Things to do with avocados when you're dead

[Fat Guy]

I've recently been contemplating the uses for avocados. If I may set a ground rule: I'm not interested in recipes to which avocado can be added. I'm looking for dishes where the avocado is the main event. I've already heard of guacamole, as well as consumed enough of it in my lifetime to kill most people. Let's also skip over "Just squeeze lemon on it!" -- I know that one. What else?

[Dave the Cook]

Just squeeze lime juice on it.

Okay: I usually peel the seeded halves and slice them thin. Serve with orange sections and a dressing with olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, ancho and brown sugar.

[fodgycakes]

I love taking a really ripe one, putting it in a glass with some crushed ice and pouring on either sweetened condensed milk or regular milk and sugar. Mash that around a bit and eat as is, or blend for an avocado shake.

Also delicious is making a blended margarita with some avocado and a bit of cilantro thrown into the blender.

[andiesenji]

Avocado soup is spectacular and delicious. It can be mild, spicy, lemony, curried and numerous other flavor enhancements.

Here is one for avocado guacamole soup.

one from West Africa\

Cucumber Avocado soup fantastic on a hot day.

one with spinach and you can also use sorrel.

One that is good hot or cold.

And for desserts, check the blender avocado cheesecake I have made this several times and it gets rave reviews every time.

The avocado lime pudding and the avocado margarita chiffon pie are also winners.

[phatj]

Sliced avocado. Salt. Done.

[aprilmei]

Has anybody ever tried Sylvia Plath's way of eating avocados (as described in The Bell Jar): halve the avocado and fill the centre with melted grape jelly. I've been curious about that ever since I read it. She (the character) says it's wonderful but then of course, she was mentally ill (not that being mentally ill precludes the ability to enjoy food).

Edited May 5, 2006 by aprilmei (log)

[fou de Bassan]

My husband mashes up anchovies with the juice of a lemon and some crushed garlic and puts this into the hollows of avocados. Not bad, considering I'm not a huge anchovy lover.

[The Old Foodie]

I've had it in Indonesia - as a chocolate avocado drink. It seems to be very popular there (or at least it was where I was, in Aceh) .

It was just blended to a smooth puree and sort of layered in a tall glass with some sort of very sweet chocolate drink, and ice. I love avocado, but was not too sure about this, but not to offend the household, I drank it and it was surprisingly good. I had a similar thing in a cafe another day but it was layered with pureed mango.

[PatyGirl]

Once a friend of mine served it in a caprese style salad, tomatoes, mozzarela, basil, olive oil, salt and slices of avocado. that was good.

That sounds really boring. I've just realised that I too have little knowledge of interesting uses for avocado. I think guacamole is as good as it gets.

[ruthcooks]

Sometimes I feel that a salad-as-first-course is just right. One of my best is Sweet and Sour Avocados.

Slice avocados over a bed of Boston or Bibb lettuce. Top with a hot dressing of butter, sugar, ketchup, red wine vinegar and soy. Sprinkle with bacon pieces (the real, just cooked ones).

[petite tête de chou]

Grilled avocado and banana sandwiches (sometimes with crushed macadamia nuts).

Avocado and fresh rosemary pizza (no red sauce).

[Maliaty]

I've seen this in recipe books, but never been game to try it...avocado icecream

http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com/ice_cream...ipe_avocado.htm

Cheers

Maliaty

[gini]

slice in half, remove the seed, fill hallow with balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and salt. Eat with a spoon.

[jgm]

A friend of mine who lived in South America for a few years, has a spectacular avocado dessert recipe. She said that in SA, avocados are always served sweet.

Puree 3 or 4 very ripe avocados in a food processor; add a little milk and sugar, to taste. Also add a couple of tablespoons of port. I would think you could also add a tablespoon or two of lemon juice if you're concerned about the mixture darkening before you serve it.

Serve as a pudding, in a small bowl, along with a quarter of a lime. Squeeze lime juice on top and enjoy.

