Things to do with avocados when you're dead

[Fat Guy]

I didn't have everything on hand to execute Jesse's recipe faithfully, however I did something close: I had a sherry vinaigrette left over from a couple of days ago, and I added some finely diced red onion. I had some Eli's multigrain bread (this is one of the better breads available in New York), so I toasted two slices. The avocado I had was too ripe to slice, so I scooped out half of it and split it between the two slices of bread, spreading it around with a fork -- it made for a nice 1/4" coating on each slice (the slices from the Eli's multigrain loaves are small and square-ish). Drizzled a very small amount of the red-onion-enhanced vinaigrette on top. Garnished with chopped tarragon and fleur-de-sel. Enjoyed immensely, while Googling "Cinco de Mayo."

[kumquatmay]

Mmmm. Green butter. The perfect food.

-Lots of coarse salt, a little pepper, and a squeeze of lime over slices.

-Same, but slices on a baguette.

-same, but cubed with thin thin shavings of red onion and the addition of a little vinegar.

-an open faced sandwich with slices of avocado, some nice sharp aged cheddar and really fresh tomato on whole grain bread. Oh, and salt and pepper.

-chicken salad with a homemade lemon mayo, celery, onion, diced cukes in the hollow. Rich, but SO good.

-Add me to the list of those who do a tomato and onion salad (with lots of salt and pepper and a little red wine vinegar) in the hollow of an avocado.

I don't really care for olive oil on avocado. Seems to me to be overkill, but then I prefer a really tangy acidic vinagrette in the first place. I also find that rather than scooping the slices or cubes of avocado out with a spoon, a silicone spatula pops those suckers out of the shell very nicely.

[FoodMan]

In Lebanon Avocado's primary use is in a sweet smoothie type drink. blend the avocado with milk and clotted cream and honey to taste. Pour in a glass and garnish with more clotted cream, a drizzle of honey and blanched peeled almonds that have been soaked in water as well as come pinenuts. You "drink" this smoothie (which is known as an Avocado cocktail -or simply as avoca- BTW) with the assistance of a sturdy spoon of course.

[andiesenji]

For an avocado cheesecake recipe go to This Link from the California Avocado Commission that I posted yesterday evening.

There are four cheesecakes made with avocado on that page which is just desserts.

if you go to the main page for "Brouse all recipes" Here.

You will see there are hundreds.

Or you can go to this page and search by Categories.

These people are the experts when it comes to avocados.

They have a list of Fun Facts on this page.

And a fact that is still a mystery to many. Avocados do not ripen on the tree. They only ripen after they are picked or fall off and if they are blown off the trees in a windstorm, as long as they don't land on something hard, they won't be damaged and can be gathered and used. This is the reason you see grass growing in many avocado groves.

Edited May 5, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[Philanthrophobe]

The infamous Trudy's fried stuffed avocado.

Fried Stuffed Avocado

Yield: 1 Portion

Stuffed Avocado Ingredients:

½ ea. avocado

2 cups relleno batter

3 ea. shrimp, chopped

½ tsp. garlic

2 tbsp. pico de gallo

10 oz. white wine

3 oz. cream

2 tbsp. manchego cheese

2 oz. pasilla sauce

Method:

1. Take the ½ avocado and remove the skin, leaving avocado ½ whole. Take a scoop and

remove some of the flesh around the seed whole to allow for more filling.

2. Dust with flour and wrap in plastic and freeze.

3. Dip the avocado in the relleno batter removing some batter from the whole and deep fry.

4. Heat, sauté and cook the shrimp with garlic and pico. Deglaze with white wine and add cream

to bring to a boil. Add manchego cheese and cook until thickened.

5. Fill the hole with the shrimp mixture and pour sauce around rim and serve.

6. Serve on a large round plate and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Relleno Batter Ingredients:

2 eggs, separated

3/4 cup beer, room temperature

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tbsp. salt

Method:

1. To prepare, place flour in a mixing bowl and add egg yolks, salt, oil, and beer.

2. Stir batter until thoroughly mixed.

3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours or as long as

24 hours - the longer the better, to a point.

4. Just before using batter, stir it well again.

5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; gently fold egg whites into batter.

6. Fry in oil at 360 F.

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This sounds soooooooooooooo good!!

[torakris]

I often make a quick "salad" for dinner by dressing chunks of avocado with wasabi-joyu (a mixture of soy sauce and wasabi). Wasabi and soy are wonderful matches for avocado.

I also do salads with more of a Southeast Asian flair by mixing slices of avocado with grapefruit slices and a simple nampla-lime-sugar-chile dressing.

[Smithy]

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.

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This gets close to one of my favorites. Score a half-avocado to allow the juice to soak in more, squeeze fresh lemon juice over it, sprinkle liberally with Spike, and enjoy. This works either eaten directly with a spoon, or spread onto a cracker or bread. It's a breakfast fave. It's a lunch fave. It's a snack. Heck, sometimes it's dinner or dessert.

