Appetizer Recipes
7 Ingredients for the Best Guacamole Ever!
Since it’s almost Super Bowl Sunday, what good would this blog be without a recipe for guacamole? And not to brag, but the Accidental Locavore makes the best guacamole! Here’s the key: lots of cilantro. Even if you’re not a big cilantro fan, just close your eyes and go for it, you’ll be glad you did. The other tip is to save 2-3 of the avocado pits, clean them and put them in the middle of the guacamole to keep it from discoloring.
- 4-5 really ripe Haas avocados* peeled and cut into 1/2 dice
- 1 small white onion, chopped fine
- 1 medium tomato, diced (try to find a ripe one)
- 1-2 serrano chiles, or jalapenos, depending on your heat threshold, seeded and chopped very fine
- Most of a bunch of cilantro chopped fine
- Lime juice to taste
- Salt to taste
Mix the avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, chiles, lime, and salt, slightly mashing the avocado as you mix. Taste and add additional chiles, lime and cilantro according to your taste. Put the avocado pits in the center of your bowl (see photo). Serve and enjoy.
*The big green Florida ones just have no flavor. If you can’t find good ripe avocados, go buy them now and leave them on the counter to ripen. If they’re rock hard or you’re reading this on Saturday, put them in a brown paper bag with a banana, it will speed the process.
Side Dish Recipe: Baked Aparagus Fries
The Accidental Locavore tried a recipe for asparagus fries (that aren’t even fried) to mixed results recently. Here’s the recipe adapted from spoonforkbacon and I’d love to know what you think. The prep time is a little long, depending on how many you’re doing, however it’s easy (but messy). Try to use one hand for the dredging and dipping and keep the other clean and dry for other tasks. From start to finish it will take less than an hour and feeds 4.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1lb asparagus, washed and cut in 4″ pieces
- 3/4 cups flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
Directions
 Step 1 |
|
| Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt and pepper together in a shallow bowl. Place flour in another shallow bowl. Place beaten eggs in a third shallow bowl. Dredge the asparagus spears in flour and shake off excess (not much flour will stick, but that’s okay). Dip in egg and then in panko mix. Make sure spears are thoroughly coated with crumbs. Place on cookie sheet. Lightly drizzle with olive oil. | |
| Step 2 | |
| Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy! | |
The verdict: Frank really liked them and thought they’d be a great hors d’oeuvre with a dipping sauce. Try mayo thinned out with a little lemon and some cumin. This time of year asparagus are so good, I’d rather (toss them in olive oil or mayo and) grill them. However, if you’re serving some fussy eaters, this is a good way of sneaking a veg in. What do you think?
Accidental Locavore Recipe for Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
While the Accidental Locavore doesn’t generally like to deep fry things (hate the smell of stale oil), I love stuffed zucchini flowers so I compromised between deep-fat frying and pan frying by using a high sided pan with a little less oil and it worked fine. The batter is great, light and so easy. To prep the zucchini (or squash blossoms), gently open the flower, reach in and pull out the little bump in the center. Adapted from Food Network.
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup sparkling water (seltzer is fine)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
- 1/3 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons heavy cream (I used about 1 ½ tablespoons crème fraiche)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons chives, finely chopped (you could use a scallion)
- Black pepper
- 8 zucchini blossoms
- Vegetable oil, for frying (I used a mix of olive oil and vegetable oil)
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, water and salt until just smooth. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream or crème fraiche, basil and chives. Mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently open the petals and spoon 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of filling into each blossom. Close the blossoms and gently twist the petals to seal.
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan pour enough oil to fill the pan, about 2” deep. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (If you don’t have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 1 minute.) Dip the stuffed zucchini blossoms in the batter and allow any excess batter to drip off. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Allow the cooked blossoms to drain on paper towels. Season with salt, serve and enjoy.
Recipe: Great Guacamole
As long as the Accidental Locavore has been on sort of a Mexican kick, here’s how I make guacamole. Since it’s so simple, it’s always surprised me that whenever I make guacamole everyone goes crazy for it. The secret is lots of cilantro. Even if you’re not a big cilantro fan, just close your eyes, and go for it. The other tip is to save 2-3 of the avocado pits, clean them and put them in the middle of the guacamole to keep it from discoloring.
- 4-5 really ripe Haas avocados (the big green Florida ones, just have no flavor), peeled and cut into 1/2 dice
- 1 small white onion chopped fine
- 1 good sized ripe tomato, diced
- 1-2 serrano chiles, or jalapenos, depending on your heat threshold, seeded and chopped very fine
- Most of a bunch of cilantro chopped fine
- Lime juice to taste
- Salt to taste
Mix the avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, chiles, lime, and salt, slightly mashing the avocado as you mix. Taste and add additional chiles, lime and cilantro according to your taste. Serve and enjoy. Put the pits in the middle of the serving bowl (see photo) to prevent browning.
