Guacamodown

Several months ago, we hosted the first ever "Guacamodown." Several of our friends take guacamole very seriously, so the idea of a cookoff sounded like fun. Drawing inspiration from shows like "Iron Chef" and "Top Chef", we set up a guacamole showdown.

For those of you who are not familiar with guacamole, It's a simple concoction of avocado, onion, jalapeno, tomato, and some seasonings. The avocado is a fruit with lots of good nutrients and health benefits. It has tons of fat, but it's good fat, I think. Avocado is an odd cooking ingredient, as its creamy, fatty green pulp requires very strong supporting ingredients and flavors to bring any new tastes to the party.

We wanted to see how our friends could take basic guacamole to the next level. We sent out the invite a few days early for a Tuesday night Guacamodown. Surprisingly, 20 people showed up with 10 different guacamoles (comprised of more than 60 fresh avocadoes). We were not expecting the level of guacamole excellence that showed up that night.

We had beautiful presentations, including one guac with a cool mosaic design made of diced tomato, onion, and cilantro. We had innovative ingredients, like bananas, grapes, goat cheese, and nuts. Each chef presented his or her guacamole with a theme song playing in the background. We had LL Cool J, The Jackson 5, and lots of funky salsa type music. Oh, and we had plenty of Dos Equis to wash it all down.

The competition was a huge success, and we all agreed to have another cooking competition in the near future. This time, it would definitely not be guacamole. You see, eating a pound of guacamole can do frightening and disturbing things to a person.

So, get ready. Saturday, November 18th at Chris and Shannon's place: Finger Food Fest aka the Appetizer Cook Off is coming. We'll see you there.