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

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Dude! I totally agree...if you're going to bother to make a BLAT (with Summer advancing rapidly, why not add some nice tomato) make sure it's a nice thick cut maple bacon in there. And toast that bread...use something that gets nice and crusty when toasted.

As you eat this BLAT sandwich the textures alone will put a smile on your face that will last all day. The avocado puts it extravagantly over the top.

Word.

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What makes this sandwich even more perfect is dill pickle. BLTADP on toasted bread - with a nice layer of mayo - and the world can't get more righteous.

With those uses, and simply adding an avocado to my salad, the other uses listed above have never crossed my mind. Stuffing with crab? (Oh, racheld!) Frying? Those sound so fine, I may have to try them. If I can refrain from eating the avocado long enough.

I prefer a good ripe Haas.

[purplewiz]

Close to the deep fried avocado recipe above is an item a local Japanese restaurant makes, which they call a Monkey Brain: half an avocado, filled with their spicy tuna mixture (also found in their spicy tuna roll), battered with their tempura batter, and deep fried. Very nice indeed.

In the first Frugal Gourmet cookbook is a chicken and avocado mousse. I've tried it and liked it a great deal.

Another vote for a chilled cream of avocado soup. Great for summer.

One of my favorites is egg salad with avocado. Either a scoop of egg salad over mashed or sliced avocado, or mixed in. It's a different beast - has a new, very silky mouthfeel. Sometimes I serve it on a rice cake just for the contrast of textures. Doesn't hurt to serve with a slice of tomato, either.

Marcia.

[andiesenji]

I love sandwiches with avocado but get rather frustrated with slices slithering out from between the other bits in between the bread or toast.

So, I mash an avocado, season it, mix in crisp fried bacon pieces and spread a thick layer on one piece of lightly toasted sourdough and cover this with a layer of shredded lettuce. On the other slice of toast I spread a thin layer of Miracle Whip (I buy it in the tiny jars because the only time I use it is on with tomato and avocado) then add some finely chopped red onion and slices of peeled tomato.

I know the MW is anathema to many, but it really seems to have a great affinity for avocado and for tomatoes.

[Fat Guy]

Are you all familiar with Del Monte Fruit Naturals? They're a pretty high-quality, refrigerated fruit product. Inspired by Dave and jsolomon, I arranged some avocado slices on a plate with some of these grapefruit slices and dressed with lemon juice, coarse salt and a Pugliese olive oil. This olive oil definitely worked better than the Tuscan, but I'm still not sold on the pairing. I think I'm going to try some different oils tomorrow: sesame, walnut, grapeseed . . . or it may just be that for me the avocado has the right amount of fat on its own.

[Jason Perlow]

Those are the ones in the glass jars that they sell at COSTCO, right? The peaches are great.

[Luckylies]

fantasy avocado

fan half a thin-sliced super-ripe avocado out on the bottom of a plate. top with a few (slow) oven roasted tomato petals. add one soft poached egg on top. Dress with sherry, bacon fat, truffle vinagrette. top with bacon crumbles. If you happened to have some puff pastry laying around that might make a nice scoop.

take some avocado and some uni and a basil leaf (or whatever herb you think would be good) freeze in oiled plastic wrap bundles...tied at the top. unwrap, tempura batter and deep fry at 375 until crisp. eat with a squeeze of lemon juice and some sea salt.

make a gastrique (burnt sugar and red wine vinegar) throw in some pomegranite juice. reduce until thick... drizzle over avocado slices. big crunchy sea salt.

nummy.

[The Old Foodie]

Alan Davidson in "The Oxford Companion" says "avocado leaves, toasted and ground, are occasionally used as a mild spice; those of one variety have an anise-like flavour".

Anyone tried this? It might be good sprinkled on the avo flesh.

[PPPans]

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

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Avocado is a regular Filipino ice cream flavour. Even the big ice cream companies have it in their line-up. The usual way to eat them is with milk, sugar and ice.

Most Filipinos have not eaten avocados as savoury food.

[Jason Perlow]

Makes a really good bubble tea shake flavor too (center):

[racheld]

Are you all familiar with Del Monte Fruit Naturals?

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Yep---keep at least one of each in the upstairs fridge at all times---two of peaches and mango...

And I FORGOT the pretty party thing!! I remember unwrapping one once at a very nice client's house, and not even getting the caviar on top, before she was slicing into that thing with a big egg-turner that took out a huge piewedge. Though it would have served about six, spread on baguettes or toasts, she ate it with a spoon, and only a deft sidestep on my part kept her from plunging her spoon also into the caviar tub. I served her out a nice portion with a clean utensil as I topped the "cake."

Use a straight-sided mold, at least 6" deep; outline a circle of waxed paper by tracing around the bottom of mold, cut and line mold.

Layers: At least an inch of filling per layer:

A good thick egg salad, with or without chopped stuffed olives.

A layer of avocado, chunked from the shell, tossed gently with lime and salt (cilantro optional) and packed gently on top of egg.

