National Avocado Day - Recipe Videos and a Review

God, how I love avocados. My last bite on earth would be a simple slice of creamy Haas avocado.

This is a most delicious blog post you will want to bookmark for future viewing. And click on any recipe name to see all the original recipe photos and text.

July 31 is National Avocado Day and I have a ripe basketful of recipes for you to use this most luscious and rich fruit.

The creamiest and richest Avocado, the Haas, was first grafted from a single tree here in La Habra Heights in Los Angeles County almost 100 years ago. Read about the origin story here, And if you need a reminder on how to tell when an avocado is ripe, just click here.

The simplest and most tasty Avocado recipe is for Avocado Toast. Just mash a ripe Avocado, season with salt and pepper then spread it on warm toast. Use a tasty fresh-baked slice of bread if have a local bakery or farmers market. But a nice nutty whole-grain grocery store brand is fine.



Here in Los Angeles, Avocado prices are all over the map, from a buck and a half for a large one, to six small ones for 99 cents! If you keep an eye on seasonal sales you might find them for bargain prices, too.

I like to start the day with this green bauble of deliciousness sliced and tucked into a cheesy Omelet. This is too much of a good thing but what the heck.

I like a fresh and creamy slice of Avocado on my taco, how about you? And all my yummy Taco Recipes are a click away, here.

If you have a local Latin market in the hood then this next recipe is for you. Plus this recipe is a real dollar stretcher. Avocado Crema is a mix of Mexican Crema (substitute with sour cream) and mashed Avocado. 

Mexican Crema is similar to sour cream (okay to use sour cream instead,) just sweeter. Use this recipe at your next Taco Party and serve it with chips, and top a taco or burrito -- so good.

Not all Avocados are created equal, just check out my Cheap$kate Dining Review of Del Monte Fresh Guac, here. Does it rate a perfect 9 or a lowly.... hmm, all I can say is looks can be deceiving.

If you have a favorite cold salad then add a chopped Avocado for a rich addition. I like Macaroni Salad mixed with mayo, krab, and Avocado brings it over the top.

For these immigrant-bashing days, I have a Cesar Chavez Salad made with funky anchovies and illegal Mexican-immigrant-picked Romain lettuce with, of course, Avocado from Mexico.

The sushi California Roll was invented here and boy does the rest of the country owe California a big thanks. Even hardcore sushi connoisseurs will pick up a pre-made package in the deli section of a local grocery chain store. Check out my video below and see how easy a California Roll is to make.



You can't do a better sandwich than a BLT, or Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich. Oh, wait, I take that back - you can do better with the addition of Avocado, of course. Okay, now go and make yourself a BLT+A Sammie.

For my vegetarian friends and visitors, my Hummus Veggie Wrap includes a Homemade Hummus recipe. Sliced Avocado rounds out the ingredients list. 

I discovered Cuban cuisine here in Los Angeles. And I like to start my restaurant meal with a Cuban Salad, comprised of Avocado, tomato, sliced onion, and radishes, and mixed with vinegar and oil. Very simple but a great contrast to typical heavy and rich Cuban Roast Pork.

For the dog days of summer, nothing is better than a cool Ceviche. There is nothing to cook, just drain a can of beans and mix in shredded krab, chopped onion, jalapeño, tomato, and of course, Avocado.

Chill it then get out the tortilla chips and park yourself under a cool shady tree with a frosty mug of beer or your fave cold beverage and watch the world go by.

I can eat Avocados morning, noon, and night and you can too if you hang out at the 99 Cent Chef's food blog.

Crab Salad - Chef Matt Video Recipe

 Next to lobster, fresh boiled crab is the most luxurious seafood. My nephew, Chef Matt is back with a simple but luscious Crab Salad.

On a visit to Louisiana to see Mom, we came into a few cooked crabs supplied by another nephew, Zak, who worked with a seafood distributor, so the wholesale price was right. The crab's outer shells are removed along with the insides (lungs, gills, etc.). What is left is called a Crab Cluster which includes legs, claws, and the body.

Normally, raw whole crabs are covered in seasoned water (using a package of Crab or Seafood Boil) and boiled for about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Click on any photo to see larger.

When we picked and cleaned half a dozen boiled Crab Clusters there was about a pound of crab meat to work with.

Before the 99c only Stores shut down this year, I managed to nap a few 6-ounce cans of Crab Meat for $1.99 each. Oh well, this may be the last crab I have for a while unless my ship comes in! 

I am a fan of fake Krab. It has the flavor of cooked crab but at bargain basement prices. So if you are a cheap$kate like me, and want to try your hand at a Crab Salad, why not first try it with Krab? My last recipe using Krab was for a Cerviche, and it was a tasty one I make during warm summer patio parties, click here to see how I do it. 

You could also skip all the hard work of peeling a crab body and crab claws with a container or two of picked and cleaned Lump Crabmeat. 

If you use crabmeat in the shell, it takes work to get the flesh out. Now, the crab claws are not too hard to work with, think of them as a pecan or walnut in the shell, break the crab claws with a nutcracker. Crack the claws close to the pincher or joints so when the shell is pulled apart you will reveal the flesh, then it's fairly easy to remove in a large piece. 

The hard part is removing flesh from the body of a crab. Once cooked and cooled, the body is broken into a couple of segments, and then you probe and scrape the white chambers with a small fork and butter knife to remove the tender and sweet flakes of flesh.  

