Costco Connection - April 2010

creative cooking

Avocado 101

Super facts about a super food

By Eva Shaw

IN CASE YOUR SCHOOL didn’t teach everything you need to know about avocados, here’s what you need to boost your avocado IQ. Read this and you might someday say, “I’ll take avocados for $1,000, Alex!”

Loved for a long time

Once reserved for royalty, today avocados are eaten more o;en than apple pie. Historians tell us that avocados were ;rst cultivated in southern Mexico; in 1519, Aztec emperor Montezuma II presented them as prized o;erings to Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés.

;e famous Hass avocado was developed in the 1930s in La Habra Heights, California, where the “mother tree” was planted and tended by postman Rudolph Hass. Hass’ pride and joy today accounts for about 95 percent of the commercial crop. By the 1970s, the one-time cottage industry had morphed into a large-scale a;air, and today California leads the nation in production.

1 medium tomato, finely diced (about 1 cup)

½ small red onion, finely diced (about 3 tablespoons)

½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes Kosher salt

2 large Hass avocados (about 1 pound total), cut into ½-inch dice

Chunky Guacamole

In a medium bowl, toss the tomato with the onion, cilantro, lime juice, red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon salt, and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Add the avocado and gently mash it into the tomato mixture with a fork. Serve immediately. Makes 2 ½ cups.

Reprinted with permission from Fine Cooking’s Big Buy Cooking (The Taunton Press, 2010). For more about Fine Cooking and avocado recipes, see www.finecooking.com/costco.

Holy guacamole

California’s Hass crop alone is projected
at 450 million pounds for the 2010 season,
Nestled in the San Diego County
foothills, Fallbrook is a mega avo-
cado-producing area and rightly
claims the title of Avocado Capital
of the World, celebrating all things
avocado each April.

You probably know the Hass—a large fruit with a bumpy skin that goes from green to purplish black when ripe. However, 500 varieties are grown worldwide in temperate climates. Here in the States, just seven types are under commercial cultivation. foothills, Fallbrook is a mega avo- perate climates. Here in the States, just

MEDIA BAKERY

A super food

Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the California Avocado Commission, is on a mission to spread the word of the health bene;ts of avocados. “One avocado serving

The Costco Connection Costco offers Hass avocados from a variety of sources year-round in the warehouses.

(one-fifth of a medium avocado, 30 grams or 1 ounce) has 50 calories, no cholesterol, no sodium, Also compare the fat content of two tablespoons of these foods:

• Avocado— 50 calories, 4. 5 grams total fat

• Butter—204 calories, 23 grams total fat

• Sour cream— 60 calories, 6 grams total fat

• Mayonnaise—109 calories, 9. 4 grams
total fat
s
eo

Ripe to perfection

It’s a snap to ripen avocados. Pop them in a brown paper bag, be patient for two to ;ve days, and voilà, they’re ripe, yielding to gentle pressure. In a hurry? Add an apple or banana to the bag. Store ripe avocados in the refrigerator and wash the skin before peeling.