Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Time: This depends completely on how much you plan to make and how fast you can chop
Ease: 2--unless, of course, you aren't very good with a knife
Taste: 7
Leftover Value: There were no leftovers, however, PW notes that it will not keep for long in the fridge.
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!
Recipe: Guacamole
Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Time: If you have ready made pico de gallo on hand, 10 minutes tops
Ease: 2
Taste: 8
Leftover Value: Again, no leftovers, but similar to the pico de gallo, guacamole will not last long in the fridge.
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!
These two recipes come from the "Starters" section of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Since pico de gallo and guacamole intertwine not only naturally, but also in PW's book, I made them both as a way of starting this challenge off running.
I have only one complaint towards the pico de gallo recipe. There are no quantities listed for the onions, tomatoes, or cilantro. She only tells the amateur home chef to use equal quantities of all three. Now, intially that seems all fine and well until we reach the jalapenos. She says to use 1 or 2 jalapenos. One can imagine that the jalapeno amount is not to be anywhere equal to the previously measured amount of the first three ingredients. However, what dictates when to use 1 or 2? This was tricky for me, as I am trying to follow each recipe exactly as it is written.
I used a pretty big jalapeno, sliced it in half and diced half of it for starters. After mixing it with the onion, tomato, and cilantro, Mallory and I taste tested to see if it needed more spice.
It was perfect. Since PW did not give specifics of the other ingredients here are the measurements I would give to this recipe:
2 cups diced tomatoes
2 cups diced onion
bunch of cilantro (equaling 2 cups before it is chopped)
1 big jalapeno
After a sprinkle of salt, we followed her final direction, "...taste it with chips so the salt quantity is factored in."
I served the pico and guac as an appetizer for my brother and sister-in-law. They liked the pico de gallo, but they loved the guacamole.
Because I'm a pretty literal person, and I happen to need specifics in my life, I'm going to help you out here should these two recipes have peaked your interest. Total the number of cups of tomatoes and onion used and use the same number of avocados as cups of tomato and onion. (That is, unless you have monster sized or baby avocados). I found that an average sized avocado blended nicely with one cup of pico de gallo.
That might also be why I've never been a big fan of kiwi.
Once I got past the green, I loved it! The avocado adds enough coolness to the pico de gallo that I might have been able to get away with a little more jalapeno.
No comments:
Post a Comment