Guacemole and Cinco de Mayo Menu

Cinco de Mayo, not even celebrated by all Mexicans (so I read) is kinda like St. Patricks Day. It is a good excuse to eat/drink Mexican food. Not that I am claiming any kind of authenticity to my recipes. But in all humbleness, I make a pretty dern good margarita and guacamole. So I am going to share my recipe for the guacamole!

Guacamole with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients:
1 head of garlic
3 Hass avocado
1/2 red onion, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro
juice of one lime
1 jalepeno, finely chopped
kosher salt
ground pepper

Before you start the rest of the guacamole, start roasting the garlic. Begin by chopping off the very tips of the garlic cloves. Then drizzle the head in some olive oil, wrap loosely in some aluminum foil, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the oven.

Cut each avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit by hitting your knife blade hard on the middle of the pit, and twisting. (Don't hold the avocado half in your hand while you whack the avocado, just leave it on the cutting board. I actually read directions for removing an avocado pit in a cookbook that told you to hold it!! Sounds like a bad idea for me.)

Scoop out the flesh with a regular spoon or a melon baller.
Dump it all in a bowl. It looks a bit like ice cream right now!
Add the chopped onion...

and the cilantro. Then pour in the lime juice, and chopped jalepeno, the salt and pepper to taste. For the jalepeno, you can remove the seeds if you want less heat, or leave them in for more.
After the garlic is roasted, squeeze out the garlic from each clove. Then roughly chop, and add to the bowl.
I have struggled for a long time to find the best way to mash guacamole. I don't use a food processor, because I don't want a perfectly smooth guacamole. I don't like that texture. Mixing with a spoon doesn't break it up enough. The best way I guess would be to go the authentic route and buy a volcanic mortar and one day I might buy one. But for now, my new favorite is to use a potato masher.

Just make sure you don't mash too long, so you still have some chunks.

Menu:
Guacamole with roasted garlic and chips
Grilled chicken burritos with mango salsa (I used turkey)
Margaritas
Aqua de Jamaica (hibiscus petal tea)
Sorbet

Hamburgers: Part 2

There are a lot of variations on burgers. This time I decided to make my own up, and it is pretty basic, but has a little heat and Mexican flair.
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef (grass fed beef is best)
1/2 minced onion
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
a few dashes of hot sauce (I used Frank's)
a handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper
4 slices of cheddar cheese (I used habanero cheddar cheese)
Red onion slices
Lettuce
Ketchup or mayo

Throw all of these ingredients together in a medium bowl, and mix it together; I use my hands.

Form into 4 patties. Rachael Ray suggests that you make the center of patty a little thinner than the outside, to counter act how the burgers swell when you cook them.

My wonderful husband prepared a charcoal grill, nice and hot.
He grilled them for about 3 minutes each side.

Top with the cheese, serve on the onion studded hamburger rolls.

Top with onion and lettuce, ketchup and mayo.

I served these with some oven fries. Delicious! It had a bit of smoky spiciness, and the home made rolls really made it special.