September 1, 2016
by Jason Ford
Ford on Food
I’ll be giving cooking demonstrations at the Bloomin’ Beautiful Blackbutt Avocado Festival on Saturday, September 10. So I thought it was only appropriate to discuss avocados in this month’s column.
The avocado is listed by ‘Guinness Book of Records’ as the most nutritious fruit on earth.
Avocado is rich in folate, potassium, Vitamins A, B6, C and dietary fibre.
They do not contain cholesterol, as commonly believed, although they do contain more fat than any other fruit – and yes, they are a fruit.
The natural fat found in avocado is mostly monounsaturated fat, which has the same healthy properties as olive oil.
Fuerte, Hass and Sharwil are the most common varieties found on the market.
With the diversity of varieties cultivated, avocado is available all year round.
They are often purchased unripe, and need to be ripened on your kitchen bench until the flesh softens.
Apart from different textures of the skin, which range from pale green and smooth to dark green and rough, the ripe flesh should always be a creamy butter texture.
In fact, you can substitute butter with avocado when making sandwiches.
And for an interesting twist on an Aussie favourite, why not try avocado and Vegemite on toast? It’s a knockout!
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Avocado & Pumpkin Guacamole
Ingredients:
- 150g ripe avocados, mashed
- 150g jap pumpkin, cooked and mashed
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 chili, finely chopped
- 1 ripe tomato, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ¼ red onion, finely chopped
- 4 sprigs coriander, chopped
- 30ml extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper, to taste
- Tabasco sauce, to taste
Method:
- Combine all ingredients.
- Season with salt and pepper; add Tabasco sauce to desired spiciness.
Serve with toasted bread, or sticks of crisp vegetables; serves 6-8.
