Monday, July 18, 2011

Holy Guacamole and The Secret Recipe Club

Last month I participated in The Secret Recipe Club over on Amanda's blog and I had so much fun, I couldn’t wait to do it again.  How it works is, each month you are assigned a different participating food blogger and without telling them, you choose and make one of their recipes.  Then on a specified date and time everyone who is participating that month posts their recreation or version of the recipe they made.  Last month I loved reading though my assigned blog and I chose a Home Style Chicken Curry recipe which I made, dined on and posted about and well, I enjoyed every part of the process and I couldn’t wait for my next assignment. 

I swear that my heart skipped a beat with excitement when I saw the email from Amanda with my next assignment and I quickly scrolled though all the important information included in her email looking for the words “Your assigned blog URL” and clicked on the link.  What I was led to was Heather’s It’s Yummy to my Tummy and I was all about reading her blog and checking out her recipes.  What I found was a Mom who’s a lot like me in that she loves to cook and bake and finds doing it a way to de-stress and make herself and everyone happy.  I also love that she cooks a lot with her daughter Alicia who’s only about seven months younger than my Maisie.  I found it adorable that in one post Alicia was wearing Little Einstein p.j’s, the same ones that my daughter Maisie fell in love with and still wears so how cute is that?  Heather’s blog was fun to read but now let’s get on to cooking.

Once again this month I was torn on which of the many delicious looking recipes I should make.  There was a recipe for Caramel Mix which I remember from my childhood as a friend’s Mom used to make it and I absolutely adored it but I was afraid that if I made it I’d eat the entire batch so I chose to opt for something else.  Then there was some delicious looking S’mores Fudge and I even had every ingredient needed to make this recipe already in the house.  But same problem, I’d eat way more than I should so better not to make it and have that sugar and chocolate temptation in the house.  If you can’t already tell that I’m craving but trying to avoid sugar, the other recipe that caught my eye was the Chocolate Eclair Dessert as I’ve seen this recipe a few times and I’ve just been itching to try it.  I need to have some company over so that I’ll have a reason to make all these wonderful sweet treats and not be tempted to eat them all myself.

I finally narrowed down my selection to two “less added sugar” recipes, Chicken BLT Salad with Avocado Dressing and Bacon & Sun-Dried Tomato Guacamole.  Both recipes were very similar in their ingredients and they both looked delicious and well… honestly I just couldn’t decided… so I made both this past month and while we loved, enjoyed and feasted on both I decided to post about the Guacamole for The Secret Recipe Club.

IMG_8678eThis recipe was simple to prepare and with the little changes that I made, only six ingredients.  Heather’s recipe called for sun-dried tomatoes and jarred fire-roasted red peppers but when I went looking for my sun-dried tomatoes I just couldn’t find them.  So I replaced the sun-dried tomatoes as well as the fire-roasted red peppers with something I could find in my pantry, Fire Roasted Tex Mex Style Diced Tomatoes as it contains fire-roasted tomatoes, Anaheim peppers as well as jalapeno peppers so I figured it would be a good substitution.

IMG_8668eI followed Heather’s directions and even pulled out my old potato masher to break up the avocado in my Corning Ware French white casserole dish, just like she did.

IMG_8673eAfter I mashed the avocado I added all the ingredients, gave it stir, seasoned with salt and pepper and then had to resist the temptation to keep “tasting” it so that it had time to chill and to also allow the flavors to come together a bit.  I will tell you though, once that bowl of guac hit the table it didn’t stand a chance against Eammon and I and thankfully we weren’t sharing it with guests otherwise there may have been fights to get at the bowl.  Needless to say, we adored this recipe and this is now my go-to guac recipe.  Thanks Heather for sharing such a tasty dish.

