June 2017 – Luv Cooks

Fourth of July Fried Avocado Tacos with Red Jalapeno Slaw

Fourth of July: one of the best food holidays of the year. A time where we get to celebrate not only the beauty of our country, but the beauty of the food it produces (#california). I consider it one of the best times of the year to celebrate our beloved avocado in all it’s forms.

Like, serving your friends guacamole with pimento and queso fresco to dip salty tortilla chips into. Or chocolate avocado cupcakes with chocolate peanut avocado “buttercream” for dessert. But this week’s recipe is, to me, the ultimate way to enjoy a fresh avocado: fried.

And, I must give credit where credit is due- to our very own Mas Tacos in Nashville, who serves as the original inspiration for this recipe with their fried avocado tacos. Biting into the crispy, salty breading as your teeth sink into the soft, creamy avocado center is the height of deliciousness (well, next to their fried tilapia or chicken skillet tacos), as is really everything on the Mas Tacos menu.

But back to you, and me, and frying avocados. The primary method in cooking these avocado pieces well involves organization, moving quickly, and taking care to use ripe avocados. Too soft, and your avocados will fall apart a bit as they fry. Too firm, and you don’t want to eat them. How do you ensure their ripeness? Use your thumb and forefinger to gently squeeze the top and bottom of the avocado at the stem. If it gives in to gentle pressure, it should be good to go. Squeezing the outer flesh of the fruit isn’t a good indicator- sometimes the inside is bruised and may give a false sense of ripeness.

AND for more tips on keeping your sliced avocado fruit fresh, check out this video!

In review of these video and blog post tips:

To keep your slices fresh:

Dunk whole avocado halves in lemon water (a few tablespoons lemon juice stirred into a bowl of water).
Use Fruit Fresh (a fruit preservative you can find in the canning section of grocery stores).
Use a vacuum sealer!! I don’t personally own one of these but I think they are super awesome.

To fry these tacos with ease:

Be organized. Assemble all of your ingredients ahead of time, and make sure your breading bowls are ready to go once the oil is heated.
Move quickly. Watch the avocado slices as they fry; too long, and they will turn an unappealing dark, dark brown. Once they look golden and crisp, flip those slices!
Choose ripe avocados. Take some extra time to make sure your avocados are just right to fry (See tips above)!

Alright my loves!! Here’s to a Fourth of July weekend full of yummy food, fabulous friends, and feeding the ones you love.

Fried Avocado Tacos with Red Jalapeno Slaw (You can also check out the full post for Birmingham magazine here)

These easy summer tacos are a perfect way to highlight avocado’s creamy richness. You can even fry the avocado pieces ahead of time and gently warm in the oven at about 250 degrees before serving guests.

What You Will Need

3 ripe avocados, sliced
1 egg
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 cup whole grain, seeded bread crumbs, coarsely ground
4 cups canola oil
8 corn or flour tortillas, warmed
Red jalapeno slaw, for topping
Cilantro leaves, for topping

What You Will Do

Pour oil into large Dutch oven. Line a large plate with paper towels. Heat oil on medium until oil temperature reaches 350 degrees.
While the oil is heating, whisk egg and almond milk together and place in a shallow bowl.
Whisk flour, cumin, chili powder, paprika and coarse kosher salt and place in shallow bowl.
Pour breadcrumbs into another bowl.
Dip avocado slices, working in batches of two to three slices at a time, first in the flour mixture, then egg/milk mixture, then bread crumbs.
Carefully lower breaded slices into hot oil, and fry for about one minute, or until sides are nice and golden brown.
Set to drain on paper towel lined plate and top with additional salt to taste. Serve in warmed corn tortillas topped with red jalapeno slaw.

Red Jalapeno Slaw

This slaw is as simple as slicing up some cabbage then whipping together a quick dressing. Save half of the dressing as dip for the tacos!

