Crispy Avocado Fries with Melty Cheese Dip

[I]t’s starting to look like I moved to New Orleans as an excuse to deep fry my California vegetables, make melty cheese dip, live off Red Beans and Rice, and plate after plate of fresh beignets.  That’s to say nothing of the sazeracs and oysters.

Truth is, I moved to New Orleans for the suffocating humidity alone.  

Not true at all.  No one has ever ever done that.  

We’ve entered into the 12 most beautiful days of the year here in New Orleans.  After living here for one year, I’m talking like I know…

These are the 12 days when it’s perfectly warm with pleasantly bearable humidity, long pink sunsets, and almost cool evenings.  It’s the perfection before the wrath of summer.  It’s… well, it’s what California is like ALL THE TIME.  

Let’s not talk about it anymore… let’s just fry these avocados. 

Can I tell you a secret about free avocados?  

If you’re in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans or Brooklyn you can place an order with the awesome people of Good Eggs and receive a free bag of avocados!  Seems like the very best idea. 

Photographs by the lovely Gabrielle Geiselman with styling (aka throwing food around) by me.  Gabrielle is my friend, neighbor, and fellow avocado fiend.  

Ripe avocados are sliced in half.  

Pit them too.  Do you know the trick?  Here’s the best way to pit an avocado.  It involves a big knife and a bit of gumption.  

Lime, to keep avocados bright green and extra tasty.  

Here’s what we’ll need to coat and batter the sliced avocados.  

Eggs beaten with a bit of water for glue.  Flour, combined with chili, spice, and salt.  Panko breadcrumbs for an extra crisp fried coating.  I mean… if we’re going to fry things they need to be crispy crunchy.  

I lightly coat the avocado slices in seasoned flour, moisten them with a bit of egg wash, and then go in for the panko coating.  

Nothing too heavy, but every bit of the avocado should be covered in either flour or panko.  Take it easy… just fries! 

A little flour here.  A little panko there.  

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a ton of oil to fry.  I used about 1-inch of oil in a medium, heavy-bottom pan.  A candy/fry thermometer is key.  We need to keep an eye on the temperature of the oil so that the fries to cook to slowly or quickly.  

Good and golden brown!

To finish the fries:  fresh lime spritzes, Maldon sea salt is lovely, and an extra sprinkling of chili powder.  If you have beer on hand, even better.  If you feel compelled to make an easy melty queso dip…. I mean… YES!

Avocado Fries with Queso Cheese Dip

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• Author: Joy the Baker

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Ingredients

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For the Fries

• 2 medium ripe avocados
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• generous pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• salt, lemon, cayenne pepper for sprinkling

For the Queso Cheese Dip

• 3 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced milk green chiles, juice reserved

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Instructions

1. Halve, peel and slice the avocados into long spears, it’s okay if they vary in size. Place the avocados on a platter and drizzle with lime juice.
2. In a small bowl beat eggs and together water. Set aside.
3. In a separate small bowl whisk flour and salt, chili powder, and cayenne.
4. In a medium bowl, measure out panko crumbs, salt and pepper. Combine.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, you can set your breaded slices right on the sheet
6. Dip the avocado slices lightly in the flour mixture, in the egg mixture, and finally panko crumbs.
7. Clip a fry thermometer onto a medium heavy bottomed saucepan and heat oil to 375 degrees F. Using tongs, lower 6-8 avocado slices into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
8. Bring the oil back up to 375 degrees before frying the next batch. Continue frying until all avocado slices are golden brown.
9. Sprinkle all of the fried avocado with a dash of cayenne pepper and fresh lemon juice. Serve immediately with queso dip.
10. To make the dip, place cheeses in a medium bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch, and toss to coat. Transfer cheese mixture to a medium saucepan over low heat and add milk.
11. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is smooth and melted, about 10 to 15 minutes.
12. Stir chiles with reserved juices until well combined. Serve warm with avocado fries.

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