While there may be an absurd number of "who made this a thing" food-related days on the calendar, Natinoal Guacamole Day is one that most everyone can probably get behind.
Pati Jinich joined "Good Morning America" during Hispanic Heritage Month to share a few recipes that take the beloved mashed avocado appetizer and side to the next level.
The Mexican chef, bestselling cookbook author of "Treasures of the Mexican Table" and James Beard Award-winning TV personality, shared three riffs on guac to mix up at home.
Tres Chiles Guacamole
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 to 3 ripe avocados halved, pitted and pulp cut into chunks or roughly mashed
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (more or less to taste)
1 jalapeño, minced
1 dried chile de árbol, minced
1 serrano, minced
Zest of 1 lime
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
5 ounces (1 cup) multi-colored cherry tomatoes halved
Optional garnishes -- more tomatoes and queso fresco
Directions
Gently mix and mash the avocados, lime juice, and salt in a bowl.
Place the jalapeño, chile de árbol, serrano, lime zest, and cilantro in a molcajete or mortar and pestle and mash and mix until pasty. Combine with the avocado mixture and mash until you reach your desired consistency. Fold in the tomatoes, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Tips:
You can mix and match the chiles! Chiles love the company of other chiles, here I added jalapeño, serrano and chile de arbol. But if you want more heat you can add habanero. If you don’t have chile de arbol, you can use piquin or red chile flakes. You can also add chipotles in adobo sauce. I kept it at 3 chile guacamole, but it can be a double chile, a trio or up to however many you want to add.
Here we have cherry or grape tomatoes, but you can also use other tomatoes and dice them.
Ginger and Pistachio Guacamole
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 to 3 ripe avocados halved, pitted and pulp cut into chunks or roughly mashed
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon honey1 to 2 teaspoons dried piquín chiles, crushed or chopped¼ cup coarsely chopped pistachios, plus a couple tablespoons for garnish1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Directions
Gently mix and mash the avocados, lime juice, and salt in a bowl.
In a medium bowl, mix the ginger, honey, and dried piquín until thoroughly combined. Add to the avocado mixture, mash and mix. Add the ¼ cup chopped pistachios and mix until well combined. Garnish with the remaining pistachios and fresh chives.
Tips:
You wil be surprised how the bit of honey makes the flavor and heat of the chile and ginger shine. You can also play with maple or agave syrup.
I added pistachios because I love how they pair with avocado. But you can play with other juts or seeds! Cashews, pine nuts, peanuts ---and pumpkin or sunflower seeds are amazing here too.
Smoky Guacamole
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 to 3 ripe avocados halved, pitted and pulp cut into chunks or roughly mashed
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (more or less to taste)
1 serrano or jalapeño chile (more or less to taste)
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 slice of white onion about 1/2-inch thick
3 tablespoons cilantro leaves and upper stems coarsely chopped
Optional garnishes -chicharrones, cooked Mexican chorizo, crisp bacon bites
Directions
Gently mix and mash the avocados, lime juice, and salt in a bowl.
Place the chile, unpeeled garlic and onion slice on a pre-heated comal or skillet set over medium heat, or place under the broiler on a sheet pan. Char or roast for about 10 minutes, flipping occasionally so they char evenly, until blackened. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the garlic and cut the stem from the chile.
Coarsely chop the chile, garlic and onion, and place in bowl or molcajete and mash or mix until pasty. Combine with the avocado mixture, along with the cilantro, and mash until you reach your desired consistency (I like it chunky).
Can garnish with crumbled chicharrones, cooked Mexican chorizo or bacon.
Tips:
You can roast or char other ingredients too. For example, corn, scallions and other kinds of chiles. You can up or down the quantity of garlic too ad make it as garlicky as you want.
Also, play with the garnishes, some options are chicharrones, chorizo or bacon. But you could skip the meat and add crab meat, diced shrimp -and take it to a seafood route!
Recipes reprinted courtesy Pati Jinich.
