Guacamole dip

[Kayelle]

Phew!!

Yes, I think it's best with salty corn chips but it will be good however one chooses to enjoy it.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I am not sure how long it takes for a Hass tree to mature, but I can guarantee a Florida avocado would take many years before it would be able to produce and hold edible fruit.
Florida avocado trees can be 30-40 foot tall and as wide as a house.

Are the Hass trees like this? You did say bush?

Haas trees in nearby Ventura County avocado groves average about (in my observation) about 20 feet height. In my old residence about 12 miles south (from here, Valencia, about the same distance east of the Ventura County avocado groves) some of my neighbors had avocado trees/bushes about 8-12 feet tall. The squirrels loved them!!!

I see no reason why I can't buy a 3-5 year old avocado "bush" and get fruit the first season. They get bigger you get more avocados (and more squirrels) but even 6-8 foot bushes produce plenty of avocados.

Remember our So.Cal. climate. There are many varieties of plants that produce here all year round instead of seasonal like in colder climates. For example, chili bushes produce chilis year round for me. Of course things like figs, plumbs and apricots come only when the season is right.

I've never had an avocado tree/bush. I suspect it will be seasonal like the other fruits.

It's nice to have chilis year round. Too bad my new chili plants are too small to produce out of season.

Here in So.Cal. we have a very wide tomato season, although they do quit producing mid-winter.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Could you train the avocado tree to grow horizontally, making it easier to reach all the avocados???

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Nix on the mix for me. We have avocados year round although during the winter they come in on wings (and cost more).

I agree that lime is preferable to lemon.

I'll try freezing it some time just as an experiment. Why you'd freeze it I don't know. Around here fresh guac lasts as long as there is any left in the bowl.

I just had some tonight, with crackers. My usual recipe: everything that looks okay except the kitchen sink.

Here's a question for the group: fresh minced garlic or garlic powder?

 

[Dawgluver]

I usually don't use any garlic product in mine. Sometimes I use Pace picante, other times just a bit of lime juice, chopped onion, and a few squirts of hot sauce.

According to my BIL, Costco guac freezes well, not sure that my home made stuff would fare as well.

PF, I don't think avocado trees are trainable. The ones I've grown from pits are lanky and brittle, and the pics I've seen of the trees don't look vine-like.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Garlic Powder over Minced Garlic. The powder is not as harsh and has a sweeter taste.

 

[Kayelle]

Always garlic powder for Guac. I use Meyer lemon juice instead of limes...why buy a lime when I have a Meyer tree?

Yes Greg, if you buy at least a 20 gallon Hass tree you'll have mature fruit by next year in your yard. I wouldn't call them a "bush" at that size. I hope you invite us all to the the planting by way of pictures!

ps..we are still picking ripe tomatoes.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Things I like guacamole on:

Steak
Blt
Hamburger
Chips, especially corn chips
Spoon
Tortillas, especially corn tortillas
Tacos
Burritos
Rolled tacos
Nachos
Fajitas
Sausage and cream cheese stuffed jalepenos that were cooked on a grill
Chicken
Corriander and garlic seasoned pork chops
Celery, carrot, and cucumber sticks (avocados are technically a fruit so I think guac is fine as a dip for veggies)
Sandwiches and subs (pastrami on rye with guacamole is really good and I don't care how much of an abomination it might seem to be)
Grilled shrimp kabobs
Some types of fish but it's kind of hit and miss for me and the fish has to be fire grilled. But then, fish in generally is rather hit and miss for me so, ya know
Leftover shredded beef made into sandwiches
Crackers
Chunks of bread
"Mexican" omelette (and some other omelettes too)
Grilled mushroom caps

I'm sure there is other stuff too.

I have a few varieties that I make but the most common is to scoop the avocado into a bowl, add a splash of lime, a squirt/drop/splash of some hot sauce, about 6 grape tomatoes that I've cut in half width wise, and then I mash it all together with a wire potato masher.

I've also made it in the blender and added just a teaspoon (eating not measuring) of sour cream, lime, avocado, corriander, hot sauce, and a little black pepper. I blend it until it is super smooth and almost fluffy. I use this one exclusively as a spread for sandwhiches and subs. I prefer something chunkier for pretty much everything else, but this makes a good sandwich spread.

 

[LPBeier]

Always garlic powder for Guac. I use Meyer lemon juice instead of limes...why buy a lime when I have a Meyer tree?

Yes Greg, if you buy at least a 20 gallon Hass tree you'll have mature fruit by next year in your yard. I wouldn't call them a "bush" at that size. I hope you invite us all to the the planting by way of pictures!

ps..we are still picking ripe tomatoes.

You have your own Meyer tree? Colour me very jealous I love Meyers.

I use granulated garlic in my guac.

 

[Dawgluver]

Kayelle, you're a showoff! Here are the last of my tomatoes, picked green in October, though some look more like raisins now:

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Here's a great vehicle for guacamole' It's a favorite in our house. I give you (drum roll please) the California Pita Sandwich.
Ingredients:
Pita bread, cut into two halves
Washed bean sprouts
Thinly sliced, against the grain, rare sirloin steak
thin sliced tomato

Make a pocket in you pita, and fill with all of the above. You can put cheese, and mayo in this wonderful blend of foods, but it's not required.

One more great sandwich, from me to you.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Always garlic powder for Guac. I use Meyer lemon juice instead of limes...why buy a lime when I have a Meyer tree?

Yes Greg, if you buy at least a 20 gallon Hass tree you'll have mature fruit by next year in your yard. I wouldn't call them a "bush" at that size. I hope you invite us all to the the planting by way of pictures!

ps..we are still picking ripe tomatoes.

