Starters | Avocado Fries with Roasted Garlic Jalapeno Aioli

Yup, you read that correctly. Avocado fries.

 I'm a huge avocado fan. I eat it whenever possible, on just about anything. My dog even loves it (the ASPCA warns that while avocado is toxic for horses, birds, and rodents, dogs just can't have the pits - very unsafe! But avocado itself is great for doggy skin and fur).

Besides, could you turn this face down? Those brown eyes are enough to make Van Morrison melt.

Crispy on the outside, delicious on the inside!

So with our shared love for avocado, when I came across these super delicious morsels on Circle B Kitchen, I couldn't resist. I mean, who needs potato fries when you can have avocado fries? And they're super simple. Without the roasted veggies for the aioli, the whole thing *might* have taken 5 minutes. Not even kidding. Just because the roasted jalapenos and garlic take longer doesn't mean you should skip them. The dipping sauce is oh-so-worth-it. I promise. So a sincere thank you is owed to Circle B Kitchen for spreading your love of all things avocado. Per usual, I made this recipe my own - as you should, too! These will definitely be repeats. Just look at the green goodness. Tapas party, anyone?

Avocado Fries 
with Roasted Garlic Jalapeno Aioli
Yield | 10-12 fries

Prep Time | 5 minutes
Cook Time | 1 1/2 hours for roasting, 3 min for frying
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Ingredients:

Avocado Fries
Oil for frying
1 ripe, but still firm, medium avocado
1/4 cup flour, plus 3 tablespoons**
1 large egg, beaten (I also add 2-3 tablespoons of milk for coating, totally optional)
1 cup panko
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon adobo pepper (cayenne, chili, etc. can be substituted and adjusted to taste)

Roasted Garlic Jalapeno Aioli
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 fresh jalapeno
2-3 cloves garlic (from a head so that peel is intact)
EVOO, to drizzle
Sea salt

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees F. Remove the stem and de-seed your avocado. Remove your garlic cloves from the head, but leave the skin on. Place vegetables in a pan for roasting. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In case you were wondering, the tomatoes are for my next update - Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Pizza! And yes, it was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.

Heat oil to 375 degrees F. You really only need enough oil to mostly cover the fries, so don't go crazy. Mine was about 1 1/2 inches deep. Circle B does a great job describing how these need to be cooked - the oil needs to be pretty darn hot. For me, not having a (working) thermometer at the moment, this was just a tad over medium heat (low medium-high heat? Haha).

Prepare your dipping station: put your 1/4 cup of flour in a dish for dredging, your egg in a bowl for dipping, and combine your panko and remaining flour, salt, and pepper (I used adobo (aged jalapenos) to compliment the the sauce, but cayenne or chili peppers would do just fine. Or none at all!). I add a little milk to the egg to thin it out a little whenever I batter, well, anything.

Slice your avocado in half. Remove the pit and peel. Cut your avocado into quarters, and then into 1/2 inch slices - should give you 10-12 fries, depending on the size of your fruit.

**So, this part may or may not be necessary. Circle K has you dredge your avocado slices in flour, which is generally what I do before coating any fried veggies. However, I found that a lot of the flour comes off in the egg. If you end up trying this without first covering them in flour, let me know how it works! It may work better without coating first, and adding more flour to the panko mix, maybe 1/3 cup.

Anyways, coat your avocado slices with flour. Dip in egg. Coat thoroughly with panko mixture.

Fry for 15-20 seconds on each side. These really do not take long to fry. Wait for your panko to get golden brown and remove. The hot oil cooks them quickly, keeping the avocado from getting too mushy and the panko from absorbing too much oil.

Let the fries rest on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Keep cooked fries in/on the warmed oven while waiting for subsequent batches - keeps them nice and crispy!

LOVE garlic. And roasted garlic is just tops.

Once your roasted jalapeno slices and garlic cloves are cool, remove garlic from skin (just squeeze those carmelly suckers right out!) and put in small dish with jalapeno slices. Now, if you have a food processor, I imagine you could just stick the veggies and mayo in and go. For me, though, I like to mush the crud out of them, releases the oils and gives the aioli a neat look, I think, with yummy bits of roasted garlic and peppers throughout.

The garlic should be nice and soft and gooey, so it smooshes up quite nicely with the jalapeno. Smooshes really should be the technical term, I think. Just so fun to say. Mixed smooshed jalapeno and garlic with your mayo. Makes one fantastic dipping sauce, if I do say so! It was also great in a tuna wrap the next day!

Drum roll please...

Dip those delicious bites of avocado awesomeness in your aioli and savor. They're rich, but oh-so-tasty. There really is no turning back from these.

Coming soon... Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Pizza, Strawberry Daquiri Poppers, and Chicken Florentine Rolls! And whatever else I decide I feel like making, of course!