Oh, hello there. You’re just in time to learn how to make two fantastic dips, guacamole, and its easy companion pico de gallo. For a few fellas wanting some manly recipes, pico de gallo, I call these companion recipes because the majority of ingredients are shared. That makes it easy to chop once and enjoy two different flavor sensations. 

We’re gonna start with the pico de galo because it needs to sit a little while for the flavors to meld, then we’ll conquer the guacamole. Easy peasy, and it is so good. I came across this pico de gallo recipe when I was visiting South Padre Island, Texas a number of years ago. In fact, I was in the grocery store, and they had a lot of jalapeño peppers, and they had tomatoes and cilantro all gathered together. And there was a fellow in the produce section, and I asked him, what would one do with all of these ingredients together? And he said, “Of course, you would make pico de gallo. Pico de gallo was really like a fresh salsa. And he gave me his wife’s recipe which is really super easy. So I’m gonna show you how to do it. The base of it is tomato. Yum. So what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna just put some fresh tomato in a bowl. Now, I’ll tell you that a lot of people tell you to take out the seeds, the middle part of the tomato, but I like it nice and juicy, so I leave those in. That looks pretty good. Yeah, it’s just about three small tomatoes. Great. We’re gonna put in some cilantro. And a little bit of onion. Yep, just like that. And some peppers. Just a touch of salt. Mix it together, and that’s it. That is so simple, pico de gallo, yo. We’re gonna set it aside so the flavors can meld, then we’re gonna make our guacamole. 

Now, guacamole is really easy. I’ll tell you, I used to go to the produce section, buy my avocados, and pick up one of those little packages of dehydrated spices. Come home, smush up my avocado, pour the spice packet in, mix it up, and let it hydrate. It was pretty good. But once a long time ago I went to a restaurant called the Flying V in Tucson, and they had a guacamole at your table cart. It was there and then I saw how absolutely simple it was, and the flavor, oh, head and shoulders above the package. So let me show you, it’s super, super delicious. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’ve got our tomatoes just like we had in our pico de gallo, right in like so. Some of our pepper. Again, not too much. We’re gonna add some onion just like that, and some cilantro. Up to now it’s identical to pico de gallo. Next we’re gonna add fresh chopped garlic. I put that in just like so, and I’m gonna mix it about. Pico de gallo with garlic, right? And our avocado. So, we’re gonna cut our avocado. Like so, twist it, ooh, that’s a beauty. I’m gonna take my pit out.  All right, I’m gonna take this part of the avocado out. Use my fork. I’m gonna smoosh it up. The second half of my avocado I’m gonna take out, but I’m not gonna smoosh it too much, I’m gonna leave it a little bit chunky. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll see how it goes. The last thing we’re gonna do before our guacamole is actually ready to serve is we’re gonna add some salt. Now, you might not want to add salt but you really need to add salt. It enhances the flavor. Just a little bit right in like that. 

Okay, I just wanna give you a little tip on the serranos or the jalapeño peppers. They’re, of course, pretty spicy, but when you cut them open and you slice them in half, they have seeds and white. Now, that’s where most of the heat resides. So you can moderate the heat by moderating how many seeds and how much white you leave in. I remove it all because what I want is a spicy flavor, but I don’t want it to really burn my mouth. So, this is what it looks like. 

All right, so the last thing we’re gonna do before we eat is we’re gonna put these in some pretty little bowls. Excellent. And our pico de gallo. These are terrific appetizers to enjoy at happy hour around the campfire. Add to tacos or burritos or as a quick side to morning eggs or a topper on your fresh catch. I’m RV Cooking Show Evanne, wishing you delicious dips, two of ’em right here, and many friends to share with.