Home for the holidays..

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city." George Burns.

My family is not what you would call normal. There's no denying it. We are not stable people. This time of year especially, what with all the cookies and cakes. High sugar and short fuses does not a merry Christmas make folks.  Still, you know what they say, home is where the heart is, - or in my case - where the oven is.  I kid, I kid.  Yes, membership in this household requires you to have selective listening skills and a tolerance for high-pitched screaming. Yes, we have a no-privacy policy, but yet here I am, home. As we speak, I am writing this post in my dad's room - since my little sister has taken over my old room, I no longer have a place in this house- feeling nostalgic and wondering what it would be like if I ever decided to move back home.  Fortunately, those are the kinds of melancholy that will fade away the longer I spend in this house.  Don't get me wrong, I love my family but they are, as anyone who has ever spend time with us will tell you, a bit of an acquired taste and best enjoyed in small doses. 

I have got to be honest though, I am not feeling christmas-y yet. Which is strange because I love Christmas, I mean LOVE. Borderline obsessive. I am that girl who starts buying Christmas presents as soon as December comes around and spends more money on wrappings than on the actual present. But the thing I enjoy doing most of all is planning the Christmas menu. I usually do 2. One for Christmas eve and the other for Christmas day.  This post today is not about that however. This is an exposé.. on avocados.

Ok, not so much an exposé, more like a short compare-and-contrast ramblings on the use of avocados. See, I have a friend, Alex. Il est un Français. I once took him to an Indonesian restaurant at which I ordered a glass of avocado juice/milkshake to his dismay.  At that point, I didn't even realize that there was any other way to prepare avocados. All my life, I've only ever had avocados as something you would have as a dessert. As a shake, or in this local dessert called Es Teler ("Es" means ice and "Teler" means high, inebriated or stoned, so go figure). But here he was, someone who thinks the exact opposite. He was reluctant at first, but once he tried it, he actually liked it, or at least that's how I chose to remember it.  Anyways, that's where this idea came from. That is how I seek to find the answer to what I called, the avocado anomaly.

Avocado & White Chocolate Mousse

Vs

Spicy Crab Cakes with Guacamole

At first I wanted to make a simple avocado shake for the sweet portion of this showdown but where's the fun in that. What you need for the mousse:

• 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 large avocado, pureed
• 6 oz good white chocolate, in pieces
• pinch of salt

First, we have to make the custard.  Whip the egg yolks with the sugar and a pinch of salt then go and heat the cream.  I said heat, don't boil, so use only low-medium heat. Once heated, pour the cream slowly into the yolks, mixing it at the same time.  Once it's thoroughly combined, put the mixture back onto the heat, stirring it constantly.

Now, put the chocolate in a double boiler (for those of you not familiar with that term, it's basically putting a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water) melting the chocolate with the steam. 

Combine the chocolate with the custard and the avocado puree. Whisk until the whole thing is smooth and silky.  Now go ahead and beat the remaining cream until soft peaks. Be careful not to over whip the cream. Over whipped cream tastes grainy and feels very heavy. We want light and smooth.

Lastly, fold the whipped cream into the custard mixture gently. Chill in the fridge for a couple hours. When the mousse is all nice and chilled, sift coffee grounds onto mousse and garnish with white chocolate shavings (which is done by running the sharp edge of your knife along the smooth side of a chocolate bar)

The bitterness of the coffee grounds compliments the sweetness of the mousse perfectly. For those of you who never had avocados as a dessert before, trust me, this mousse is a great introduction. 

For the savoury portion I made spicy crab cakes served with guacamole though I must warn you, I have never made guacamole before and from what I gather from google images they're supposed to be green, mine came out really yellowish/orange because I used red instead of green jalapeno which I don't think affects the taste much, or even at all.

What you need:

Guacamole

adapted from Saveur.com

• 1 large, ripe avocado
• 1 large tomato
• 3 limes
• cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 a yellow onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeno, chopped
• salt and pepper

I used a mortar and pestle to combine all the ingredients. Well except the avocado, I put half in first along with the rest of the ingredients and chopped the other half into tiny cubes. After mashing all the ingredients, toss in the rest of the avocado and fold gently. Season with salt and pepper.

Crab Cakes

• 150 gr crab meat
• 3 sheets of whole wheat bread, whizzed into crumbs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated in a pan
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp powdered red pepper
• swiss cheese
• scallions, white parts only, chopped
• cilantro, finely chopped
• parsley, chopped
• panko (japanese bread crumbs)

Combine all the ingredients except for the parsley, the panko and the cheese.  Use your hands to really get all the flavours into each other.  Shape them into little patties. Insert the cheese into the patties making sure that they're well in the center and completely obscured. Brush the patties all over with egg yolks. Combine the panko and parsley. Toss the cakes around in the panko mixture.

 Fry them on medium-low heat until golden brown.

 Yields: 4 cakes.

So, which one do I prefer you ask? it's like comparing my children, I can't do it. I honestly loved them both.  The moose was a huge hit with the kids and the crab cakes with the guacamole is one of the best recipes ever, if I do say so myself.  Then I had an epiphany so to speak.  What is the most common words used to describe the taste of avocados? Buttery, yes. Nutty, yes. Both of which are used in sweet and savoury dishes. Ok, so not so much of an epiphany as an obvious observation but there you go.