Cooking/Hummus: yields 3.5-4 cups, not quarts

[clinton/website/src/unknownlamer.org.git] / Hummus.muse

* Ingredients

Yields around one quart

 - 1 cup dried chick peas (or two cans; if using cans, try to find "no
   salt added" to avoid making things too salty)
 - 1/4 cup liquid from chick peas (or vegetable stock)
 - 8 cloves (one head) of [[Roasted Garlic]]
 - Medium red bell pepper, roasted
 - 2 tsp paprika
 - 1 tbsp dried flaked maras biberi or aleppo pepper (recommended, but
   not required)
 - 1 tsp ground cumin
 - 1/2 tsp table salt
 - 5 tbsp (~1 lemon) fresh lemon juice
 - 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (if you can get your hands on it,
   [[http://www.palestineoliveoil.org/][Holy Land]] is great)
 - 5 tbsp tahini

* Directions

** Preparing the Beans

Just soak a cup of dried beans at least overnight in a couple of cups
of water. Drain them and throw them into a pot with enough water to
just more than cover them (an extra inch or so seems to be
good). Bring everything to a boil uncovered, and then cut the heat
back to simmer partially covered for about an hour or an hour and a
half (when the skins split easily they have a good texture).

When you drain them save the liquid and use that when blending the
hummus.

** Bell Pepper

Scorch the skin off of the bell pepper over flame or under a broiler
(optional -- I leave the skins on and notice no difference), and then
[[https://web.archive.org/web/20130527144021/http://www.ochef.com/158.htm][roast the pepper]]:

    To roast the pepper, put the cut pieces in a baking dish with a
    little oil and pop it into a 400°F (205°C) oven, until the pieces
    are tender and slightly browned, about 35 minutes.

Conveniently, this is the same temperature garlic is roasted at, so
you can roast both at the same time.

** And Now for the Actual Hummus

 1. Prepare the beans (or open canned beans).
 1. Add beans, roasted garlic, and chickpea water to food processor work
    bowl; process for two minutes.
 1. Add lemon juice; process for one minute
 1. Add tahini, roasted bell pepper, salt, cumin, and paprika; process
    for one minute.
 1. Drizzle olive oil in while processing for three minutes.
 1. Garnish if you desire (minced garlic, capers, coarsely ground
    black pepper, and olive oil for example).
 1. Take to a gathering of some sort.
 1. Watch the hummus evaporate.

* Notes

One time I decided to make hummus for folks and alas! I forgot to soak
beans the night before. My strange friend came to the rescue with the
equivalent amount of home prepared white beans and it was a good
substitute (slightly different flavor, but the spices here really
dominate). I used water from boiling dried tomatoes (slightly
different recipe) as there was no fresh chickpea water on hand and it
was delightful.

I've used cheap blenders, decent food processors, and a
super-expensive blender to make this. It comes out adequately with
most any equipment. You can just blend everything together at a
moderate speed until the consistency is whatever you consider
reasonably smooth, but processing in steps with a good food processor
results in a slightly better texture.

I've done this with and without removing the skins, and I personally
don't think it's worth the effort to remove the skins.