Softened cream cheese with a little creme fraiche and salt beaten in; snipped lox or a couple of tablespoons of salmon caviar stirred gently in

Avocado layer

Egg salad layer

You can chill between layerings if the fillings are a bit smushy...a good clean line is nice, if you can maintain the layers

Chill overnight or up to 24 hours. Run a thin blade around inside of mold, all the way to the bottom(cake-frosting spatula is nice and straight for this). Invert onto serving platter (looks spectacular on a footed crystal cakeplate), peel off waxed paper and smooth top. Frost top with several ounces of salmon caviar.

Or make rosettes over top with more of the creamcheese layer (without caviar). Top rosettes with your favorite caviar, letting it dribble lavishly down the little hills.

Even better with oil-brushed bruschetta, no garlic.

Transport it to party IN the mold.

Edited May 7, 2006 by racheld (log)

[joiei]

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

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Dude! I totally agree...if you're going to bother to make a BLAT (with Summer advancing rapidly, why not add some nice tomato) make sure it's a nice thick cut maple bacon in there. And toast that bread...use something that gets nice and crusty when toasted.

As you eat this BLAT sandwich the textures alone will put a smile on your face that will last all day. The avocado puts it extravagantly over the top.

Word.

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As it turns out, my dinner last night was a BSAT, maple smoked bacon, spinach, avocado and and sliced Ugly tomato between slices of Dakota loaf from Great Harvest bakery. For my boss yesterday at lunch, I made a smoked turkey, swiss and avocado panini and served that with a cup of gazpacho that was topped with avocado and a squeeze of lime.

[fliplap]

When they're in season and cheap I just can't buy enough of them. Avocado "crab" puffs are one of my favorites, of course they contain no crab, or even any fish. Basically just cream together cream cheese, alittle sugar and as much avocado as you dare, wrap in crab puff wrappers (I forget the actual name for these) and deep fry. Serve with sweet and sour or "sweet chili" sauce.

Use your imagination when it comes to avocado salads. I'll dice the avocado into 1/4" cubes and mix with diced tomatos and crumbled blue cheese. Top with basil infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar, garnish with basil leaves. You gotta really like blue cheese for that one though.

[msphoebe]

Last time I made guacamole (a weekly event around here) I happened to be out of fresh lime. Subbed red wine vinegar and found it to really add a new dimension to the flavor of my guac. GREAT. I don't think I could ever add oil to avocado. The mouthfeel is already so silky, more oil would be too much.

And on another note, recently I was discussing Vietnamese cooking with a co-worker who is Vietnamese. One of the things she recalls her mother making regularly is an avocado shake. Lo and behold, I recently purchased the book "The Little Saigon Cookbook" and it includes a recipe for...Fresh Avocado Shake!

Basically it is avocados, crushed ice, sweetened condensed milk (or coconut milk and sugar).

I haven't tried it yet, but it actually sounds pretty good!

[BarbaraY]

Many many years ago, my grandmother would serve avocado cocktails as an appetizer. It was diced avocado, celery slices, and a sort of remoulade. As I recall, it was very good.

[DaveP]

Whenever I make guacamole I run into the distinct problem of there not ever being enough. When there is enough, however, I eat too much cause its so good.

Solution: Guacamole chicken salad

2 Large cooked chicken breasts, 1/4" dice

1 Avocado

1 Lime

Salt

everything else..tomatoes, scallions, red onions, Tabasco, cilantro..

You want really tender moist chicken here, I use sous vide (1 hour @63C), but normal chicken is fine, just take care to keep it very moist.

Puree the avocados in a blender or food processor with a generous amount of fresh lime juice until very smooth, salt to taste. Mix thoroughly with chicken.

Chop up your normal guacamole fare stir in.

The small moist chicken dices resemble a hearty chunky guacamole, the kind you want to eat alot of... on chips, in a chicken salad sandwich, by the spoonful out of the fridge

[Jason Perlow]

Not exactly an "easy thing to do with avocados when you're dead" but the coolest thing I've seen a restaurant do with an avocodo lately:

This is an avocado sashimi "boat" with tuna and salmon and tobiko with a ponzu sauce and spicy mayonnaise.

Edited July 18, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[MissAmy]

That? Is a thing of extreme beauty.

[LindaK]

I also do salads with more of a Southeast Asian flair  by mixing slices of avocado with grapefruit slices and a simple nampla-lime-sugar-chile dressing.

yum. I didn't think you could improve on the avocado-grapefruit salad (I use a bed of watercress and top with thinly sliced red onion, sherry vinaigrette). But nam pla makes everything better. You win.

Don't forget avocado and ceviche. Your choice of fish. Splurge with sea scallops for a real treat. Dice avocados and add to ceviche at the last minute, roll up in a lettuce leaf. or fill an avocado half with ceviche for a neater presentation.

[Luckylies]

Not exactly an "easy thing to do with avocados when you're dead" but the coolest thing I've seen a restaurant do with an avocodo lately:

This is an avocado sashimi "boat" with tuna and salmon and tobiko with a ponzu sauce and spicy mayonnaise.

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aaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what the hell???

where'd that thing come from???