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Friday, March 21, 2008

Recipe: Hummus

My hummus is a party favorite-- I've been making it ever since my dear friend Elisa visited me for two weeks when I got married and she showed me how simple it was to do it. I'll add that it's far easier to do this in a food processor than in a blender, as Elisa and I learned the hard way (heretofore referred to as "The Great Hummus Incident of 2004") I'm fairly sure that until we remodeled the kitchen, you could still find bits of chickpeas in corners of the kitchen. Elisa's now busy with her political career, and I'm no longer married, but I can't help but think of her every time I make hummus.

This one's a pretty rough recipe-- there are no real measurements; I eyeball everything.

2 16 ounce cans of chickpeas
2-3 cloves of garlic (these can be roasted or unroasted; if roasted I use a few more than that, sometimes a whole head).
Olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt

In a food processor, process the chickpeas until they look sort of like wet sand. Through the chute, add oil slowly, until you notice that it looks less like wet sand, and more like peanut butter. Turn off the processor and taste the olive oil/chickpea mixture. Is the texture creamy? Then it's almost done! Now, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and pop in the garlic cloves. Process until smooth. Salt to taste-- it shouldn't be salty, but the salt should brighten the flavors of olive oil, lemon and garlic and cut the blandness you tasted when you checked for consistence.

Smooth out on a plate, and garnish with paprika, olive oil, cracked pepper, whole olives-- whatever you want-- and serve with pita chips. It also makes a great lunch spread and it's darn good off of a spoon around midnight, straight out of the refrigerator.

7 comments:

Chris S said...

Yup, thats my hummus pretty much exactly. I always use the roasted garlic, and almost always just about a whole head. I like my garlic. I've experimented with doing a few things with hummus that are kind of fun, but more work.

One good option that I had a great deal of fun with was fried hummus. Use less olive oil in the mixture to make thicker consistency, and add an egg to the food processor when blending. Then make little patties like potato pancakes. Pat those in Panko, then pan fry in a goodly portion of olive oil till nice and golden on each side. Then put on paper towels to drain, and sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper.

I serve these on top of toasted french bread, spritzed with olive oil and salt and rubbed with garlic. Just another interesting hummus variant :)

Julie said...

This reminds me a bit of fried grits-- I'll have to try it!

Chris S said...

Just be careful flipping em. They are kind of fragile until they are almost done.

liberal foodie said...

this is hilarious. You beat me to the punch, I was about to write a post on hummus. My hummus is favored by many that I know. maybe a hummus competition? :) yours is almost like mine.

Julie said...

My hummus brings all the boys to the yard...

I challenge you to a hummus off! Bring it! It's been brought-en.

/cheesy pop culture references

I think MOST people like homemade hummus simply because it doesn't have that nasty, old Athenos taste. I do like Sabra hummus, because it's very close to what I make. I'd love to see your recipe!

Anonymous said...

Julie, I realy think you should try going for the real thing: making hummus with dried chickpeas.
http://humus101.com/EN/2006/10/14/hummus-recipe/

That's the traditional way to make it. It's healthier and it tastes a whole lot better.

Julie said...

Hi, Hummus Guy! I'll try your way sometime-- I actually purposely omit the tahini because I prefer the cleaner taste of it without (though I know that's traditional). I'll try the dried chickpeas-- though since it's the same ingredient (and canned chickpeas are boiled too, correct?) I'm not sure how it could be healthier? I'd be interested in finding out.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Recipe: Hummus

My hummus is a party favorite-- I've been making it ever since my dear friend Elisa visited me for two weeks when I got married and she showed me how simple it was to do it. I'll add that it's far easier to do this in a food processor than in a blender, as Elisa and I learned the hard way (heretofore referred to as "The Great Hummus Incident of 2004") I'm fairly sure that until we remodeled the kitchen, you could still find bits of chickpeas in corners of the kitchen. Elisa's now busy with her political career, and I'm no longer married, but I can't help but think of her every time I make hummus.

This one's a pretty rough recipe-- there are no real measurements; I eyeball everything.

2 16 ounce cans of chickpeas
2-3 cloves of garlic (these can be roasted or unroasted; if roasted I use a few more than that, sometimes a whole head).
Olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt

In a food processor, process the chickpeas until they look sort of like wet sand. Through the chute, add oil slowly, until you notice that it looks less like wet sand, and more like peanut butter. Turn off the processor and taste the olive oil/chickpea mixture. Is the texture creamy? Then it's almost done! Now, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and pop in the garlic cloves. Process until smooth. Salt to taste-- it shouldn't be salty, but the salt should brighten the flavors of olive oil, lemon and garlic and cut the blandness you tasted when you checked for consistence.

Smooth out on a plate, and garnish with paprika, olive oil, cracked pepper, whole olives-- whatever you want-- and serve with pita chips. It also makes a great lunch spread and it's darn good off of a spoon around midnight, straight out of the refrigerator.

7 comments:

Chris S said...

Yup, thats my hummus pretty much exactly. I always use the roasted garlic, and almost always just about a whole head. I like my garlic. I've experimented with doing a few things with hummus that are kind of fun, but more work.

