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| holy guacamole. |
i had an appetizer party with a bunch of friends last weekend and i was supposed to bring an app and a gf desert. in particular i was tasked with bringing a dip. sweet, i thought to myself, i love this. actually, i live for this. i love the challenge of being the master of crowd pleasers and i love the reaction i get from people when they ACTUALLY REALLY like the food that i've made.
chipotle bacon guacamole
i had previously picked up a package of preservative (nitrate, nitrite, msg) free bacon and was trying to figure out what to do with it. yes, i know, figuring out what to do with bacon shouldnt be a challenge - JUST EAT IT! as i was brainstorming dip ideas i pondered curried hummus, gf/df spinach artichoke dip, etc, etc. it came to me.
rewind back a few months ago - mark was rummaging thru the pantry looking for things to use in his traditional guacamole and found my stash of chipotles in adobo. he chopped up a few and tossed them into our usual guac and voila. marks chipotle guacamole was born. highly addictive. on a good night - mark and i can polish off a tub made from two avocados (and still be craving more).
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| vibrant ingreenients |
i figured i would make mark's mouth watering chipotle guac. in an effort to put my own personal twist on marks guacamole, i found myself staring at the package of bacon again. bacon makes EVERYTHING better. EVERYTHING. yep - you guessed it. my new plan was to crisp up that lucious piggy and then crumble it into marks rendition of guacamole.
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| money shot. |
- 4-5 avocados - ripe
- 1 package of bacon - cooked in the oven until crispy
- 1/2 small red onion - finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro - finely chopped
- 2-3 chipotles in adobe - seeds removed and chopped finely
- freshly squeezed juice from 1 lime (you may want to use 1/2 a lime first, then add more to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
to begin heat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (to make the greasy bacon clean up easier). place bacon on a wire rack (oven safe) on top of the baking sheet, making sure that there is space for the bacon grease to drip down (this will allow the bacon to crisp nicely. i baked mine around 15-20 minutes each side. remove from oven and place in between paper towels to absorb any excess grease - allow to fully cool.
meanwhile open up and remove the pit from your avocados - i typically slice them down the center lenghtwise, twist one side until it comes off (so that one side has the pit and the other is pit free). take your knife, firmly in hand and whack the center of the pit - then rotate your knife ever so slightly until the pit comes free, lift out and discard. with the flesh still intact in each half use your knife to gently slice down thru the flesh until you hit the skin (being careful to not puncture the skin), repeat in other direction so that you've made an avocado grid (hell, its the best way to describe it). using a large spoon - scoop down to the skin and remove all the flesh - it should come out in nice even dices. repeat this until all of your avo's are diced up. combine avocados in a large bowl with chopped red onion, chopped cilantro (fine, leave it out if you think it tastes like soap - you dont know what you're missing), chopped chipotles, lime juice - start off with juice from 1/2 and continue to add more to your taste preference. crumble the cooled bacon and stir 3/4 of it into the guacamole. eat 1/8 of remaining bacon in process then season lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper - stir. if there is any bacon left over toss bits on top of guacamole and bury your face in it.
this recipe yields a massive helping - definitely party size. it fed a good 10 people the day that i made it. wanna hear something wonderful? out of all the of the appetizer party attendees only ONE person brought a dish that didnt have bacon in it. great minds really do think alike. it was a porktastic app party.
