Ms Martha STEWART thinks she knows avocados

[UTUSN]

She does the thing - the Mexican slicng thing of the avocado, - this is about taking the nut/seed OUT -


And, yes, in Mexico, the waiters DO use the knife to remove the nut/seed.


Fine.


But at home, take a blunt knife and do the WHOLE around-the-world thing, and when you've got the avocado in HALVE, then take a TABLE SPOON and scoop (first) the SEED/nut out, and then use the SPOON to scoop the good stuff out.


You're welcome, America, sez Kelly RIPA.

[applegrove]

1. I don't know how many times I tried to grow an avocado plant from the seed. You stick tooth

picks in the seed so that you can half suspend the avocado see in water. Mine didn't sprout they just all got moldy.

[LiberalEsto]

5. I used to grow them years ago

but I know what you're saying. I suspect they do something to the avocados now so they won't sprout. Maybe they irradiate them?

[Kali]

12. just set the seed in some potting soil

push it in most of the way and cover it with the peel - keep it moist but not soggy, takes several weeks usually

I've had them grow and live over two years, but lose them to frost or drought usually (forget to bring in or water)

[May Hamm]

16. Good idea

I've had lotsa luck with avocados. Grow nicely until boredom sets in or the mood goes. Funny that I never thought of starting out with soil. Think I will. I'm in the mood to hurry spring.

[Duer 157099]

2. But then you have to get a spoon dirty

I do it with just one knife. Plus that way there's not any waste at all, not even a little bit, because the seed comes out clean and the skin peels off cleanly. When scooping, there's always some flesh that get stuck to the seed and skin.

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. This may get me run out of Arizona... but I'm not a big fan of avocados.

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I HAVE tasted guacamole that I've liked -- but it's on very rare occasions.
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Having said that, one of my co-workers in Pennsylvania used to go to Puerto
Rico 2-3 times a year... and she would always bring me back an avocado from
there.
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Fucking AMBROSIA!!!!!
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Apparently, they don't export them (wise folks), so they're very hard to come
by here in the States.
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But if you ever get the chance -- GRAB IT!!!!
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[Ptah]

7. MFM want an avacado?

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[GoCubsGo]

9. We have one that might be very similar around here.

Could even be the same variety as the Puerto Rican ones. They call them "Florida" avocados. They're also known as "slimacados". They are usually four times or more bigger than Haas avocados, and the skin is relatively smooth, unlike the Haas. The flesh is firmer than Haas avocados, and they're not as "dense" in flavor, because they're not as fatty. I love them on sandwiches, or in salads. They don't really make good guacamole.

[begin_within]

4. Well, I live in The Big Avocado,

(San Diego County) and I've been using avocados for 28 years, and here's my method. By the way Hass are the best, but only available in the warm months. The other varieties are inferior. I cut all the way around, the long way, then twist the 2 halves to separate them. Of course the seed stays in one half. Usually with the tip of the knife I try to pry the seed out. If it doesn't come out easily I will get a spoon to dig it out. Before scooping out the actual avocado flesh, I dice it with a knife while it is still in the shell. Dice it finely while still in the skin. Then scoop it out and it comes out in many small chunks. If you're making guacamole, add lime juice, grated lime peel, fresh garlic, and green chiles or green taco sauce - nothing else. No red taco sauce, no red chiles, no tomatoes, no salt, no cumin, no cilantro. There will be salt on the chips you serve with it and that is enough salt. Lime, green chiles, garlic and avocado are the only four ingredients. The lime oil in the lime peel adds a great deal of flavor. Mix together and stir, but don't stir until it's a completely smooth paste throughout. You want there to be hundreds of tiny chunks throughout. Cover and chill for one hour, then serve within 4 hours of making it. I think it's a myth that putting the seed into the prepared guacamole stops it from turning brown. It's the lime juice that stops it from turning brown. But to answer your original question, I try to pop out the seed from the half with the tip of a knife, but if it doesn't come out, the spoon works. And you can use the same spoon for stirring together the guacamole.

[UTUSN]

10. "nothing else" is the way to go. (Except salt.) In Spain, they think they HAVE to go haute cuisine

or something and put mayonaise or sour cream on it. Blasphemy!!!!!!!!


I don't even go for guacamole, just sliced/cubed chunks WITH SALT.

[begin_within]

17. Mayo or sour cream...

...ew. I know some recipes add sour cream to extend it, if you are short on avocado, but to me that ruins it.

[pink-o]

13. Hass California avies are the BEST!

Those "Florida" ones taste like watered-down guacamole. I get Hass all year round because I don't wanna eat salad without them. (I'll be green some other way, but since I'm vegetarian and live mostly on raw fruit and salads, I will continue to buy imported produce in the winter.) Also, I deprived myself of avocados in the 90s, stupidly following that "low fat" diet craze--remember, the one that made everybody FAT??? Anyway, avocados have one of the healthiest sources of fat, along with olives and nuts. Love 'em, never gonna give 'em up again.

[mix]

6. a spoon? you've got to be kidding

In French, lawyer and avocado are the same word: avocat.

I've always found that funny for some reason.

[grasswire]

8. easier way

slice around and remove one half

take a big knife and whack the seed once with it

pull the knife away and the seed will come cleanly with it

of course you have to hold the avocado in your palm while you are whacking the thing, but aim well

I believe this is the recommended method today.

[UTUSN]

11. Yeh, that's what I meant about how Martha does it, the Mexican whack

Waiters over there making mixed drinks also hold chunks of ice in one palm and use an ice pick in the other hand to aim directly into making smaller chips. Get what I mean---STICKING/STABBING with the ice pick smartly into the chunk IN THEIR PALM.


Also, about the avocado/spoon thing: I didn't mean breaking up the flesh and spooning it out. I meant inserting the edge of the spook at the side of the half (I know not to spell "halve") between the skin and the flesh and pushing the spoon around UNDERNEATH the whole flesh half and getting it all out in one piece. And, yes, there are often parts of the flesh that stay behind and need to be scraped closer.

[lunatica]

14. That's how I do it

It actually works best. You half avocado is intact that way and you can use it as an appetizer filled with mayo or caviar or whatever you like.

[UTUSN]

15. How could I leave out, somebody who had never seen one before

Seeing the seed, saying, "What an incredibly LARGE SEED!1"