Food Friday: Guacamole

Though he is an otherwise completely constrained eater with no interest in experimentation, JT loves guacamole. He loves it so much that he asked for guacamole tacos for his birthday supper. Guacamole tacos are a Mama innovation made with a fried corn tortilla filled with guacamole and grated cheese.

I made that dish for his birthday on Tuesday and took pictures along the way so that I could write up my recipe for guacamole. I make a traditional guacamole; it's incredibly simple to create.

2-3 ripe avocados (slightly soft to the touch, but with a hint of firmness to hand)
fresh lemon juice
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
freshly ground pepper
red pepper flakes
salt to taste
fresh tomato, seeded and finely chopped (Note: a fresh, home-grown tomato is best....mine came from Chile and probably consumed all sorts of greenhouse gases to make it's way north. Normally I would not buy a tomato in February....but it was for celebratory guacamole, so I felt my values could be compromised).

Slice the avocado in half, taking care of the pit in the center.
Separate the halves (scoop out the pit and reserve it) and then use your knife to cube the avocado while it's still in the shell. Your avocado halves should look like this:
Once all the avocado halves have been cubed, scoop the cubes into a bowl. Once completed, your shells will the empty of avocado; they will look like this:
The cubes in the bowl, look like this:
Add a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper, the juice of a lemon slice or two (start with less and add as much lemon as you like), and the minced garlic. Using a fork, mash the avocado and mix it with the salt, pepper, lemon juice, and garlic. I prefer a smooth texture, but you may wish for some chunks to remain.
Mix well and sprinkle with red pepper flakes; mix well again. If you have fresh tomato, stir that in now. Serve immediately; keep a pit or two in the center of your bowl as it will help the avocado to stay fresh green (the tomato and lemon will also help).
You'll need to eat it all.....guacamole doesn't keep in the fridge very well (it will taste fine, but the color darkens and looks yucky). But don't worry about that because the Iron Law of Guacamole states: there are never any leftovers.