Holy Guacamole (adapted from original recipe here)

5 slices hickory smoked bacon, crumbled
2 ripe Haas avocados
1/2 medium Vidalia onion, diced
1/2 can Fire Roasted Tex Mex Style Diced Tomatoes, drained
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (mine was “fresh” from the freezer as I had picked, washed, dried and frozen large quantities of cilantro that I pulled from our garden. When used in recipes like this or in soups it works and tastes great but it’s darker in color but because it’s been frozen it doesn’t work well as a garnish.)
Juice of 1 fresh lime
Salt & pepper to taste

Prepare bacon by cooking to desired crispiness. Drain the bacon on paper towels and when when cool, crumble.  Cut open and prepare avocados by scooping out the flesh and place in a bowl. Use a potato masher or forks to break up the avocados.  Add the onion, the drained Fire Roasted Tex Mex Style Diced Tomatoes, cilantro and the lime juice.  Fold to mix everything together well.  Season with salt & pepper. Cover guacamole with plastic wrap pressed directly against the guacamole so that it does not turn brown as fast. Chill well before serving.  Garnish with bacon and/or extra cilantro when ready to serve. 

IMG_8689e1I have a complaint with this recipe in that there was one major, huge flaw and that was, it didn’t make enough.  It was so delicious that Eammon and I polished off the entire bowl in short order so if you make this recipe, double, triple or quadruple the ingredients and don’t put it out at a party and turn your back thinking that you’ll get some later because you won’t as it’ll be gone in a flash.

Enjoy!

60 comments:

  1. What a fabulous guacamole recipe, especially love the addition of bacon.

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  2. Thank you for the wonderful review of my guac recipe! Your daughter is just adorable too wearing the same Pjs! I see our kids have great taste :)

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  3. also I'm your newest follower. love your blog :)
    http://itsyummytomytummy.blogspot.com

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  4. Looks great! I love the bacon in this!

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  5. I love guacamole and with the addition of the bacon I think my husband would love this recipe too! I'm visiting from the SRC.

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  6. I have never made a guacamole recipe like this. I need to give this a try especially with the addition of bacon. Yummy! I think it's great that you and Heather had so much in common. This is why I am enjoying the Secret Recipe Club and getting to be introduced to new bloggers.

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  7. A recipe I have got to try!!! Love the chili bowl too. :)

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  8. Yum! I love guac and could eat it by the spoonful! Thanks for stopping by, and great job with this month's SRC!

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  9. Guacamole and bacon are 2 of my favorite things in the world! This looks perfect!

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  10. That looks amazing. The fire roasted tomatoes must've been awesome. I can imagine the flavour.

    Roasting peppers in your oven or on the burner of a gas stove-top is actually quite easy if you can't find them bottled. You should try it.

    I like the idea of using your potato masher for the avocado. I have trouble with using a fork (slippery suckers, aren't they?). I use it for mashing beans as well in a couple other recipes.

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  11. Wow! I am thinking this would be great on a sandwich too. Great job!

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  12. Mmm few things can beat fresh guac! Looks great I want a bite ;p

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  13. That looks awesome! I'm a huge fan of guac...with the bacon it's even better!

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  14. I love bacon in guac!
    So fun to be in the Secret Recipe Club with you. This looks amazing :)

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  15. this looks so good - AND I could eat the whole bowl of this by myself. I absolutely love guacamole!

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  16. The Holy Guacamole looks amazing...I must try it. I love guacamole and this would be a great variation to our usual!

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  17. I LOVE guacamole, add bacon OMG! I need to make this one soon!!

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  18. Bacon? Did someone say bacon? This is over the top! I can't wait for next month's SRC either.

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  19. Your gacamole look amazing Lisa, we love guacamole at home, yuum! gloria

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  20. I love guacamole and this recipe sounds so different from the usual ones!

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  21. That is some seriously kicked up guac! Bacon is good in everything, yes? Theresa

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  22. This looks like a great recipe - isn't it so much fun to try things from other people's sites? I love the secret recipe club!

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  23. oooh! I love Guacamole and the addition of Fire Roasted Tomatoes makes me giddy! I will have to try this one.