What You Will Need

¼ cup olive oil mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin together
¼ teaspoon agave
1 cup green cabbage, shredded
1 cup purple cabbage, shredded
2 red jalapenos, sliced

What You Will Do

Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, cumin, and agave.
Toss half of dressing with cabbage and sliced jalapenos; use other half as a dip for tacos.

Luv Cooks Fourth of July FAVES!

Hi lovely Luv Cooks foodies!

In honor of this very special holiday weekend, where we get to celebrate the beauty and freedom of America, and American cuisine, I wanted to give you guys a special round-up of all of the recipes that are SURE to bring a smile to the ones you love this Fourth of July.

This post is all about my favorite summertime recipes that not only taste delicious, but are a great way to bring some fun and love to those outdoor BBQ’s.

Without further ado…

White BBQ Sauce This recipe, adapted from Southern Living’s version, is a huge crowd pleaser! Use it to top smoked chicken, burgers, even stir it into coleslaw!

Grilled Greek Pizza with Steak Two words: GREEK DRESSING! This post features my favorite homemade Greek dressing of all time and the fabulous The Style Gathering– plus steak tips!

Grilled Tomato Salsa: I adore salsa, and grilling the tomatoes in this recipe gives even more depth of flavor to already fantastic Southern tomatoes.

Strawberry Honey Lemonade This lemonade is one of my favorites I’ve ever made, plus it uses honey and only a bit of sugar for sweetness. And, it involves summertime strawberries- deal!

Gluten Free Peach Cobbler Ice Cream

This recipe is soooo tasty and even uses gluten-free pie crust in the ice cream. YES!

Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut “Buttercream”

Glory hallelujah!! It’s summertime, and all I can think about is avocados. I want avocados on my tacos, in (last week’s) guacamole, in the tacos *spoiler alert* that will appear next week.

But I never thought I would want avocados in cupcakes. That is, until I came across Laura Lea Balanced and clicked on her “Desserts” tab. OH MY GEEZZ the creativity, beauty, and ingenuity of her healthy recipes are phenomenal! Strawberry shortcakes with coconut cashew cream, blueberry lime popsicles, Samoas macaroons, and… avocado cupcakes with chocolate orange buttercream. Brilliant.

I absolutely love Laura’s creativity and how she replaces the typical white sugar and butter found in most cupcakes (and most buttercream recipes) and utilizes avocado. These cupcakes have a fudge-chocolatey texture, but lack the saccharine sweetness of a typical chocolate cake. Plus they are full of nutrients, use spelt flour, and the non-dairy buttercream is so wildly addictive that I wanted to eat it on it’s own.

This week’s recipe is my own small twist on what Laura already developed; putting dark chocolate cocoa powder in the cupcake batter, substituting honey in the buttercream instead of maple syrup (since Jake and I never seem to have that on hand) and adding PBFit powdered peanut butter, plus chopped peanuts, to the top. So, ya’ll, these cupcakes are a MUST HAVE food adventure- especially if you love avocados.

AND more avocado food styling tips!

Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut “Buttercream” (Recipe adapted from Laura Lea Balanced Avocado Cupcakes with Chocolate Orange Buttercream)

This recipe requires a few specific ingredients (like fresh orange juice) but it’s worth the effort! I suggest making the icing ahead of time since it needs to sit for about two hours in the fridge. Plus, if you like orange zest, make sure and check out Laura’s original recipe!

What You Will Need:

1¼ cups spelt flour
2 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder
¾ cup coconut sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 ripe banana, roughly chopped
½ large ripe avocado, mashed
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Peanut Avocado “Buttercream”
Salted roasted peanuts, chopped, for topping
Flaked sea salt, for topping

What You Will Do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and spray a muffin tin with olive oil cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking soda and salt.
In a blender, combine egg, banana, avocado, coconut oil, orange juice, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth and no chunks of avocado remain (a minute or two).
Add liquid ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and fold (or gently stir) to incorporate.
Scoop about ¼ cup batter into each muffin hole and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted into them comes out with no crumbs attached.
Let muffins cool completely in the pan, or after cooling for about 10 minutes, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, ice with buttercream and top with chopped salted peanuts and flaked sea salt. Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Avocado “Buttercream”

What You Will Need:

1 ½ ripe avocados, lightly mashed
5 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 tablespoon PBFit (powdered peanut butter)

What You Will Do:

In the bowl of a small food processor, blend avocado, honey, cocoa powder and PB fit until smooth.
Spoon icing out and place into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Attempt to resist temptation to eat this once it’s cold!