[Shaya]

Similar idea to Gini:

When I'm alone.....I cut it in half, leave it in the skin, remove the seed, salt it and plop some nice goat's cheese right in the middle. I get some cheese and fruit with each bite - yum! I developed this when I was studying morning until night for my profession (for years and years) and only allowed myself a 5-minute lunch break.

[jsolomon]

Have you tried a fresh BLA? Bacon, lettuce, and avocado sandwich?

Edit to add: oh, yeah, squeeze some grapefruit juice on it.

Edited May 5, 2006 by jsolomon (log)

[racheld]

I love taking a really ripe one, putting it in a glass with some crushed ice and pouring on either sweetened condensed milk or regular milk and sugar. Mash that around a bit and eat as is, or blend for an avocado shake.

←

You put avocado and Eagle brand over crushed ice, moodge it around, and eat? Is the crunchy ice part of the charm? Trying to get my mind around all that rich mouthful.

Welcome!!! Love your sheep-shoes.

Somewhere---my few feeble brain cells remaining say maybe MFK Fisher?---there's a mention of seeing the same older gentleman in his favourite cafe day after day, finishing his mannerly meal, then being presented a halved avocado, a little bowl of powdered sugar, and a spoon.

He would himself do the moodging, gently adding sugar and creaming it together inside one shell--one only; the other always remained untouched on the plate---and then, when it was of the required sweetness and consistency, he would eat it daintily as his dessert.

The thought of the combination has never appealed to me, but as I had read this passage several times SOMEWHERE, I googled "avocado Powdered Sugar" and the first of many were recipes for buttercreams and desserts and such cloyingly sweet combinations.

And in Edna Ferber's Giant, there's a little moment at a lunch party between the hostess and the always-ready-to-eat wealthy neighbor, Vashti Hake:

"Avocados stuffed with crabmeat to begin with!! Oh, My!" You could almost see the heart-smilies in the air. And I, child of the behind-the-trends South, had no reference in which to frame what that might taste or even LOOK like. But I longed to try some, and as soon as I spotted an avocado for sale in a store, I did, though I was just a beginning cook. We were in a little beachside motel in Biloxi, one of those stay-a-week places which come "furnished"--said title encompassing a TV, two beds, a two-burner stove, a table and chairs, one soup pot and four plates.

We dangled chicken livers from the bridge into the water, catching crab after crab, and when we had several pounds, we cooked them, with several dried red peppers brought from home and a generous handful of salt. I would not stay in the kitchen as they went to their demise, but peeked into the pot later to see the rich pinks and salmons and golds of their hot little shells---I can still see the halves of lemon bobbing in that big pan of seething, delicious aromas. Daddy and I spent HOURS cleaning them. Of course, all of us had many nibbles and samples and dips into the still-warm, sweet meat as we worked. We'd brought garbage bags and a week's worth of old newspapers, which we spread on the picnic table outside our shady "cabin" and I remember the hot day, the sun glinting off the Gulf, which was RIGHT THERE, sighing and sushing as we picked crab on that memorable afternoon.

We'd bought the first two avocados we'd ever seen, and chilled them for a bit in the tiny fridge, along with a stirred-up remoulade awaiting the tumble of crab into the round steel pan. I remember cracked pepper and a little horseradish, a generous shake of "chili" sauce from its distinctively-shaped bottle, a gloop or two of mayonnaise, a little grating of the peel of that brine-destined lemon before it went into the pot.

I stirred, scooped the mixture equally into the four neat halves. Someone, somewhere had told me about whacking the pit with a knife, so I remember the flush of accomplishment and know-how as I flung the pits into the garbage with the shake of the knife. I know we had a box of Premium Saltines---I remember a sleeve of those on the freshly-newspapered outdoor table, along with more cut lemon, the plates holding those precious new creations on a big bed of chopped iceberg, with all the extra crab salad in another bowl.