Zak and the Swamp Chef were the designated crab peelers so we made quick time of it, even the Swamp Chef picked, I mean, pitched in.

Same as a typical Tuna Salad, Crab Salad has chopped celery and onion, pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and a squeeze of lemon juice. The main adjustment is how much mayo you will add. It can be creamy or go lite and add less mayo.

 Crab meat will spoil, so it's best to keep it refrigerated until preparation. Keep the finished Crab Salad chilled. Serve on a salad or as a sandwich. I like it on a cracker.

Join my Cajun family and get out any fave crackers, or toasty grain bread, and spread on Chef Matt's creamy and rich (flavor and moneywise) Crab Salad. 

Chef Matt's Crab Salad - VIDEO     Play it here, video runs 5 minutes, 56 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• Crab Meat -1 pound cooked and peeled. If using whole crabs about 3-5 crabs depending on size. Okay to use a container of Lump Crabmeat or a package of Krab (Imitation Crab).
• Onion - half cup chopped.
• Celery - half cup chopped.
• Lemon Juice - from 1 or 2 lemons.
• Sweet Pickle Relish - 2 tablespoons.
• Mayonnaise - 1 cup. Add a couple tablespoons at a time to reach the desired creaminess.
• Creole Mustard - 1 tablespoon, optional. Okay to add any favorite mustard.
• Salt and Pepper - to taste.

*Serve Crab Salad with favorite crackers, carrot or celery slices, on a salad, or in a sandwich.

Directions

Containers of Lump Crab Meat are for sale in cans or plastic containers. Okay to use cooked Lump Crab for an easy version. 

The cheapest Crab Salad is made with fake crab or Krab.

For uncooked fresh crabs, boil submerged in water with Seafood Boil for about 15 to 20 minutes. Crab shells will turn bright orange when they are ready.

Peeling cooked crabs takes time and can be a bit tricky. But as with anything, practice makes perfect. Tools include a nutcracker for the shells, and a small fork and butter knife to remove crab meat from shells.

For this recipe, Chef Matt used Dungeness Crab Clusters that were pre-cooked. The outer shell and internal organs were removed. Claws, legs, and body segments were ready to peel.

Once the boiled crabmeat is removed from the shells, make sure to give the meat one more go-over to remove any small shell pieces. To quote Matt: "Nothing worse than biting into a shell."

Add cooked and peeled Crabmeat, celery, and onion to a bowl. Spoon in sweet pickle relish and mayo. Mix well, but use a light touch so you still have some crab chunks.

Add a little mayo at a time to reach desired creaminess. It's up to you how much mayo to add.

You can add mustard or leave it out. I've had it both ways.

Salt and pepper to taste. I add very little salt, as mayo has some already, but I add plenty of pepper.

Chill Crab Salad until ready to eat. 

Serve Crab Salad on favorite crackers, carrot or celery slices, in half an avocado, on a salad, or as a sandwich.

National Mango Day

When ripe, a mango is easy to peel so on National Mango Day you can get right down to picking a cheap$kate recipe of mine to celebrate with.

I peel a Mango by just slicing into the skin, top to bottom. That is usually enough to peel each segment of skin to reveal the orange flesh underneath. Then you just slice off the flesh until you hit the large flat/oval seed.

Mangos are ripe when soft to the touch, kinda like an avocado. Although, in a Thai Mango Salad green sour Mangos are used. Mangos come in all sizes, from small Manila Mangos to large Mexican and Central American Mangos. 

I visited Hawaii many times with my late wife Amy, and Mango, coconut, and other fruit trees are everywhere, as our vacation blog post describes, here. 

And they are cheap here in Los Angeles, especially when on sale at my local Latin grocery store. 

The simplest way I use a sliced Mango is to add some to my breakfast cereal or in a bowl of plain yogurt. My Mango and Yogurt recipe is a delicious start to your day or a cool anytime snack.

I can still find small containers of yogurt cheaply at my local Ralphs supermarket.

I have a fruity pancake series I've been doing for a few years now that features fresh fruit and Mango is at the top of my Pancake recipes. Nothing to my Mango Pancakes recipe as I use a cheap pancake mix. All you do is add water to the mix and stir until a batter is formed. 

I then add Mango slices to a hot grill then pour on the pancake batter. Just check out my recipe video below to see how easy it is to use fresh fruit to a typically boring stack of pancakes.

If you want to Wow a party, bring a bowl of my delicious Mango Salsa. Every time I bring it the compliments fly! Of course, don't forget a bag of tortilla chips. 

What makes my Mango Salsa off the hook is the push and pull of sweet mango flesh and spicy pieces of jalapeno. The other ingredients are cheap and easy to get including chopped onion, cilantro, and lime or lemon juice. The only hard part is chopping the veggies and peeling the mango - that's no big deal, really.

Mango Salsa Recipe - Video

My simplest recipe on National Mango Day is Spicy Mango. I always have Red Chili Pepper Flakes in my spice rack. If you like a sprinkle of Red Chili Pepper on your pizza and pasta then give them a try on fresh sliced Mango. The yin and yang of hot and sweet will thrill your taste buds.

I'll end National Mango Day with a refreshing Mango, Watermelon, and Spinach Salad. It's perfect on a summer day. It's light and sweet with a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Do add a Mango to your shopping list on this special day.