Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados

Today’s Tomatillo Jalapeno Guacamole comes from fellow Steelers THUNDERDOME Fantasy Football member, Josh Rivera. I’m not sure when Josh and I first became pals, but I believe the timeline goes something like this; Josh followed me on Twitter and replied enough times for me to notice that his avatar (at the time) was of Porkins. Funny, Steelers fan and a Star Wars fan? Yes, of course I followed back. At some point I gave him a bunch of restaurant recommendations for his family’s trip to Pittsburgh, they run into Russell Crowe, trip’s a hit. Then a cross-country trip Bry and I took had us stopping in his home town of Albuquerque for a night of drinking and late-night tacos (along with our good friend, Jeremy aka Mr. Beaks who happened to be there at the same time for a set visit). Good times had by all and Josh was invited to join our fantasy football league. Since then we’ve had a chance to return the favor and host Josh here in Los Angeles and have been friends ever since. Funny how modern tribes and friendships work.

As a native of Albuquerque, Josh has pretty strong opinions on tacos, salsas and of course, guacamole. If you’re not familiar with the taste of raw tomatillo, it’s a tart — almost sour, crunchy fruit. Once you remove the outer husk and clean off any remaining waxy residue, you’ll find a bright green firm berry. While I am a huge fan of roasted green tomatillo salsas and cut up in vegetable soup, I wasn’t sure how I’d like in my guacamole. I worried the tart would be too much and would overwhelm the delicate avocado. Fortunately my fears were completely unfounded, as the crunch of the tomatillo played nicely with the chopped onion and the sour flavor perfectly counterbalanced the sweet acidity of the tomato. Leaving the seeds in the jalapeno created the perfect amount of heat and just a light dusting of garlic powder made sure the avocado was never overpowered by the seasoning as can happen with too much minced raw garlic.

Take it away, Josh!

My entry:
2 avocados (It might require an extra avocado if it becomes too many other ingredients. Just depends.)
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2-1 medium onion, diced (just a regular white onion)
1 jalapeno, diced
garlic powder
lime juice
salt
Bonus: Big fan of adding a diced tomatillo lately. Try it out.

Me: Hey, do you de-seed your tomato?
Josh: Nope. That sounds like a lot of work. I dislike work.
Me: The jalapeno?
Josh: Nope.

Scoop out avocado and mash to desired chunkiness (I like mine pretty chunky, but not TOO chunky) with fork.

Lightly dust with garlic powder and fold.

Put in tomato, onion and jalapeno, fold.

Sprinkle with lime juice (on top of being delicious, this also helps it keep in the fridge if you make a larger batch). Fold.

Sprinkle with salt and fold again.

Repeat salting to taste.

Serve!

Cook’s note: I made this batch, covered the surface of the guacamole with plastic wrap to prevent browning and let it stand at room temperate for about an hour before serving. Helped open up the garlic, the jalapeno and smoothed out the tomatillo just a touch. It was gone in about 15 minutes flat.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

4.5 from 2 reviews
Josh Rivera's Jalapeno Tomatillo Guacamole: Super Bowl Guacamole Extravangza
Author: 
Recipe type: dip
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Crunch and tart tomatillo make a great addition to guacamole.
Ingredients
  • 2 avocados (It might require an extra avocado if it becomes too many other ingredients. Just depends.)
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • ½-1 medium onion, diced (just a regular white onion)
  • 1 jalapeno, diced
  • garlic powder
  • lime juice
  • salt
  • Bonus: Big fan of adding a diced tomatillo lately. Try it out. (1-2 tomatillos)
  • Me: Hey, do you de-seed your tomato?
  • Josh: Nope. That sounds like a lot of work. I dislike work.
  • Same logic applied to jalapeno.)
Instructions
  1. Scoop out avocado and mash to desired chunkiness (I like mine pretty chunky, but not TOO chunky) with fork.
  2. Lightly dust with garlic powder and fold.
  3. Put in tomato, onion and jalapeno, fold.
  4. Sprinkle with lime juice (on top of being delicious, this also helps it keep in the fridge if you make a larger batch). Fold.
  5. Sprinkle with salt and fold again. Repeat salting to taste. Serve!

 

Share →

3 Responses to Josh Rivera’s Jalapeno Tomatillo Guacamole: Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza

  1. IJustMadeThatUp says:

    After consuming less healthy and home-made food that I thought possible in a 48 hour period, this guac was the best thing to come home to. Even though I wasn’t starving by any means, everything about this hit the right note. Tomatillo was there without being overpowering and the jalapeno, surprisingly, wasn’t too spicy. Everything in the right proportion.

  2. Pete says:

    In small doses I thought this was pretty tasty, though I should have diced the tomatillo smaller than I did. But, as I am not a man known to eat guacamole in small doses, I found my tongue growing a bit raw from the tartness of the tomatillo. The esteemed Jon Bois suggested roasting the tomatillo, and I believe I may try that next time.

    • sarah sprague says:

      I didn’t have that problem, but I could see where it would happen. Since you like tomatillo, I suggest maybe trying the tomatillo salsa guac recipe I posted from Dan Rubenstein. It has a milder tomatillo taste.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe: