Green Fruit

Hello faithful followers. Thanks for your patience, as it has been a little longer than I like since I last posted. There is food reason for it - I haven't really cooked much lately. We've had a demanding social schedule over the last few weeks (which you can catch up on here) and so the quantity of time I've been in the kitchen has dropped dramatically. And when I have been in the kitchen recently, it has been spent preparing some of my old standbys, with which I wasn't going to bore you.

I prepared one of my favorite standby snacks yesterday. It was inspired by a restaurant-made guacamole; you know the kind that they make right there at your table? Some do it better than others, but they are all better than the kind you buy in a plastic container in the deli isle of your local grocer. Avocados were on sale earlier in the week, and though unripe at the time, by yesterday they were perfectly soft and bright green. I smashed up two to the point where they were mushy (yes, a technical term) but still had enough chunks in them so as not to feel like you were eating baby food. I then diced up a small shallot and half a jalapeño pepper (seeds and spines removed so it's not so hot that it overpowers the avocados.) Add the juice of a lime, seasoned salt, pepper, and mix together. I often add a bit of fresh cilantro and diced plum tomatoes too, but didn't have them on hand this go around. Guacamole is one of my favorite condiments... or is it a salad or chutney? I'm not sure on that. Nonetheless, its creamy texture, semi-sweet fruit, and the crunch that the onion and pepper provides make it the perfect compliment to both chips and anything spicy.

Question of the Day: I once had Bananas Foster prepared table-side, flames and all. What is your favorite table-side prepared food and where do they do it?