Kitchen Tip: Serve the Perfect Avocado

 

The photo above was taken at the absolute peak of this avocado's flavor. I am convinced that many who loathe avocado have not had the pleasure of consuming an avocado at its peak. If they had, they would adore avocado and seek it out regularly. 

Nutty, buttery, and just at the right texture: not too firm but not too soft. Easy to peel, no avocado stuck to the skin, and no skin adhering to the avocado (as it sometimes does. The inside of the skin will stick & you have to scrape it off to get to the green goodness. Well, you can leave it on, but I wouldn't recommend it.) I'll take a picture the next time it happens and add it to this blog entry. 

No blemishes on this beauty though - none inside or outside. Just avocado perfection. 

I finally learned my lesson about these some years back. When you shop for them, you will either find them completely unripe and hard as a rock, or mush. Sometimes you get lucky and find an "in between," but even then there's no guarantee it will be acceptable. 

So never mind the "in between," unless you have a grocery store you know you can trust. Buy them when they are completely unripe, and allow them to ripen at home. One or two days on the counter, then when they start to get slightly soft (just barely yielding to finger pressure), pop them in the fridge to finish. 

If you are planning to make guacamole or some other dish for a party, you have to plan ahead so they are at their peak, or at least near it. It is worth the extra effort though. Absolutely. 

Here in South Central Texas, they will ripen in 2-3 days; sometimes 3-4, depending on the time of year. Once you do some personal testing, you will find your own "sweet spot." 

I found out about "The Avocado Guy" in New York City a few months ago. He gets it! So much so that he has turned it into a business. Every city should have an avocado guy like this. Lucky, lucky, lucky! 

Here is his story. Video is almost 11 minutes, and worth the watch for sure!

The Avocado Guy

Product Review: Mindy Lu's Pies

 

I have seen these around from time to time, but I was always hesitant to try them because I was afraid they were too sweet. 

Finally took the plunge, and guess what? They are not too sweet. They are just right. 

If you are addicted to sugary snacks, pass these up and leave them for the rest of us. You are looking for the pies that have filling that is cloyingly sweet, and are also drenched with a sugary coating. 

Mindy Lu's pies have just the right amount of sweetener, and the crust on these pocket pies is tender and flaky. 

Blueberry

I heard they are even better if you pop them in a toaster oven, but I never get that far. I have to consume immediately. 

Are they healthy? No. But they are fine for a treat once in a while. If you don't mind consuming about 340 calories or so in one sitting, you can always eat more. 😆

The calorie count varies slightly per pie. My last one was blueberry, and those are 340 calories each. 

These are so much better than the ones that seemed so popular many years ago. The crust was a lot harder and thicker on the pies in Long Ago Land, and they were far too sweet, as mentioned above. 

Give these a try if you stumble across them. If you're in Arlington Texas, you can go directly to Mindy Lu's pies and place an order. They also have online ordering, but it is suspended for the moment until the weather gets cooler here. Otherwise, you may find them in select grocery stores & gas station convenience stores.

Link: Mindy Lu's Pies

Divine Deviled Eggs - The Secret Ingredient

 

Secret or not so secret. For all I know, many do this already. But if you don't, please check it out, because this version is a really good one. This is not my opinion only though. These were field-tested.  😆

I was actually looking for something neutral to use because we were getting low on mayo, and also because I get tired of running out of filling before all of the eggs are filled to a reasonable capacity. Not a problem with this recipe. There was plenty of filling with a little left over after overloading the egg halves. Say....YEAH!!!!! That's what I'm talkin' about! 

Non-traditional format for recipe posting because as I was typing it out, I just typed out exactly what I did and in what order. So that is how I am posting it here:

Boil 12 eggs in your usual way. (My way is to start them in cold water, set timer for 20 minutes, turn them off when they reach a rolling boil, then pull them when the timer goes off.)

This yielded 12 yolks & 3 white halves that didn't make the cut. Mashed them finely with a potato masher. (Actually, it would probably be considered a bean masher because of the smaller holes. Or heck... just use a fork. That would work too. lol)

The rest of these are approximate:

2 Tbsps mayo (Duke's)

1/4 cup cottage cheese

1 1/2 Tbsps dill relish

3 dashes of Tabasco (garlic flavored)

Pinch of cayenne

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp finely grated red (purple) onion (I used a tiny garlic grater. You really just need the juice, no chunks necessary. It is for enhancement only. You won't even be able to tell it is there, but your tastebuds will appreciate it.)

