Dan Rubenstein’s Tomatillo Salsa & Hot Sauce Guacamole: Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza

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 guacamole comes to us from Dan Rubenstein, co-host of the popular college football podcast, The Solid Verbal (which can also be found on the Grantland Network) and is one of young guns the Bleacher Report brought in as a featured columnist. If you’ve ever caught The Solid Verbal, you’ll know food comes up from time to time on the show, so the fact that Dan makes a mean guacamole shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Tomatillo salsa gives the guacamole a bright taste and really brings out the natural green color in avocado while the hot sauce provides a smooth heat across the palate with each bite.

I have to apologize to Dan for the lack of glamor shots of his guacamole in this post. We made this batch to take to a Championship Sunday party yesterday figuring I could take a well-lit picture of the dip at our friend’s house. By the time I went to take a picture of Dan’s guacamole, it was already gone.

Take it away, Dan!

Avocados
Finely diced red or sweet onion
Salsa Verde (I find grabbing extra at a neighborhood salsa bar to be the best strategy here. Also, I like the color to be as bright green as possible, so using this instead of red salsa appeases me. I also just prefer tomatillo)
Cilantro (a solid palm full, adjust for taste), chopped pretty finely
Hearty amount of lime, keeps it fresher, and I like the tang
Very finely chopped jalapeño, I go easy
Few squirts of hot sauce for heat, but not so much that it darkens the bright greenness of the guac
Pinches of salt and pepper to bring everything out

Probably a little less than half a red onion for 3-4 avocados. Excuse me lack of measurements, probably a couple of salsa bar containers of salsa verde. I’d use very little jalapeño (less than one), just because I prefer my guac to be richer than it is spicy. 2-3 dashes of hot sauce.

I also like the salsa verde because it’s liquid-y, I prefer the chunks to be in avocado form, not chunks of tomato. Just a personal preference.

Dan didn’t provide directions (understandable, as we should all know how to make guacamole by now), so here is my technique for this particular batch since Dan said he liked his guacamole to be chunky.

In a bowl, combine 1/2 a minced red onion, chopped cilantro, a small amount of jalapeno and salsa verde.
Add 3-4 avocados, the juice of 2 limes and a few hits of hot sauce.
Fold together until just shy of desired avocado chunkiness.

Season with salt until pepper to taste and mix to desired consistency.

As a side note, my two go-to apps with guac are either quesadillas cut into triangles (a good pepper jack works well, with the bite of the cheese and the richness of the guac) or rolled and baked taquitos (ground taco meat, cilantro, onions, lime and hot sauce inside). I use corn tortillas, either steamed or microwaved first, then rolled and put on a slick cooking sheet and put in the oven until crispy.

Good luck!

Luck isn’t needed with Dan’s guacamole. The dip is as sure-fire as they come.

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.