Holy guacamole ... is this stuff ever g-o-o-d!!! (Sorry, couldn't resist!) This one comes straight from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. I like many of her recipes and this one is one of my favorites. That girl can cook!! We really like to eat this with the Tostitos with a Hint of Lime chips. If you can't find the lime ones the regular ones are fine too.
4 ripe Haas avocados (choose ones that are turning dark green/brownish - they are ripe and ready to eat)
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
6 dashes of Tabasco sauce (use more if you like it really hot)
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 medium tomato, seeded and small-diced
Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits (*save one for later on ... I'll explain later) and scoop the flesh out of the shells into a bowl. Immediately add the lemon juice, hot sauce, onion, garlic, salt & pepper and toss well. Using a sharp knife, slice through the avocados in the bowl until they are coarsely diced. Add the tomatoes. Mix well.
* Cody Chenoweth, the son-in-law of my good friend Becky Lefever and a California boy who grew up eating avocados, told me that you should always put an avocado pit in your guacomole to keep the avocados from turning brown. Makes sense to me! Ina says that the lemon juice does the same thing. I do both, just to be on the safe side. Besides, that way whenever I see the pit in the guacamole I think of Cody and his gorgeous wife Cheryl and remember our fun times spent together on the Chesapeake Bay :-)
** To easily remove the pits, hold half the avocado in your hand. Strike the pit with the blade of a sharp knife until it sticks in the pit. Turn slightly and pit pops right out.