More Cooking at Home

I decided since I loved flashed fried avocados that I would see if I could grill avocados instead of having them fried.

I saw an article on BuzzFeed that discussed foods you never thought to grill like edamame, and avocados. This listing of foods piqued my interest. This article linked me to Food52 which lead me directly to Gena Hamshaw’s Post about Grilling Avocados, which is from her Blog/Book Choosing Raw.

Since I am new to cooking, I always check a couple of recipes to get the lay of the land. I checked the California Avocado Commission’s website. They had a very simple detailed recipe for grilling avocados, Haute Grilled Avocados. This was exactly what I needed. simple detailed directions. So despite the fancy name of the recipe, it was very easy for me to follow.

I decided to grill half shells of avocados because I thought it would be easier than grilling the slices of avocado. Just me. Plus I don’t have a grill mat. (yet)

We went to Costco and picked up a bag of avocados as well as a bag of lemons. Costco had a good price for both of these items. I might suggest that you read a recipe first so you know what you need before you go to the store. I’m sure all you experienced cooks and chefs know this but this is all new to me. I lucked out. That usually doesn’t happen. I usually need some ingredient that I don’t have. Lesson learned.

So I read and followed the recipe. We brushed the avocados with olive oil and drizzled freshly squeezed lemon juice on the avocados. Because some of the avocados were not as ripe as others, I had to adjust the 2 to 3 minutes grilling time on each side. I upped that amount of time to 4 or in some cases 5 minutes. I tried to get those nice grill marks that were shown in the recipe. I think I will be able to do better next time.

Also my metal tongs squished the avocado. I will check out the kitchen for other utensils so that the soft avocado will not be squished. I didn’t even think about that happening.

I was so excited to taste my grilling efforts that I poured some extra lemon juice on the warm avocado shell and ate it. It was warm and creamy. It had a nice buttery taste. I had never tasted a warm grilled avocado before. Wow! The smoky taste was incredible. It wasn’t like any avocado I had ever tasted. I was impressed!

Since it is best to eat the avocados that you grill right away. We made the rest of the avocados into guacamole. We bought a special container just to keep our guacamole from turning brown. It works!

That was some of the best guacamole I have ever eaten. It was smoky and delicious. Once again I’m trying to give you some adjectives that hardly describe this wonderful dish.

This is a cooking tip that I learned by watching Alton Brown on the Food Network. I buy a bag of lemons instead of just one or two. I hand squeeze and de-seed the lemon juice. I pour the lemon juice into a clean ice cube tray. I freeze the lemon cubes and pop them out of the ice cube tray. Then I place the frozen lemon cubes into a freezer bag and label the bag. So I have lemon juice cubes handy when I need fresh lemon.

I admit it. I learned how to cook some foods from the Food Network. I am not ashamed of it either.