived bruised and battered.
You figure that out, and I'm sure we can ship you a few. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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