1 - 1/2 tsps Grey Poupon 

S&P to your taste ( I used Kosher salt)

I used the masher to mash & mix everything together thoroughly.

Paprika for garnish optional, but it does contribute to the flavor, so DOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIT.....lmao

Adjust S&P if necessary

Sprinkle S&P on the halves before filling. 

The filling was light & fluffy and had a great flavor. I had to make another batch immediately because the first one went to a birthday party.  

So...In this order: 

yolks & whites (mash well)

then mash in:

cottage cheese

mayo

mustard

W sauce

tabasco

onion

S&P

cayenne

Mash well, then add relish & mix & mash that in too. 

Load the halves with a spoon, pastry bag, or just use a Ziplock or similar... (load it, cut a corner off to make a makeshift pastry bag. It does make things easier.)

Any questions, just ask! 

Also, share your favorite version here too! There are so many great variations out there!

Hoity-Toity Turkey Sandwich

 

Hoity-Toity Turkey Sandwich...so dubbed because my Mom accused me of making a "fancy" sandwich with a couple of extra ingredients. 😂😂😂 (She was kidding, btw.) 😆

I wanted to ramp up the bland turkey, and I'll be dipped! It was even better than I expected. 

So here are the ingredients and the order of layers, so you may capture the same great flavors. (Because we all know that the order of layers on a sandwich definitely makes a difference.)

*Please note that I used homemade Creamy Parmesan dressing (that I made for salad the night before. I'll have to post that on the blog too).

Hoity-Toity Turkey Sandwich Construction Instructions

2 slices of Nature's Own white wheat bread - toasted

Very thin layer of mayo on both sides (maybe a scant teaspoon's worth. I used Duke's).

1 slice of provolone (Sargento regular sized slice, not the thin one. If you have the thin ones, use 2).

2 slices of bland ass oven-roasted turkey (Oscar Meyer frisbee-meat turkey). 

Sprinkle ground black pepper on the turkey.

A layer of lettuce, I used romaine (without the rib).

Sliced Roma tomato for next layer.

S&P (don't overdo it though, use more P than S).

Drizzle with creamy Parmesan dressing, just a tsp. or tsp. & a half. 

Then a layer of fresh avocado slices. 

Top with the other slice of toasted bread and dig in! 

If you make it and like it, let me know...or share your variations. I have one already. Remove turkey=Instant vegetarian! I bet it would be just as good. 😊

Product Review: Wolf Brand Chili Hot Dog Sauce

If you were a fan of the original formula, I can save you some reading. My review for this product? 

DUD.

I used to enjoy this hot dog sauce. It was my favorite canned sauce. Then Wolf discontinued it. I sent them an email expressing my disappointment, and then proceeded to look for a substitute. Nothing suitable surfaced, so I moved on to the kitchen lab. Just testing here and there, hoping for a "breakthrough." 😆 We don't eat a lot of hot dogs or chili dogs, so it wasn't an emergency. But it was still sad when a craving started coming on. 

I happened upon the chili display at a local store the other day, and there it was. It was back! Cautious excitement occurred right away, because the can was now 14 oz. instead of 10 oz. Ingredients seemed a little off. I even wondered if they just stuck regular chili in it and slapped the hot sauce label on just to shut people up. 

I'm old enough to remember the "New Coke" debacle. It was never the same after they brought the "original" back. Same with Taco Bell Enchiritos. Just a shadow of their former selves. 

But...of course we had to try the hot dog sauce. So I gathered the rest of the items for chili dogs. Fingers crossed. 

I popped open the can the next day, and right away I knew this wasn't it. Texture was all wrong. Aroma was off. 

Flavor...NO. It is WAY off. They ditched the original recipe for THIS??!! REALLY???!!! It is so f-----g bland now. 

I checked the ingredients against the old ones. Missing rolled oats. Well, that is not the reason it is so bland. They had to go and monkey around with the rest of the formula too. 

This sucks. It was so nice & spicy previously. And it was well blended. I read complaints about the previous texture from some people, but it was supposed to be chili hot dog SAUCE, not chili. 

Now it is some gray area in between. Edible, but no thrills. Thanks for nothing, Wolf.  (I should really say: Parent Company of Wolf.)

Back to the kitchen drawing board for me...to replicate the original. It will be a priority now. 

I will allow these Mango Forks express my disapproval:

Come on, Wolf. You can do better.