Monday, June 09, 2008

Bacon Guacamole & Stuffed Mushrooms

Simply Delicioso book jacket

I don't know if you guys know who Ingrid Hoffman is? I didn't, until I got an e-mail from Clarkson Potter, asking if I wanted to review her new book: Simply Delicioso. (You can read more about the book, and about Ingrid, here.) Now, this book is all about latin food - light, colorful, flavorful latin food. Ingrid talks a lot about "chicas" and is completely geared toward women, and I rather like her style. She seems like a latino version of Nigella, kind of! The book has tons of recipes and beautiful photos, and the chapter that really appealed the most to me is about snacks. There, I found these two recipes that I've adapted a little bit to share with you. They're both brilliant - you just HAVE to try the bacon guacamole! I can't believe I hadn't thought of that before, because it was seriously one of the best things I've ever made. My guests all agreed - and jokingly said that if it had just had some cheese too, it'd have been the ultimate food.

I forgot to take a photo of the mushrooms, but they were also really tasty. I was extremely sceptical at first - stuffing mushrooms with grapes? - but I'm glad to report that it really, really worked. It gives a bite of sweetness that plays off the saltiness of the filling perfectly, and it works texture-wise as well. It can definitely be prepared the night before, so I'd say it's perfect party food.

bacon-guacamole

Bacon Guacamole
140 g bacon, finely diced and fried until crispy
3 avocados, mashed
1 tomato, finely diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 fresh chili, finely chopped
3-4 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced
salt, black pepper

Fry the bacon and let it drain off a little on some paper towels. Mash the avocados with the lime juice and add tomato, chili and red onion. Add coriander and bacon, and season with some salt and black pepper. Serve with corn chips.

Stuffed Mushrooms

about 600 g buttom mushrooms (choose small, firm mushrooms)
200 g cream cheese
100 g serrano ham
1 tsp fresh thyme
300 g seedless green grapes
olive oil
shredded parmesan

Clean the mushrooms: remove the stems, and clean up the holes so that they're easy to fill. Dice the ham and mix with thyme and cream cheese.

Place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet or in an oven proof dish. Place a grape in each. Top with some filling and cover the grape completely. Drizzle with olive oil, and finish by sprinkling some parmesan over it. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, to let the filling set. (Up to overnight is fine, but wrap it in plastic if you're leaving it that long.)

Bake at 200 degrees for about ten minutes, and serve warm.

Recipe in Swedish:
Bacon guacamole och fyllda svampar

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've seen her on TV, more specifically I've seen the shirts she wears on TV. I can guarantee you she is not completly geared towards women ;)

I've give that bacon guacamole a try this week. I've been putting guac on my BLT's lately and I can tell you that's a special shade of awesome.

Anne said...

Haha, from the photos, I can see that she must appeal to the other sex as well, yes :) Guac on BLT sounds delicious, yum!

glamah16 said...

I like Ingrids style. I havent seen her show in a while, but it all looks Muy Delicioso.

Jeanne said...

Bacon in guacamole (smacks forehead) - d'oh! Now why didn't we ALL think of that one? One of my favourite flavour combos is bacon, avocato and feta, so I do believe your friends are right - crumble some feta over this dip and you will have The Ultimate Food!

Dagmar said...

I loved the bacon guacamole when we had it at your place! I'm glad you posted the recipe as it will be one of the things I'll be serving tomorrow evening for my farewell party with my project collegues. Only one month left at the company now!

Anonymous said...

I love the sound of bacon guacamole :)

Ali said...

I've never thought about adding bacon to guacamole--it sounds delicious!

Anonymous said...

i don't know why i haven't yet put bacon in my guac. i mean, i try to put bacon in EVERYTHING.

i'm not 100% sold on the mushrooms, but i trust you.

Anonymous said...

Not a big Ingrid fan. I saw her show a few times on FN and wasn't big on her short cuts. Living in Tampa, FL I am surrounded by Latino food...yummy-to-my-tummy latino food.
Okay, now I'm craving fish tacos.

Anonymous said...

For the record, I believe it would it would be Latina, not Latino, when you're referring to a female ("a Latina version of Nigella").

The Bacon Guac sounds AMAZING. Definitely bookmarking this post.

Anonymous said...

Why hasn't anyone (or at least anyone I know) thought of this before?? It's genius! I definitely ascribe to the "it's better with bacon" food perspective :-)

test it comm said...

Adding bacon to guacamole is a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh - this is the ultimate! Wow! What a great idea.

Anonymous said...

Hey!! What about me!! I said to add bacon to salsa and gave a recipe for making guacamole about one year ago in a comment I made ("Anne's Favorilte Guacamole", July 11,2007). You could have experienced this pleasure for a while now....and it came from me first! Troy

Troy said...

Hey!! What about me!! I said to add bacon to salsa and gave a recipe for making guacamole about one year ago in a comment I made ("Anne's Favorilte Guacamole", July 11,2007). You could have experienced this pleasure for a while now....and it came from me first!

Anne said...

Troy, I can't believe I missed that! :)

Jeanne, feta cheese on this might just be.. wow, heaven. :)

My Sweet & Saucy said...

That does sound delicious!