Avocados

Store unripe avocados at room temperature in a brown paper bag to speed up maturation. If the recipe calls for peeled avocado halves, proceed as follows. Cut down the length of the avocado in a continuous line from the stalk end to produce two halves. Peel the seedless half by gently pulling on the skin from the stalk end: it should come off easily if the avocado is ripe, although with some varieties the skin breaks at random, making this a fiddly process. Hold the half containing the seed in the palm of one hand, then tap a sharp knife into the seed and twist slowly to remove it. Finally, peel this half of the avocado.