Guac On

“Hey shout, summertime blues. Jump up and down in my blue suede shoes.”

Theme song by David Essex “Rock On” from Rock On
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The musical inspiration for this is one of my all-time favorite songs. When I first heard it in the ’70s, I fell completely in love with the minimalism of the track and the utter nonsense of the lyrics. It was like no other song I had heard to that point, and remarkably STILL does not sound all that dated. This is technically its second appearance in the Music & Food series as it forms the base sample for the J. Dilla “Detroit Game” theme song. While I knew David Essex was more than this one hit, at least in the U.K., I was surprised to find he had 19 Top 40 U.K. singles and 16 Top 40 albums. Plus, he’s a member of the OBE. Unfortunately, none of the rest of his catalog measures up to the creepy surreal musical genius of his single U.S. hit.

Living in Bushwick, Brooklyn means I am blessed with almost year-round access to ripe beautiful avocados. There’s nothing worse than craving guacamole only to find none of your local grocers have ripe avocados. Guacamole should be a spur-of-the-moment impulse snack, not a plan five days in advance so the avocados can ripen.

I like to keep the onion and tomato a bit chunky to add some texture. Prep all of your vegetables before cutting the avocado open. That way, the avocado will have less time to oxidize. Place all of the other ingredients in the bowl, then cut open the avocado and scoop the flesh into the bowl. Mash with a fork, stirring to blend, but leave a few small avocado chunks for that aforementioned texture. 

While I have nothing against store-bought tortilla chips, I feel if you’re going to make fresh guac then you might as well make some fresh chips. All you need is a few corn tortillas cut into quarters and shallow fried in vegetable oil. Simple as can be.

GUAC ON
Avocado, red onion, jalapeno, tomato, and lime juice
Makes enough to share

2 avocado
1/2 red onion, medium dice
1 jalapeno, fine dice
1 plum tomato – cored seeded and medium dice
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 dashes of hot sauce

Put avocado, onion, jalapeno, and tomato in a medium bowl. Add lime juice, hot sauce, and spices. Mix well with a fork until combined and creamy. Place in an airtight container, covering the guac with plastic wrap pressed down to seal out air, and store in the fridge until ready to serve. Though, honestly, just eat it right away because guac really does not keep very long.