Avocado Food Styling Tips + Pimento and Queso Fresco Guacamole

Guacamole, inspired by pimento cheese! Food styling tips! Let’s do this!

Summer is a perfect time for guacamole. As I dip my salty, crispy tortilla chip into the creamy fabulousness that is fresh guac, I am transported to sunny beaches, tropical beverages, and (hopefully) a summer vacation.

This week’s recipe is also inspired by pimento cheese. That’s right, as a woman who grew up in the South, there was also NO WAY you could bypass the summer season without being offered either a pimento cheese sandwich with the crusts cut off at a baby and/or wedding shower; offered pimento cheese and Premium brand saltine crackers at the beach; or eaten right out of the jar with fresh tomatoes.

Jake and I shot this pimento and queso fresco guacamole for the May issue of Birmingham magazine, who we love. I was also super pumped to experiment with adding a Southern spin to a traditionally Mexican side dish. Plus, I’ll share with you food styling tips I’ve learned along the way, #praise!

How to style (and use) beautiful avocados:

Avocados have a tendency to brown super easily. Whether you are styling your avocado for Instagram (or your family picnic), try rubbing the surface of the fruit (that’s right, FRUIT!) with fresh lime juice. You can also use a product called Fruit Fresh

To pick out a great avocado, don’t look at color alone. My favorite tip for finding a ripe, perfect avocado is NOT to squeeze the fruit in your hand. Simply press the top and bottom of the guacamole in between in your forefinger and thumb. If the fruit has a slight give to it, and no visible bruises or soft spots on the exterior, it’s ready to go!

Buy more than you need. Whether you are making guacamole at home or photographing avocados, it’s almost impossible to pick them perfectly every time. I usually buy double the amount of what I need, and if you don’t end up using the extra avocado that day, just dice it up and pop it in a plastic bag in the freezer! Frozen avocado is brilliant in puddings, smoothies, etc.

Don’t slice your hand open! The best way to slice avocados involves two knives and these steps: A. Slice avocado in half using a very sharp chef’s knife. B. Gently twist avocado open. C. Strike pit with the blade of your chef’s knife (DONT USE A CERAMIC KNIFE HERE OR IT WILL SHATTER!) and, with the blade in the pit of the avocado, twist. Use a dry dish towel to remove the pit from the half. D. Use a paring knife to create even, clean slices in your pit-free halves. E. Use a large metal spoon to gently remove the avocado half from the fruit, scooping as close to the avocado flesh as possible. E. Place fruit on cutting board and fan those slices to your heart’s content! Drizzle with lime juice or Fruit Fresh to make it last and prevent browning.

And without further ado (and your newly acquired avocado SKILLZ) this week’s avocado recipe! Suggestions for serving: A refreshing tropical beverage and bright pink sunglasses in tow.

Pimento and Queso Fresco Guacamole

This recipe is perfect for a chill summer day, and comes together easily and quickly if you have ripe avocados! The hit of roasted green chilis adds extra depth. To store your guacamole to prevent browning, simply press plastic wrap into the surface of the guacamole. Ole!

Serves 6

3 ripe avocados, mashed
1 tablespoon roasted green hatch chiles
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2 tablespoons pimento, drained
3 tablespoons crumbled queso fresco, plus additional for topping
Sliced jalapenos, for topping
Corn tortilla chips, for serving

Stir avocado, chiles, salt, lime juice, red onion, pimento, and queso fresco together. Serve with tortilla chips and sprinkle with sliced jalapenos and crumbled queso fresco.

ALSO check out more fun avocado facts at this article I wrote for B’ham mag here!