Yes for sure. My main problem is that I have a huge back yard and I will need to come up with a master plan before I start planting willly-nilly. The stupid builder slanted all the lots to drain back towards the houses. I had to install a French drain just to keep my patio dry when the sprinklers ran. I bet the back of my yard is 6 feet higher than my patio!

There is only one solution: terraces. I will have to decide where the terrace lines go, and presuming my guess is right, I'll have to establish a patio level plus 2-4 terrace levels, before I plant anything significant.

But at least some good news, I plan to live here for the rest of my life so the expenses will dwindle in significance.

 

[Kayelle]

Yes for sure. My main problem is that I have a huge back yard and I will need to come up with a master plan before I start planting willly-nilly. The stupid builder slanted all the lots to drain back towards the houses. I had to install a French drain just to keep my patio dry when the sprinklers ran. I bet the back of my yard is 6 feet higher than my patio!

There is only one solution: terraces. I will have to decide where the terrace lines go, and presuming my guess is right, I'll have to establish a patio level plus 2-4 terrace levels, before I plant anything significant.

But at least some good news, I plan to live here for the rest of my life so the expenses will dwindle in significance.

And at some point in the rest of your life we will get some desperately needed rain here, as I break out into song..."It never rains in southern California, it pours, man it pours"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zESYDjWrpbA

 

[taxlady]

Yeah, SoCal and rain. I went to school in the L.A. School District. Technically we were eligible for rain days, but I don't remember ever having school cancelled for rain. I wonder what their standards were. I can remember walking home from school many times and crossing streets in knee deep water.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I don't recall school (LAUSD) ever been canceled for anything weather related.

We DON'T have seasons in Los Angeles! We have summers with a few monsoon-like storms (mild) occasionally, we have occasional "rain events" in the winter. We sometimes have "wind events." I don't recall when rain storms and windy days turned into "rain events" and "wind events."

Maybe the weather forecasters got tired of being wrong and decided a bit of technical lingo would help their image...

I can tell you that for sure if you ever set a bucket out in your back yard it would never fill up. Any rain would always evaporate before the bucket could fill or between storms.

Here in So.Cal. it's far more likely that your bucket would burn down before it fills up with water. This does not include situations when firefighters are involved. In that case your bucket could either fill up with water (from hoses), burn down, or both.

I had a fire in my fireplace today. It extinguished when I turned the switch off.

It wasn't really cold. Sometimes I have the fireplace on and the air conditioner on at the same time.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Haas trees in nearby Ventura County avocado groves average about (in my observation) about 20 feet height. In my old residence about 12 miles south (from here, Valencia, about the same distance east of the Ventura County avocado groves) some of my neighbors had avocado trees/bushes about 8-12 feet tall. The squirrels loved them!!!

I see no reason why I can't buy a 3-5 year old avocado "bush" and get fruit the first season. They get bigger you get more avocados (and more squirrels) but even 6-8 foot bushes produce plenty of avocados.

Remember our So.Cal. climate. There are many varieties of plants that produce here all year round instead of seasonal like in colder climates. For example, chili bushes produce chilis year round for me. Of course things like figs, plumbs and apricots come only when the season is right.

I've never had an avocado tree/bush. I suspect it will be seasonal like the other fruits.

It's nice to have chilis year round. Too bad my new chili plants are too small to produce out of season.

Here in So.Cal. we have a very wide tomato season, although they do quit producing mid-winter.

I don't see why either. And why do you refer the avocado tree as a bush? I have never seen an avocado bush.
I guess if you keep it low and full, it would be technically a bush?

Could you train the avocado tree to grow horizontally, making it easier to reach all the avocados???

They train apple and peach trees here in a way they can be picked from the ground or a small ladder they can carry around.
They prune the trees so the tops are flat and the tree never gets very tall.

Here's a great vehicle for guacamole' It's a favorite in our house. I give you (drum roll please) the California Pita Sandwich.
Ingredients:
Pita bread, cut into two halves
Washed bean sprouts
Thinly sliced, against the grain, rare sirloin steak
thin sliced tomato

Make a pocket in you pita, and fill with all of the above. You can put cheese, and mayo in this wonderful blend of foods, but it's not required.

One more great sandwich, from me to you.

In the vault Chief. Sounds great!

 

[msmofet]

You've pointed out a very IMPORTANT concept of guacamole. Don't puree it!

Believe me, I'm an honorary Mexican because I was born and grew up in So.Cal. I spend a lot of time in San Diego and I don't know why but it appears to me we have a more active Mexican community in Los Angeles even though further north.

Don't use a blender or food processor on guacamole. If you have dried spices, grind them with mortar and pestle. Then chop the tomatoes, garlic, onions, cilantro, whatever. Add your salt and whatever other spices, and then mash it all with a tablespoon but stop while it is still lumpy!

If you don't see small avocado chunks in your guacamole then you went too far!

I use a pastry cutter to "smoosh" my avocados (and hard boiled eggs for egg salad) for guac which leaves it chunky.

 

[taxlady]

I use a pastry cutter to "smoosh" my avocados (and hard boiled eggs for egg salad) for guac which leaves it chunky.

That's brilliant. I'm going to steal that idea.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I use a pastry cutter to "smoosh" my avocados (and hard boiled eggs for egg salad) for guac which leaves it chunky.

We also use one to start out the mashed/smashed potato's.
Clever yet so simple.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

@ Roll Bones, a bush is just a small tree. Small avocado specimens look like bushes.

@ Mofet, a tablespoon works fine for me. Making guac is not a science.