    (I, too, like the idea of using your potato masher. so smart!)

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  24. So smart to use a potato masher, I would never have thought of that. The guac looks delicious and so easy to pull together.

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  25. Lisa, thanks for stopping by! Great job with the guacamole and it's nice getting to know you through the SRC!

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  26. This guacamole looks amazing! Love all the additions...especially the bacon! :)

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  27. What a great picture of all those beautiful colors in your guacamole.
    Looks really good.

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  28. This post has me longing for some at 9 in the morning! Looks delicious!

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  29. I love bacon in guacamole ... and such a simple recipe for it! I'll definitely be making this!

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  30. I love guac. Your add-ins to it sound great!

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  31. There is something magical about the combination of avocado and bacon! Your guacamole looks fantastic.

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  32. Guac is always one of my favorites as well - though I'd skip the bacon. ;)

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  33. Guacamole is heaven to me. I think you made the right choice for the SRC!

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  34. I love guac and this truly is a good one. Thanks for stopping by my gnocchi SRC post. It was a lot of fun this month!

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  35. Now that is a full flavored guacamole - love all your substitutions!

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  36. This guac sounds so good! Love your substitutions too =)

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  37. Awesome Guacamole, addicted to the stuff so I don't make it often, ha ha. love the bacon.

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  38. Haha, I was shocked to hear about the flaw at the end. If that's the only thing wrong with this guacamole, I'll gladly make double the recipe!

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  39. Oh gosh how I love guac! I am always looking for different recipes so I can find the best guac possible! I love the addition of those tomatoes. I am loving your blog, can't wait to try some of your tasty recipes! I am your newest follower :)

    http://steaknpotatoeskindagurl.blogspot.com

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  40. OMG! Bacon in guacamole! Totally fabulous! So glad you posted on my blog! I will now be a faithful follower!

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  41. This looks absolutely divine. Love the addition of the fire roasted tomatoes and bacon. Just wish I had some right now.

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  42. Why have I never thought to add bacon to Guacamole??? This looks delicious. We are having a family reunion this week (5 of our 6 kids live out of state). This will be a perfect addition to one of the many meals we will eat over the next few days. I'll make a big batch!

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  43. This looks fabulous. Nice work on the Secret Recipe Club. Isn't it fun. I love finding new blogs and reading through them.

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  44. I love guacamole and this one looks gorgeous. It's definitely something that is so much better to make yourself than to buy ready-made.

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  45. What a GREAT guacamole...I never have had bacon in my guac, but think I must make this soon! Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting on the lemon squares I made for SRC. They are WONDERFUL!!

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  46. Wow! That Guacamole looks amazing and now I'm craving some. Totally going to have to try this! :)

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  47. Lisa, I love the avocado. Actually, I love everything on your blog. I could spend hours here.

    I am going to make the avocado like this. I have two waiting to be used. I could eat avocado daily, I think.

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  48. How about making it low carb by using bacon strips for dipping instead of tortilla chips? ; )

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  49. Great job on the guac, and welcome to the Secret Recipe Club, Thanks for stopping by Foodness Gracious and hope to see you again soon.
    Thabks for sharing

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  50. I love guacamole and this one sounds like one that won't disappoint!

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  51. I love guacamole. I love bacon. Combine the two, and I don't know if I could even handle it! Great post.

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  52. Okay, so I love guacamole as it is. Like, "might name my first child Guacamole"-style love. It runs that deep. But...bacon? Are you serious? Where has my brain been all this time???

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  53. I am obsessed with everything avocado right now so this is definitely right up my alley!! YUM!!! I never thought of putting bacon in guac... can't wait to try it out. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such nice comments. :)

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  54. Fabulous! I adore guacamole! The bacon takes it to new heights! Great dish!

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  55. I don't think I'd ever considered adding bacon to guacamole. Genius.

    Amy @ A Little Nosh

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