Guacamole
Guacamole is one of my favorite dips, right behind Galliker's french onion chip dip. It's super easy to make and just has such a great, fresh flavor...and people tend to love it so it usually goes over well. This recipe is very traditional and honestly, I don't believe guacamole should ever be over complicated....don't mess with it! This entry is a two-parter. I made a big batch of guacamole to make homemade burrito bowls one night. So my next recipe will be the burrito bowls. I figured this guacamole recipe deserved it's own post...it's that dang good!
When beginning to write this entry, my mind started thinking, where did guacamole come from? Thank god for Google, I got a pretty quick answer that I thought was intriguing.
“When you’re eating guacamole, you’re eating history that dates back to the 1500s. The Aztec empire created this spread with the same exact ingredients that local restuarants use today. The Aztecs called this saucy spread “ahuaca-mulli” which translates to avocado-mixture or avocado-sauce. Pretty creative, eh? Of course, the secret didn’t stay with the Aztecs for long.
The Spaniards encountered the Aztec people and their ahuaca-mulli while exploring the New World and knew it would be a hit back home. Unfortunately, avocados are not native to Europe so there was a problem when trying to recreate the dish for friends and family when they returned to Spain. Over the course of time, guacamole has stayed in North and South America, while back in Europe the Spanish tried to duplicate the tasty treat with substitutions for the avocado. Of course nothing could live up to the guacamole they had in their travels.
The word guacamole is derived from Nahuatl, a language from Central Mexico. Years ago “waka’mole” and “huaka’mole” were were a few different ways to pronounce gucamole. Our society and fast-paced culture has even gone so far as to shorten this word with the abbreviation “guac” written on menus and featured on signs at local restaurants.
Guacamole has always been a table pleaser, as we can see. The Aztecs believed it to be a natural aphrodisiac and with more natural monosaturated fat and protein than other fruits available, it was vital to their diet. Avocados have almost 20 vitamins and minerals and have been found to help manage heart problems and cholesterol for some people.”
Guacamole
Prep time: 15m | Cook time: 0min | Total time: 15min | Yield: 3 cups
Ingredients
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- 2 rip Hass avocados
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno, including seeds, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Cooking Directions
- Cut the avocado in half and then remove the pit. Scoop the avocado flesh out and place in a medium bowl. Toss and coat with lime juice.
- Add the salt and using a fork or potato masher, mash until a smooth consistency is achieved
- Fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste the guacamole and adjust seasoning if necessary.
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Chicken Fajita Quesadilla
This is one of the Pepple Household's go-to meals. These Chicken Fajita Quesadillas are delicious, easy, quick, and best of all, cheap! Not only do Lee and I love them, but our son Adam has grown very fond of them as well...but lets be serious, he really is all about the cheese and quesadilla part. There really isn't to much to say about this one, it's just one of those goodies that doesn't take a lot of effort that everybody needs in their arsenal. So, put this recipe in yours and give it a try. Don't forget to let me know what you think in the comments!
Chicken Fajita Quesadilla
Prep time: 10m | Cook time: 30min | Total time: 40min | Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
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- 1 Lbs. Chicken, sliced
- 1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced
- 1 package Old El Paso fajita mix
- 2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 4 flour tortilla, 12"
- canola oil, as needed
Cooking Directions
- Heat a large saute pan over medium heat, add in a tablespoon of canola oil and brown the sliced chicken. Add in the sliced red pepper and jalapeno. Cook until softened. Add in the fajita seasoning and 1/2 cup of water. Stir and cook until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add in a tablespoon of canola oil. Lay tortilla down in pan, on one half of the tortilla add 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar, 1/4 portion of chicken, 1/4 portion of peppers, and fold the other half of the tortilla. Cook tortilla until golden brown, about 2 minutes, flip over and brown the other side. Repeat process with remaining tortillas. Cut, serve, and enjoy!
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Time will pass and seasons will come and go, so to will football season inevitably end for every fan base...some sooner than others. Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans, the season has ended at the hands of a New England Patriots butt whoopin'. As hard as it is to admit, the better team clearly won....with that said...LETS GO PENS!!
Whenever I watch big games, like the Steelers/Patriots AFC Championship game, I always make a point to make something absolutely delicious. So that whatever the outcome of the game, at least I still win because I had something delicious...well that's my silver lining logic. So, in true fashion, I made this delicious Bacon Cheeseburger soup! What really makes this soup fantastic is layering the bacon flavor through the entire cooking process. This flavor layering can be achieved in lots of recipes, especially when using a fat (i.e. butter, oil, bacon fat, etc). In this example, I rendered fat from both the ground beef and bacon. I then saved that rendered fat and used it through the entire recipe. I used the golden delicious fat to saute the mirepoix, as well as, the base for the roux. Layering or building flavor, especially in soup, is definitely a great way to elevate any dish. With that said, lets check out this delicious recipe!
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Prep time: 45m | Cook time: 30min | Total time: 1hr 15min | Yield: 8 servings (2 1/4 quart)
Ingredients
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- 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 4 slices bacon, 1" chop
- 3/4 cup onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup carrots, shredded
- 3/4 cup celery, diced
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1-3/4 pounds peeled potatoes, cubed (about 4 cups)
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 package (16-ounce) Velvetta cheese, cubed
- 1-1/2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp worchestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup sour cream
Cooking Directions
- In a dutch oven over medium heat, cook and crumble beef until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the dutch oven, add chopped bacon and cook until crispy and bacon fat is rendered. Place mesh sieve over a bowl and drain bacon, separating the bacon bits from fat. Set both the fat and cooked bacon aside. In same dutch oven, add 1 tablespoon bacon fat over medium heat. Saute onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley until tender, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes, beef and chicken stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of bacon fat until shimmering. Add flour; cook and stir until bubbly, 3-5 minutes. Add roux to the soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cheese, milk, salt, pepper, and worchestershire sauce; cook until cheese melts. Remove from heat; blend in sour cream.
- To service, top soup with shredded cheddar cheese, cooked bacon bits, and sliced scallions.
Of course when throwing a Super Bowl Party (or should I say Soup-er Bowl Party...ba doom ching!) you may want to keep food out to snack on during the game. It is crucial that hot foods at above 135F and cold foods don't exceed 41F. Always check these temperatures every 2 hours to maintain proper food safety protocol. The best way to monitor food temperatures? Thermapen of course! I use mine pretty much every time I cook. It's incredibly accurate, easy to ready, fast, and most importantly durable.
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