labneh, guacamole

According to my daughters, I make the best (labneh) guacamole in the whole world. That’s because I only make guacamole when the avocados are ripe. Never put guacamole on your menu planning because it is rare for the avocados to ripen at the right time. That’s also because I largely rely on this guacamole recipe.

Labneh with guacamole

Remove the seeds from two ripe tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and then into cubes. Mix the diced tomatoes with salt and drain in a colander at room temperature for half an hour.

Put 120 grams of coarsely chopped white onion, half a coarsely chopped pitted green chili pepper, a fair amount of cilantro and salt to taste in a mortar. Rub everything well to loosen the fragrances and flavors. If you are using a food processor, you can also add the lime juice for easier blending.

Remove the flesh from four ripe avocados and place in a mixing bowl. Add the onion and herb mixture along with 40 grams of lime juice and the rest of fair amount of cilantro. Using a kitchen whisk, break up the avocados while mixing everything together.

Finally, fold the diced tomatoes under the guacamole. Taste and add salt and/or lime juice if necessary.

Put a jar of labneh on a nice green plate and make a hole in it with a spoon. Hold the spoon and turn the plate around. Fill the space with a generous amount of guacamole. Top the labneh guacamole with what’s left of the cilantro and top with some olive or avocado oil.

Cover the guacamole with plastic wrap directly on top of the guacamole itself. Guacamole turns brown from contact with oxygen. Adding lemon helps a little bit but to completely prevent browning in guacamole, you will have to use too much lemon or lime.

Use a mortar or food processor to crush the aromatics. Most aromatics like onion, chili, garlic, coriander only release their flavours when you start mixing their individual molecules together. This is best done in a mortar (or food processor).

I break up the ripe avocados with a kitchen whisk. This makes for a guacamole with avocado puree that still has some bits in it here and there. Crushing with a fork also works. If the avocados are ripe then everything works.

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