Laura Bush’s guacamole recipe
It wasn’t that long ago that the recipes coming out of the kitchen at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were classic American dishes like tuna noodle casserole and meatloaf. Not uncoincidentally, those mild Midwest affairs started to disappear when the first Texan president and first lady took up residence in the White House.
Lady Bird Johnson started everyone off easy with the king ranch casserole, a Texas potluck favorite, and her ranch spiced tea. Barbara Bush next introduced Mexican mound to Washington, a simple dish made with piled-up corn chips and spicy ground beef — sort of like your taco suddenly exploded on your plate. I’m sure the Mexican mound was a smashing success with the broiled-swordfish-and-steamed-asparagus crowd.
After that, non-Texan presidents started getting in on the Texas/Tex-Mex action too. Arkansas native Bill Clinton enjoyed his chicken enchiladas and chili con queso (and other people’s Egg McMuffins). The Obamas, who were based in Illinois prior to their White House stint, have a family chili recipe that made the rounds. [I’m still trying to forgive them for serving it over rice, though. Bless their hearts.] And they even had Rick Bayless* prepare a state dinner in 2010 (it was for the Mexican president, but still).
And then, of course, there’s Laura Bush’s guacamole. It has the quintessential Texas twist of a fresh squeeze of lemon instead of lime for the acid, giving it a bright flavor to contrast the buttery, mildly earthy avocado. But instead of using onion, she opts for milder shallots (you can always use a little red onion if you want more onion punch or sweet onion if you can’t find shallots). Then she rounds it out with some seeded jalapeños and cilantro to bring it back home. (Confession: I only seed the jalapeños fully if I’m serving guests who can’t take the heat, which I guess at the White House, she probably would have been.)
*Rick Bayless is one of the most well-respected chefs evangelizing, modernizing and adapting Mexican cuisine. I’ve watched his Daytime Emmy-nominated PBS series, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, many times, and for the life of me, I haven’t been able to work out how a world-renown chef (who seems to be channeling Bob Ross — “Maybe in our world, there’s a happy little sprig of cilantro that lives over there”) can be the younger brother of ESPN First Take’s Skip Bayless. The mind boggles.
Image: ForkingSpoon
Laura Bush's guacamole recipe
Laura Bush's guacamole recipe is an interesting take on the traditional dip, made with avocados, jalapeño peppers, fresh lemon juice and shallots.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prepare the avocados
Cut the avocados in half with a sharp knife, separate the halves, and carefully remove the pit with a spoon or knife. Using the spoon, scrape the avocado pulp from the skin into a large mixing bowl. Some people may find it's easier to scoop out the avocado by using a blunt knife to score the inside of the avocado into small rectangle sections first.
Make the guacamole
Using a fork or potato masher, roughly mash the avocados together with the lemon juice, taking care not to mash too aggressively — the texture of the guacamole should till be somewhat chunky. Gently fold in the shallots, jalapeño, cilantro, black pepper and salt. Cover the surface of the guacamole with water and a sheet of plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
Notes
Some of our more eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that the guacamole in the recipe picture is garnished with a little grated lemon peel which isn't strictly included in Laura Bush's recipe. You got me. I almost always do this when I make guacamole (extra zing) but totally forgot to skip my borderline lemon fetish for this particular recipe.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the avocados
Cut the avocados in half with a sharp knife, separate the halves, and carefully remove the pit with a spoon or knife. Using the spoon, scrape the avocado pulp from the skin into a large mixing bowl. Some people may find it's easier to scoop out the avocado by using a blunt knife to score the inside of the avocado into small rectangle sections first.
Make the guacamole
Using a fork or potato masher, roughly mash the avocados together with the lemon juice, taking care not to mash too aggressively — the texture of the guacamole should till be somewhat chunky. Gently fold in the shallots, jalapeño, cilantro, black pepper and salt. Cover the surface of the guacamole with water and a sheet of plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
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