Eva's Chunky Guacamole on my Black Bean Taco
I’m a cookbook junkie, so when I saw Eva Longoria on Piers Morgan chatting up her guacamole, I thought, really? But I believe that she loves to cook and eat, and any girl from Texas has got to have a better guacamole recipe than I do. Last night, I tried out her much-touted recipe for chunky guacamole, which is, as its name would suggest, cut into chunks, rather than mashed all together. At first I was skeptical, because I love a mushy guac, and I always use lime, where she uses lemon. Eva, congrats. It was amazing. The lemon is nice and sweet, and the chilies are hot, and the whole thing is so fresh and summery. Instead of piling it up on chips, I warmed up some corn tortillas, and made my own fat-free refried black beans (about 3 cans drained and rinsed black beans, 1/4 cup water, a good palmful each of cumin, coriander, and mild chili powder, and then a sprinkling of cinnamon, warmed up over a medium flame and slightly mashed), and piled up warm corn tortilla tacos with the black beans, some super sharp English white cheddar, and the chunk guac on top. We were so desperate for the stuff that between the three of us, we at 6 avocados.
I confess that part of my motivation behind doing this giveaway was that I could get to make some Mexican food, which I sorely miss when I’m in London. America is so full of great ethnic foods, because we all come from every end of the Earth. In my house, it was always French and Moroccan. But Eva was pretty lucky to grow up on guacamole. To win a free copy of Eva Longoria’s cookbook Eva’s Kitchen, which does include this chunky guacamole recipe, leave a comment with your favorite ethnic dish from growing up, or what imported cuisine you just can’t get enough of. For me, it’s a tie between Mémé’s Moroccan olive stew and, of course, guacamole. I’ll choose a comment a random next Thursday! In the meantime, I suggest you make this guacamole…
Also in the meantime, I want to give a little shout-out to Mr. English, who actually created his own recipe for the occasion, a kind of Agua Fresca. He muddled together fresh mint leaves from the garden, sliced limes, and a simple syrup I showed him how to construct by heating together equal parts water and raw sugar. Then, he topped it off with sparkling water. It’s perfect summer, and counteracts the heat in those chili peppers.
Mr. English's Agua Fresca
This giveaway closes Thursday, May 19, 2011 at midnight EST.
Ingredients
- 6 ripe avocados, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 4 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 1 large white onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves chopped
- 1 serrano pepper, finely minced
- Juice from 4 small lemons (about 8 tablespoons)
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt or to taste
PROCEDUREIn a large bowl, place the avocadoes, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, serrano, lemon juice, and salt. Stir gently until well combined.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.
NOTES
Because I am in London, I have to admit that I had to do some substitutions. I couldn't find a serrano chili, so I used a long red unlabeled chili that they had at the supermarket. No white onions, so I used red. No Kosher salt, so I used Maldon. It tasted amazing, so it's a resilient recipe.
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Huevos Rancheros, hands down. But not the typical recipes–they have to be like the ones at this restaurant 1892 in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s a poached egg in the black beans with tortilla strips scattered on top and tons of cheese. It is the most amazing Huevos Rancheros I’ve ever had.
Gnocchi (My Grandmother’s)
I came by your website looking for a good black bean recipe, I am so glad I did. I found this this healthier version of refried black bleans via gourmet http://tinyurl.com/3veww5h. I think I’ll skip rachel rays mexican rice and make your delicious guac tacos instead 😉
Gina–I’m so glad you found me! How were the tacos?
As mundane as it may sound, when I was a lad in the 50’s, tacos were new and exotic to my family when introduced by a California relative. I make them at least once every couple of weeks for my kids.
It’s hard to do that because I grew up with a mom who cooked internationally and my father was from France, but grew up in Morocco during WWI. To pare it down more, I’ll say these were my favorites: dolmades (Lebanese style), Gyros (of course made with lamb!), Paella, Coq au Vin, pate avec truffes, Bulgogi, Mandoo, Pancit, Kalbi, Curries, Haupia, Kalua Pork, Chicken Long Rice, Lau Lau, and many more…. My children have learned to enjoy international cuisine, too, as I’ve continued to make many here at home, we’ve moved with the military and we always embrace the culture where we live so that means we eat the local food, and we’ve been blessed to know families who cook in their native dishes, too.
Dianne–that food history sounds amazing! I don’t even know what some of those dishes are, or where they come from. Would you mind telling us more about it?
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