Pear Walnut Salad

Jon's sister, Elizabeth, introduced this to the family and it has become our absolute favorite. I can't even begin to imagine how many times we've eaten this!

Romaine lettuce
Stilton or bleu cheese, crumbled
Ripe pears, cubed
Toasted walnuts (400° – 10 minutes)

Dressing:
1/3 c. olive oil
Big dollop Dijon mustard
Scant tsp. sugar
Salt & pepper
Cider vinegar (1/2 as much as oil)

Potato Side Dish

This is a Wisconsin dish if I've ever had one! This comes from Bethany's family of origin. When I first made this for Jon's family, they made fun of my "casserole" - - until they tasted it!

2 lb. southern style hashbrowns (thawed)
1 pint sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ c. diced onion
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
4 c. corn flakes
1 stick butter melted

Mix first 8 ingredients and put into greased 9x13 pan. Crush corn flakes, put on top and pour butter over. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Potato Chowder with Green Chiles

This soup is from Carla and was in the family cookbook that she put together years ago. We have made this quite a bit and reading through it now is making me want to make it soon! With just a couple of tweaks, this could be suitable for a vegetarian (my friend Laura is making me more aware and I am trying to do some vegetarian dishes - my current goal is once a week)

Roasted red peppers
2, 4 oz. cans diced green chiles
3, 14.5 oz cans chicken (or vegetable) broth
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ c. butter
1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
¼ tsp. pepper
2 c. half-and-half
1 c. milk

Garnish:
shredded white cheddar cheese
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (optional)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Sour cream

Bring first 8 ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, or until potato is tender. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat, whisk in flour and next 3 ingredients until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly 1 min. Gradually whisk in half-and-half. Stir white sauce and milk into chicken broth mixture, cook over med. Heat 8-10 min. or until thickened and bubbly. Serve with cheese, bacon, green onions and sour cream.

Amazing Grilled Avocadoes

This is something I clipped out of a magazine a few years back. We are out of control with these in the summer time - so amazing that 5 ingredients can taste so good!

Avocadoes
Olive oil
Your favorite salsa
Shredded white cheddar cheese
Fresh lime juice

Cut the avocadoes in half and rub them with olive oil. Grill pit side down for ~3 minutes, turn over and fill holes with salsa and cover with cheese. Close the lid of the grill and leave them on for ~3 minutes. Squeeze with fresh lime juice before serving. (I do not grill, that is all Jon so I don't know how hot the grill is when he does these - I think he just puts them on the side when he's grilling other things).

Fresh Lemon Rice

This is amazing with the Spicy Lemon Shrimp. This recipe also came from Carla.

¼ c. butter
2 ½ c. uncooked long grain white rice
4 ½ c. canned chicken broth
½ c. vermouth
1 ½ tsp. salt
Pinch pepper
¼ c. fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind

Melt butter, add rice, cook over med. heat 2 min. stirring constantly. Add chicken broth, vermouth, salt & pepper, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat & simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Toss w/ parsley & lemon.

Angel Hair alla Carbonara

When we went to Italy in 2009, we ate Spaghetti Carbonara in a little restaurant in Rome. When we got home, we went on an internet hunt to find something close to the meal we experienced. After trying several, this has become our favorite (but I can't remember which site we got it from!).

1 and 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

3 large eggs

3/4 c. whipping cream

12 ounces angel hair pasta

6 pancetta slices, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

3/4 c. dry vermouth or white wine

Directions:

Get pasta water heated in large pot. Saute pancetta in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Add onion, garlic and crushed red pepper. Saute until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Once water in large pot is boiling, cook pasta until 'al dente', stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk 3/4 c. cheese, eggs and cream in bowl to blend; set aside. Add vermouth to the pancetta, onion, garlic mixture in the skillet. Simmer until most of vermouth has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to same pot. (Pasta will probably be done before pancetta mix.). Add pancetta mixture and egg mixture to pasta. Toss over low heat until egg mixture thickens and coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if sauce is too thick, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta to large bowl and serve with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Spicy Lemon Shrimp

Our friend Carla is an amazing cook and I make quite a few of her recipes. This is probably my favorite one from her...but there are many more good ones!

2 lbs. shrimp
2 in. piece of ginger, peeled & grated
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped
1 tsp. salt
¼ c. lemon juice
¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

Peel & devein shrimp, set aside. Combine all other ingredients except for olive oil, then stream in olive oil with a whisk. Toss clean shrimp in marinade and refrigerate for about 3 hours. Put on skewers and grill for 5-10 min. Serve with Fresh Lemon Rice.