Most people I know have never tried grilling avocados on a parrilla. Until a couple of weeks ago, neither had I.
In early April, Mrs. Gaucho and I went to dinner with friends at Ippuku, a fantastic Japanese izakaya in Berkeley, Calif. Most of Ippuku’s menu features items from the Japanese-style robata grill. We had an assortment of grilled meats skewers and veggies, but one of the standouts of the meal was the grilled avocado.
The dish featured two halves of grilled avocado with the pit removed. In the indentation (where the pit used to be), they filled the “moat” with a mixture of soy sauce and wasabi. From there, you were able to scoop the warm avocado out of its skin and eat with a bite of rice or on its own. The fat from the avocado worked very well with the salt and spice from the soy sauce and wasabi. I was so impressed I wanted to try it myself.
The following week, at the Game of Thrones Asado that I co-hosted with my friend, we decided to do our own take on grilled avocado. Instead of filling the pit with soy sauce and wasabi, we opted for a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme and roasted garlic with slices of baguette as an accompaniment. We felt these flavors fit our menu better, but the beauty of the dish is that you can experiment with any combination of sauces that you think might work well. I’m proud to say that the dish was a hit with everyone, from three-year old toddlers to strict vegetarians, so I thought I’d share the recipe with the rest of you.
Fill the pit in the middle of the avocado with your favorite sauce
Try this simple and easy recipe at your next asado:
4 avocados, halved and pitted (you can adjust according to your numbers–figure 1/2 an avocado serves two people)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoons roasted garlic, finely minced
1 baguette or French bread loaf, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Ahead of time, prepare the sauce. Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme, and garlic into a small bowl, stirring vigorously. Set sauce mixture aside.
After halving and pitting the avocados, place them on the grill with their green insides facing down for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to leave them on the grill too long or the fleshy insides will stick to the grill and ruin your presentation. The idea is merely to leave the green insides down long enough to acquire the nice black grill marks along the face.
Turn the avocados over with the skin side now facing down, fill the open pit with your sauce mixture, and grill for another 5-7 minutes. With the skin-side down, you need not be too concerned with burning the avocados as they will have natural protection from their peel. Give the sides of the avocado a gentle squeeze before removing from the grill to make sure that the inside is warm and soft. If so, it’s ready to be served.
Remove from the grill and serve with small spoons so that guests can scoop the avocado out of the skin and onto their baguette slices.
Side suggestion: try this recipe with Mexican ingredients as a twist on traditional guacamole at your upcoming Cinco de Mayo parties!
May 13th, 2012
