In celebration of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo, on a previous weekend I decided to have a Guacamole Bar at my home. I made 3 guacamole recipes – one recipe from Alton Brown, one recipe from Bobby Flay, and one from Rick Bayless. At the time, I had just finished reading From Scratch: Inside the Food Network so this was also a call-out to that (my review on the book here).

The Alton Brown guacamole was the most mild, thanks to using only 1/2 a jalapeno that was seeded, and also 2 Roma tomatoes, but had great complexity of flavors in terms of seasoning. With it’s more reddish colors from tomato and cumin, it could look great in a guacamole bar as an alternative to muliple bowls of green.

Bobby Flay’s spicy guacamole uses jalapeno peppers that are not seeded and is also the easiest (put everything together and mash with fork) and I liked how it was chunky and uses red onion rather then white onion.

Finally, the Rick Bayless contender was great whenever you get a chewy bright bite of the sun dried tomato- I upped the amount of the sun dried tomato from his original recipe because I wanted more of those surprises in bites and I liked the addition of the queso fresco topping.

Using 3 avocados, each of these recipes yields approximately 3 cups (depending on the sizes of the avocados).

The Alton Brown Recipe- a tomato guacamole

Ingredients:

• 3 Haas avocados
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

1. In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice.
2. After all of the avocados have been coated, add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash with a potato masher.
3. Fold in the diced onions, jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

The Bobby Flay Recipe- a spicy guacamole

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons finely diced red onion
• 3 ripe Hass avocados
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 or 2 jalapenos, finely diced but seeds still there
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Mash the cilantro, onions, avocados, lime juice and jalapenos together in a bowl, using a fork; guacamole should be chunky. Season with salt and pepper

Rick Bayless Recipe- Sundried Tomato Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe Hass avocados
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/3 cup)
• Fresh hot green chiles to taste (usually 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno) finely chopped
• 1/2 cup soft sun dried tomatoes, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (patted dry on paper towels if oil-packed)
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh cilantro (thick bottom stems cut off), plus a little extra for garnish
• Salt to taste
• 1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice/to taste
• 1/4 cup of Mexican queso fresco or other fresh garnishing cheese like feta or salted farmers cheese, for garnish

Directions:

1. Scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl. Using a potato masher or a large fork or spoon, mash the avocados into a coarse puree.
2. Scoop the onion into a small strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and mix into the avocado, along with the chiles, tomatoes and cilantro. Taste and season with salt and lime juice–the guacamole usually takes about 1 teaspoon of salt; lime juice is a matter of personal preference.
3. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve (for best results, this needs to be within a couple of hours).
4. Scoop the guacamole into a serving dish, sprinkle with  queso fresco (if you’re using it) and you’re ready to serve.

Thanks to A and H who brought additional stuffs for our potluck, including salsas (including a yummy roasted pepper one) and also making chicken and separately tofu and vegetable enchiladas!

It was fun trying 3 different guacamoles. One nice touch you probably noticed is that besides the variety of guacamoles, we also had a variety of tortilla chip types as well! I think I will try this idea of “Variations of a Dish” at another potluck, but this time have each person bring in a different take of something, say macaroni and cheese or fried chicken or some other dish.

If you had such a theme, what would you pick as the dish you ask everyone to try variations on?