Avocados
Posted on 15. Jul, 2010 by catherine in Ingredients
This vegetable (fruit?) used to scare me with its huge pit in the middle and green flesh. With experience and an open mind, my fears have calmed down. Here are some tips for selecting and preparing, complete with handy dandy pictures.
1. Selecting: choose dark green-almost-brown avocados that have a slightly squishy feel to them. Think stress-ball-squishy. If you do not plan on making anything with avocados right away, then choose ones that have firm to very firm skin. Put them in a paper bag and let them hang out together for a day or two.
[additional tip: always buy one or two more than you need. A yucky one always manages to sneak into the bunch.]
2. Peeling:
First, wash off the avocado to get rid of any residue. Take a knife and cut lengthwise through the skin on all sides, around the pit.
Slowly twist the avocado open. If this part is difficult, then your avocado is still too ripe.
3. Pitting:
To remove the pit: with a large knife, use a teeny bit of force to wedge into the pit. Then twist the knife to release the pit.
Use a spoon to scoop out the good stuff. MMMMmmmm. Watch out for those brown spots, though. Usually you can take out the yucky bits with the spoon and discard.
4. Mashing:
Some people use a fork, but I like to use a potato masher to smoosh things up. Make sure to use a bowl with high edges, or a ginormous measuring cup like this one.
Happy peeling/pitting/mashing!