I remember grabbing soap and a towel, then we ran down the hot sand to stand kneedeep in the water, washing our hands and arms and faces of the crabby remains before we sat down to our hard-earned meal.

The paper was immediately ringed with the drips from two icy beers and two Cokes, all just pulled from a big plastic bucket holding water of arctic temperatures, chilled with more of the motel's ice than they would have liked to provide. The last of my crumbly lemon bars, made at home and transported in a flat Tupperware, were our dessert, as we all four drank the strong sweet stove-perked coffee in the velvety beachdark.

Surely there was more than just that on the table that evening, but that's lost to time, eclipsed by that lovely discovery, that longed-for taste which lived up to its literary advertisement and its long awaiting. Avocados stuffed with crabmeat. Oh, my.

[cakewalk]

In this past Wednesday's NY Times there was a recipe for avocado chips. Dipped in spcies, flour, and then fried. Sounded quite good. Have you thrown out Wednesday's Times yet?

[Fat Guy]

This morning I did lemon juice, olive oil and coarse salt in the "well" and ate from the half with a spoon. I thought it was missing something -- maybe it needs a little heat, but in what form? I also can't seem to grasp the olive oil and avocado pairing -- it doesn't seem to flatter either ingredient.

[rich]

In this past Wednesday's NY Times there was a recipe for avocado chips. Dipped in spcies, flour, and then fried. Sounded quite good. Have you thrown out Wednesday's Times yet?

←

I've been making something similar for years. I use panko to coat the Avocados and then serve with a mixture of ketchup and Siricha on the side. Sometimes I mix a bit of cumin and oregano in with the panko before I "bread" them.

You'll never think of avocados the same way after you try these.

However, you must use a deep fryer and crank the temp up to 375, watch very carefully and as soon as the panko turns light brown remove - otherwise you will have avocado soup, which brings me to one more recipe.

There's a great chilled Avocado, Cucumber Soup with some lemon and lime. Outstanding first course for a summertime meal.

Give both a try Steve, get back in the kitchen. I'm sure the baby will get to love both.

Edited May 5, 2006 by rich (log)

[mrbigjas]

i recently had avocado gelato at capogiro. besides being fun to say, the avocado gives the gelato an even creamier texture, maybe because of the avocado's added fat content, or maybe it's my imagination. it's not that sweet, and very good in an odd way.

knowing that avocados have lots of fat, some of it saturated, i've often thought that avocado oil would be great for frying, and wondered why people don't make oil out of them more often, especially the big watery florida kind. so i googled it, and it seems to be available, although not common.

Edited May 5, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[ErinM]

Mash up an avocado and spread on two slices of good multi grain bread. Add some hot sauce (I like garlic tobasco) and chopped cilantro.

Slice up some tomatoes and cucumbers, put each on a one slice of bread. Sprinkle with salt/pepper.

This is one good sandwich...

[deensiebat]

a friend introduced me to this simple combination: take a slice of toasted crusty bread, mash on a few slices of avocado, and sprinkle with spike. spike is a sort of hippy seasoned salt that you can often find bulk or pre-packaged. it's a surprisingly good combo -- my favorite breakfast.

Edited May 5, 2006 by deensiebat (log)

[fodgycakes]

You put avocado and Eagle brand over crushed ice, moodge it around, and eat? Is the crunchy ice part of the charm?  Trying to get my mind around all that rich mouthful.

Welcome!!!  Love your sheep-shoes.

←

Hi, thanks! I wish I actually had those shoes, I've been looking for them for over four years now.

And yes, that's exactly what I do with the avocado, though I tend to use Longevity brand. I don't use much ice, just enough to get everything cold and to melt most of it so that it isn't in the way. And not too much condensed milk either, just enough to get everything nice and sweet. I do like getting little bites of crunchy ice though.

[ianeccleston]

Halve avacado. Fill center with crab salad and top with tobiko.

Ian