Avocado Love

  

Last summer, my husband turned his routine annual medical trip to New York into a fun mini-vacation with our teen daughter. And ever since their trip,  this New York City-loving duo have been harping about the fresh guacamole they had at a Mexican restaurant.  

My engineer husband, who has been married to this ex-caterer/church cook for two decades, rarely talks about food.  Oh, he loves to eat good food, but he rarely has a full conversation about it.

So when he mentioned several times that he wanted to make guacamole like they did in that New York restaurant, (translation = Kay, please make it the way they did in that New York restaurant,) I listened.  

      

And to my delight, I spotted this handsome stone mortar and pestle at my favorite local Korean food store.  It was so heavy that the lady had to triple bag it. Now it's the most used piece of equipment on my kitchen counter.  

 And our avocado repertoire has expanded from simple guac to Edamame-Guacamole and Avocado fries.  Pretty fun and fancy, right? 

I know, it seems wrong to FRY a perfectly good avocado, but it really works, and they are just delicious: crunchy Panko exterior with the goodness of a soft, nutty inside texture.   

My kids begged for more.  

These avocado photos were also featured in
 Miss Sophie's column on Savannah Morning News today.

Print This Recipe! 

Panko Avocado Fries with Hoisin Dipping Sauce

2 firm but ripe avocados

1/2 cup of all purpose flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup+ panko bread crumbs

3/4 teaspoon sea salt divided (in flour, egg wash, panko bread crumbs)

4 cup of canola or vegetable oil for frying 

In a small deep fryer or in a cast-iron pan, heat oil to 350 degrees F. 

In three separate shallow bowls or pans, put flour, beaten eggs, and panko bread crumbs in that order.  Add 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in each.  

Halve the avocado, peel, and slice avocado into 10-12 wedges total per each avocado.   

Dredge wedges in flour, egg wash, and then finally gently roll them in panko.  

Deep fry in batches until golden brown.  Drain on a wire rack or on paper towels.  Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce.  

Hoisin Dipping Sauce 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1 teaspoon green onions, chopped 

1 tablespoon water 

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger 

1/2 teaspoon white sugar 

Combine all the ingredients and whisk until well blended.  Add more hoisin sauce if you want to thicken the sauce. Cover and refrigerate until needed.  

Gently warm in a sauce pan before serving. 

Print This Recipe!

Edamame-Guacamole 

Makes about a cup

1  avocado firm, but ripe, peeled, seeded and diced in chunks

1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed

1 small clove garlic, finely grated

2 tablespoon cilantro leaves, chopped

1 teaspoon jalapeño, chopped

2 tablespoons grated onion

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 lime, juiced

If you own a stone mortar and pestle, this is a great recipe to put it to use.  If not, use a food processor with a blade attachment.  First put into processor (or mortar) edamame, garlic, salt, cilantro, jalapeño, and pepper, and process until finely chopped.  Add lime juice and whirl a few more times to incorporate.  Add diced avocado and pulse 4-5 times until well blended.  

Serve this healthy guacamole in a pretty bowl with warmed tortilla chips.  You will need to double the recipe. It's never enough.