Spicy Guacamole Recipe, the best guacamole ever

Spicy Guacamole, The best guacamole ever

By Irvin Lin

The secret to making this fiery hot and spicy guacamole recipe is to not only grill the corn that goes into the guacamole, but also to grill the avocados! Yes, you can grill avocados. By grilling both, you get an extra smoky depth to the guacamole. If you don’t have a grill, don’t worry, just stick the corn in under your broiler and cook for 5 minutes, then rotate 1/4 for another 3 minutes until both corn ears are charred on all sides. You can also use a ridged pan to “grill” the avocado on the stovetop, just make sure to get the ridge pan as hot as you can before you place the avocado on there, to get the nice grill mark lines.

I also use spring garlic (sometimes called green garlic) in this recipe, which is a young mild version of garlic that looks like a green onion on steroids. It’s all sorts of awesome (I love using it vinaigrette and egg dishes) but it can sometimes be hard to find. Keep an eye out for it at farmers markets and upscale grocery stores like Whole Foods, but if you can’t get ahold of it or it’s out of season (it’s only available in late Spring and early Summer) just substitute one peeled garlic clove forced through a garlic press or minced fine and 3 green onions chopped, in it’s place. Finally, I only use 1 red Serrano pepper because of mixed company and their tolerance for heat but when I’m alone I usually kick the heat up by adding 2 or more.

Ingredients
2 ears of corn
3 Haas avocados, ripe
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Serrano peppers (see headnote above)
3 spring garlic (see head note above)
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (plus more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (plus more to taste)
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime

Directions
1. Fire up your grill to high (if you don’t have a grill see the headnote above for alternative directions) and as it heats up, husk the corn making sure to remove as much of the silk as possible. Place the corn directly over the heat on the grill and watch it as it the corn kernels start to darken and char, keeping an eye to make sure corn doesn’t burn. As the side facing the heat cars, rotate the corn 90˚ and continue until the entire ear of corn is cooked and started to char a bit.

2. While the corn is grilling, split the avocado lengthwise and remove the seed. Brush the avocado with the oil and place cut side down on the grill directly over the heat, diagonally. Let it grill for 2 or 3 minutes, or until marks form avocado meat. Rotate the avocado 90˚ on the grill and let sit for another 2 minutes. You should now have criss-cross marks on the avocado.

3. Remove the corn and the avocado from the grill and let cool down. While they are cooling, chop the Serrano pepper (with the seeds) and place in medium bowl. Chop the white and light green part of the spring garlic (reserving the dark green part for another use) and place in the bowl with the pepper. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, and lime zest in the bowl.

4. Once the corn and avocado has cooled, scoop the avocado into the bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork, stirring to mix the other ingredients into the guacamole. Once the avocado is mashed, cut the kernels off the corn and add it to the bowl along with the lime juice. Stir in and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.

Serves 4 people, or 1 absent-minded book reader.