“But we have to have guacamole,” Brian complained.

“We agreed we’d have different, better things for Super Bowl Weekend,” I replied.

“It’s un-American not to have guacamole,” he pleaded.

“Guacamole is Mexican,” I commented.

“Are you sure?”

Brian and I have been married for twenty-four years. I have never done a background check on him. I’m reconsidering.

We compromised. We are testing ideas for these football weekends and found a great resource: Nathan Myers has written Guac Off, a slim book with a bevy of guacamole recipes, some classic and some very modern:

• Flaming Lips Habanero Guac, intended only for the brave or suicidal
• Asian guacamole with ginger and rice
• High desert guacamole with juniper berries and tequila
• French guacamole with blue cheese

The author himself terms some of these recipes extreme. But this one, Crab Guacamole, caught our eyes. No one can deny the marriage of crab and avocado is delightful. You’ve probably had it in salad form but here it’s melded into the guacamole format. It’s good, it’s certainly different, and it’s a definite party pleaser.

This recipe calls for serving the guacamole elegantly in martini glasses. And in the preparation, you want to exercise care not to break up the crabmeat. You do want those crabby chunks visible and appealing.

Crab Guacamole

Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 large avocados, diced (about 2 cups)
• Juice of 2 limes
• ⅓ cup minced cilantro
• 1 tablespoon mince jalapeno pepper
• ½ cup minced red onion
• ½ cup finely chopped Roma tomato
• 2 cloves garlic, mince
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ pound lump crabmeat, shells and cartilage sorted out
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine the avocados, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, tomato, garlic, and cum with a large spoon.

In a separate bowl, combine the lump crabmeat with the olive oil, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste. Lightly fold the crab mixture into the avocado mixture, taking care not to break apart the crabmeat. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve immediate in chilled martini glasses with tortilla chips.

Notes:

In the interest of full disclosure, we made this recipe without the tomato or ground cumin. You may have found that the tomatoes tend to weep liquid into the guacamole over time. If you eat the guacamole all at once, that is not a problem. We typically avoid the problem up front by leaving out the tomato. The resulting guacamole has more avocado flavor.

For heat, we love the pure intensity of the freshly minced jalapeno, so we rarely add cumin or chili powder to our guacamole. It’s a matter of personal preference.

Source: Guac Off by Nathan Myers