Seasonal pantry: Bumper avocado crop fills Sonoma County markets

Have you noticed how great avocados are this year? They are rich, creamy, full of true flavor and not at all watery, as they can be in a not-so-great year.

To enjoy avocados at home, look for fruit that is not rock hard but not at all soft. You want what is called firm-ripe, which means there is just a tad of give when you hold one in your hand.

If you end up with rock hard avocados, put them in a paper bag for a day or two and they’ll ripen up. If you end up with overly ripe avocados, check for brown spots in the interior. If there are none or just a few, they’re good.

If they are discolored all the way through, discard them or return them to the market.

Today’s recipes are adapted from “California Home Cooking” (Harvard Common Press, 1997), which has remained in print since it was first published. For an exploration of the Haas avocado, other varieties and the fruit’s nutritional qualities, visit “Eat This Now” at pantry.blog.pressdemocrat.com.

This sauce is outstanding with carnitas tacos, tacos lengua (tongue), tacos cabeza (beef cheek) and zucchini tacos. It also makes an excellent sauce for grilled flat fish such as flounder and sole and is equally delicious with fish tacos.

Avocado Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

1 large or two small ripe avocados, pitted and chopped

1 or 3 serranos, chopped

3 teaspoons fresh lime juice, from 1 to 2 limes, plus more to taste

- Kosher salt

- Handful of cilantro leaves, stems remove, chopped

Put the avocado into a blender or food processor. Add the serranos, using more or less depending on the degree of heat you want, the lime juice, ¼ cup water and several generous pinches of salt. Pulse several times until smooth, scraping the sides of the work bowl a time or two.

Taste, correct for salt and acid, add the cilantro leaves and pulse again. Thin with water as needed to achieve a sauce-like consistency.

Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Use within a day.

Use this tangy salsa in almost any context that calls for salsa - with chips, in tacos and tortas and atop Mexican rice and beans.

Avocado Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

1 bunch (about 15) radishes, trimmed and minced

1 small red onion, minced

3 serranos, minced

2 ripe avocados, pitted and cut into chunks

¼ cup fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)

- Kosher salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

- Black pepper in a mill

Put the radishes, onion and serranos into a medium bowl, toss together well, and set aside.

Put the avocado and lime juice into a blender or food processor, season with salt, and pulse until smooth. Add the puree to the bowl with the radish mixture, and fold together gently.

Stir in the olive oil and cilantro, taste, correct for salt and add several turns of black pepper.

Enjoy right away or cover and store in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

Although you can make these sandwiches any time, they are best in late spring and early summer, when the zucchini are small and the ratio of skin to flesh is higher.

The skin has less water than the flesh of zucchini and that makes the best sandwich.

Avocado-Zucchini ?Sandwiches

Makes 4

4-5 small zucchini, grated (to make 3 cups)

- Grated zest of 1 lemon

- Juice of 1 lemon

- Kosher salt

8 slices of sourdough hearth bread

- Best Foods brand mayonnaise

2 firm-ripe avocados, halved, pitted and very thinly sliced

8 ounces (2 cups) grated Jack cheese

- Pinch of hot paprika, optional

- Handful of cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees or preheat the broiler.

Put the zucchini into a medium bowl, add the lemon zest and lemon juice and season generously with salt.

Set 4 slices of bread on a baking sheet, spread mayonnaise over each slice, and add avocado, making sure it covers each full slice of bread. Mound zucchini over the avocado and top with the cheese, using all of it.

Set in the oven or under the broiler until the cheese melts.

Working quickly, lightly toast the remaining 4 slices of bread and, when toasted, slathered mayonnaise on one side.

When the cheese is melted, pull the sandwiches from the oven and sprinkle a little paprika over the cheese. Add cilantro to each sandwich, top with the second piece of bread and enjoy right away.

Michele Anna Jordan is author of the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com and visit her blog at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.