One good option that I had a great deal of fun with was fried hummus. Use less olive oil in the mixture to make thicker consistency, and add an egg to the food processor when blending. Then make little patties like potato pancakes. Pat those in Panko, then pan fry in a goodly portion of olive oil till nice and golden on each side. Then put on paper towels to drain, and sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper.

I serve these on top of toasted french bread, spritzed with olive oil and salt and rubbed with garlic. Just another interesting hummus variant :)

Julie said...

This reminds me a bit of fried grits-- I'll have to try it!

Chris S said...

Just be careful flipping em. They are kind of fragile until they are almost done.

liberal foodie said...

this is hilarious. You beat me to the punch, I was about to write a post on hummus. My hummus is favored by many that I know. maybe a hummus competition? :) yours is almost like mine.

Julie said...

My hummus brings all the boys to the yard...

I challenge you to a hummus off! Bring it! It's been brought-en.

/cheesy pop culture references

I think MOST people like homemade hummus simply because it doesn't have that nasty, old Athenos taste. I do like Sabra hummus, because it's very close to what I make. I'd love to see your recipe!

Anonymous said...

Julie, I realy think you should try going for the real thing: making hummus with dried chickpeas.
http://humus101.com/EN/2006/10/14/hummus-recipe/

That's the traditional way to make it. It's healthier and it tastes a whole lot better.

Julie said...

Hi, Hummus Guy! I'll try your way sometime-- I actually purposely omit the tahini because I prefer the cleaner taste of it without (though I know that's traditional). I'll try the dried chickpeas-- though since it's the same ingredient (and canned chickpeas are boiled too, correct?) I'm not sure how it could be healthier? I'd be interested in finding out.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Recipe: Hummus

My hummus is a party favorite-- I've been making it ever since my dear friend Elisa visited me for two weeks when I got married and she showed me how simple it was to do it. I'll add that it's far easier to do this in a food processor than in a blender, as Elisa and I learned the hard way (heretofore referred to as "The Great Hummus Incident of 2004") I'm fairly sure that until we remodeled the kitchen, you could still find bits of chickpeas in corners of the kitchen. Elisa's now busy with her political career, and I'm no longer married, but I can't help but think of her every time I make hummus.

This one's a pretty rough recipe-- there are no real measurements; I eyeball everything.

2 16 ounce cans of chickpeas
2-3 cloves of garlic (these can be roasted or unroasted; if roasted I use a few more than that, sometimes a whole head).
Olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt

In a food processor, process the chickpeas until they look sort of like wet sand. Through the chute, add oil slowly, until you notice that it looks less like wet sand, and more like peanut butter. Turn off the processor and taste the olive oil/chickpea mixture. Is the texture creamy? Then it's almost done! Now, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and pop in the garlic cloves. Process until smooth. Salt to taste-- it shouldn't be salty, but the salt should brighten the flavors of olive oil, lemon and garlic and cut the blandness you tasted when you checked for consistence.

Smooth out on a plate, and garnish with paprika, olive oil, cracked pepper, whole olives-- whatever you want-- and serve with pita chips. It also makes a great lunch spread and it's darn good off of a spoon around midnight, straight out of the refrigerator.

7 comments:

Chris S said...

Yup, thats my hummus pretty much exactly. I always use the roasted garlic, and almost always just about a whole head. I like my garlic. I've experimented with doing a few things with hummus that are kind of fun, but more work.

One good option that I had a great deal of fun with was fried hummus. Use less olive oil in the mixture to make thicker consistency, and add an egg to the food processor when blending. Then make little patties like potato pancakes. Pat those in Panko, then pan fry in a goodly portion of olive oil till nice and golden on each side. Then put on paper towels to drain, and sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper.

I serve these on top of toasted french bread, spritzed with olive oil and salt and rubbed with garlic. Just another interesting hummus variant :)

Julie said...

This reminds me a bit of fried grits-- I'll have to try it!

Chris S said...

Just be careful flipping em. They are kind of fragile until they are almost done.

liberal foodie said...

this is hilarious. You beat me to the punch, I was about to write a post on hummus. My hummus is favored by many that I know. maybe a hummus competition? :) yours is almost like mine.

Julie said...

My hummus brings all the boys to the yard...

I challenge you to a hummus off! Bring it! It's been brought-en.

/cheesy pop culture references

I think MOST people like homemade hummus simply because it doesn't have that nasty, old Athenos taste. I do like Sabra hummus, because it's very close to what I make. I'd love to see your recipe!

Anonymous said...

Julie, I realy think you should try going for the real thing: making hummus with dried chickpeas.
http://humus101.com/EN/2006/10/14/hummus-recipe/

That's the traditional way to make it. It's healthier and it tastes a whole lot better.

Julie said...

Hi, Hummus Guy! I'll try your way sometime-- I actually purposely omit the tahini because I prefer the cleaner taste of it without (though I know that's traditional). I'll try the dried chickpeas-- though since it's the same ingredient (and canned chickpeas are boiled too, correct?) I'm not sure how it could be healthier? I'd be interested in finding out.