Guacamole

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!  We spent the evening on a friend's rooftop, where we could see fireworks in every direction.  It was spectacular!  And all of the fireworks were just far enough away that I wasn't irrationally afraid of them, like I often am.  Win!



The 4th is a particularly big celebration in the Monkey Scientist's family because so many family birthdays fall right around the holiday.  We've had a blast celebrating all week long, and it will continue this weekend!  For our birthday gift to the Monkey Scientist's brother and his girlfriend, we gave them this mortar and pestle from Sur la Table that I just love!  Not only is it made of volcanic rock, it's a little pig! Too cute. Of course we gave it to them on the 4th so that we could make guac for the party.



Much overdue to all of you, here is my go-to guacamole recipe.  I guess over the years I've adapted it from a plethora of recipes out on the web and made it my own.  We make it all the time - especially for big parties or family dinners.  It goes great on burgers, tacos, or just with chips.  It's the perfect treat for the summertime!  If you're not familiar with tomatillos, they're often sold with the tomatoes and avocados.  They look like miniature green tomatoes but they naturally have a paper-like outside that easily peels off.  They can be a bit sticky but that comes off with a good rinse under cold water.  They're the secret to my famous guacamole!



Guacamole

Ingredients
3 ripe avocados, removed from skins, pitted, and cut into chunks
1 medium to large tomatillo, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1 jalapeño, diced
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like spicy)

Instructions
1. Add the avocado, tomatillo, garlic, and jalapeño to a large bowl or mortar.  Smash with the back of a spoon, a potato masher, or a pestle until only small chunks remain.
2. Add the lime juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and stir to incorporate.

Mango Guacamole (Taco night!)

We hadn't had a taco night in a loooong time. When the roommate suggested taco night, even though it wasn't Tuesday, the Monkey Scientist and I were totally on board! Tacos might just be the easiest, tastiest dinner I can think of it.  We actually ate before 9 (which around our place lately has been a struggle)!

These were turkey tacos, of course seasoned with a full batch of my favorite taco seasoning.  I swear, this taco seasoning is so good, you won't even remember that you used turkey instead of beef.  On a side note, where on earth are those adorable measuring spoons my mom gave me, featured so prominently in that taco seasoning post? I swear, moving has caused me to misplace SO many things.  I'll have to investigate and figure out where they ended up. Hopefully they aren't still back in DC with my oven thermometer!



Oh yeah, tacos. So the special element of these tacos was a mango guacamole we made up on the fly.  It added the perfect sweetness to counter the spicy meat. And by spicy, I mean the Monkey Scientist only had to add 2 kinds of hot sauce to his tacos to make them hit his flavor pallet. Plus salsa.  I swear, he's burned off all of his taste buds. I might just start snaking ghost chilis into his food - do you think he'd notice?

P.S. What do you think of our new dining room area?  I'm so excited to have a slightly bigger table. And it looks extra great with the flowers my bff sent us!



Mango Guacamole

Ingredients
3 ripe avocados, pitted, removed from skins, and cubed
2 shallots, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced
1 tomatillo, diced
1 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and cubed

Instructions
1. Add avocado, shallots, garlic, lime juice, jalapeno, tomatillo and cayenne to a medium bowl. Mash with a potato masher until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add mango cubes and stir to incorporate. Serve on tacos.

Carnitas Pizza with Guacamole

The Monkey Scientist and I have been experimenting with carnitas lately. There is nothing like delicious shredded pork. We've tried making it in both the Dutch oven and the CrockPot but I haven't decided which tasted better. Since we had so many leftovers, we decided to make a carnitas pizza!



I have to admit (and maybe you've noticed) that I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food. It's surprising since I love spicy food, but between the cilantro and corn tortillas there are so many things I don't like at all. I was excited that this recipe let me bring in all of the Mexican flavors I like in a familiar favorite - pizza.

I loved how this came together. The Monkey Scientist picked up the dough at the Italian market in Cleveland Park. It has wonderful flavor and came out nice and crispy on the edges. The pizza was the perfect combination of spicy, cheesy and tangy. I liked the hot pizza topped by the cool guacamole as well, it was a nice contrast. This is the guacamole recipe I always use (usually with chips of course) and I adore it! Next time we may try to make this pizza on the grill like Mom does - I bet it would be fantastic!



Carnitas Pizza with Guacamole
carnitas adapted from My Baking Addiction
pizza adapted from What's Gabby Cooking?
guacamole is a yelleBELLYboo original

Ingredients
Carnitas
1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 pork butt (ours was 2 1/2 lb)
3/4 c cider vinegar
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 can chipotles in adobo, roughly chopped
2 oranges, juiced
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 bottle beer
Pizza
1 batch pizza dough
1/2 jar salsa
1 bag shredded Mexican cheese
1/2 can fire-roasted chiles
2 tbsp adobo sauce from chipotles in adobo
Guacamole
2 ripe avocados, diced
2 tomatillos, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime, juiced
Salt and pepper
Dash cayenne
Dash cumin

Instructions
Carnitas
1. Rinse pork under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Place onions in Crock pot. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper. Rub to cover the roast. Place roast on top of onions.
3. Mix remaining ingredients and add to Crock pot. Add water to just cover pork.
4. Cook on low 10-12 hours.
5. Remove meat and onions from Crock pot. Chop or shred meat and onions. Add a bit of the cooking liquid for flavor.
Pizza
1. Preheat the oven to 500.
2. Carefully stretch dough to the size of your pizza pan or cookie sheet.
3. Top with salsa, then cheese, chiles, and adobo.
4. Bake 8 minutes, remove from onion. Top with shredded carnitas (maybe 2/3 c worth).
5. Return to oven and bake an additional 4 minutes.  Let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
Guacamole
1. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl.
2. Mash with a potato masher or the back of a fork until well combined.
3. Smear on top of each slice of pizza.