I love Guacamole… Who doesn’t?  If you don’t,  feel free to call me… we gotta talk.  Guacamole is one of those things that can transform a simple taco or fajita into “otherworldly”.  You can also just load up some chips or crunchy bread with some and you have an amazing appetizer.  I don’t know how many times Ive been to a restaurant though and it just isn’t that good.  I mean seriously… how can you screw this up?  Trust me guys, you follow these steps and you will have some serious “guac”.  

First gather your cast of characters.  Its very important to get the freshest ingredients possible ( but you knew that already, right?).  Make sure the avocados are ripe and ready to use ( when you squeeze them a bit they “give”).

I have a confession to make before I go any further.  See those tomatoes in the photo?  They look pretty don’t they?  Guess what? I didn’t use them for this recipe.  Why in the heck are they in the photo if I’m not going to use them?  Well, first off,  I needed some contrast for the photo and secondly  tomatoes normally do go in guacamole so I put these stunt tomatoes in for esthetics only… but I don’t use fresh tomatoes unless they are at their peak ( ie summer) and you shouldn’t either.  If you want your guac to shine use canned tomatoes.  HUH?  Yes, I’m telling you the truth.  I prefer San Marzanos.  They are the best and are worth every penny.  Go get you a few cans NOW.

See these beauties above.  These are New Mexico ( specifically Hatch) grown green chile. They are the New Mexico state fruit, vegetable, plant, and bird.  They go into everything here in NM.  They even go into my guac.  I love them.  Unless you live in or near NM you will probably not find these… but if you do they are great in guacamole.  Heres the catch… if you are one of the unlucky who cannot find these babies… DO NOT… let me repeat for emphasis, DO NOT used canned green chile.

You think I’m crazy now right?  I should use canned tomatoes but not green chile?  What the What?  Trust me… the stuff that comes out of those cans of green chiles aren’t green chile.  I’m not sure what it is but it ain’t green chile.  Just skip the green chile and move right into the serranos and jalapeños for the heat.  

Next dry roast you up a few cloves of garlic and whatever hot chile you are going to use.  In this case I found some good serranos.  

This is called a molcajete.  Its the Mexican version of a mortar and pestle.  The good thing about the molcajete is that its surface is very “coarse”.  Its absolutely perfect for making guacamole.  

These are the dry roasted garlic and serranos with a little added coarse sea salt.  Grind this into a paste.  Its fun.  

Nobody likes a big bite of garlic or serrano, so this is why I make a paste of it before I add the chunkier ingredients.  

I just had to show you what these Hatch green chiles look like when they are peeled.  Heaven.  

Round up the rest of your guac characters and chop and squeeze and mash until you get to the consistency that you like.  I like mine a little chunky.

Oh by the way.. that is not an orange you are seeing in this picture.  It is a Meyer lemon off my little Meyer lemon tree ( he only had 6 lemons and I figured I would use the juice of one for the guac).  Its a cross between an orange and a lemon and they are wonderful.  Limes by themselves work great though.  

And here it is.  See the chunks?  Just the way I like it.  By the way… I like to sprinkle the top with some crushed red chile for some added color and “umph”.  I’m using Aleppo red chile flakes… Very, very good.

Cheers!