On Jul 7, 10:48 am, Jason Tinling > wrote:
> On Jul 6, 10:14 pm, wrote:
>
> > I love humus. However in restaraunts the quality always varies, some
> > great, some nasty.
> > I would like to make my own great Humus at home? Whats the secret of
> > making great
> > Humus? Is it ingredients, freshness or both? Please share your recipes
> > and techniques.
>
> Made a couple batches this weekend, with the following recipe:
>
> 22 oz Chickpeas, drained (reserve liquid) and rinsed
> 4 cloves garlic
> 6 T Tahini
> 1 T Olive Oil
> 1/4 C Lemon Juice
> 1/2 tsp salt
> 1/2 tsp cumin
> 1/2 tsp chile (cayenne, paprika, new mexico, depending on your heat
> preference)
> 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
> 1" jalapeno (1" slice, seeded and cut into quarters)
> 1 T dried parsley
>
> Put everything but chick peas in the food processor and run until
> mostly smooth. Add chickpeas and process, adding reserved canning
> liquid, as needed to reach desired consistency.

Recipe for great humus: worms, bugs, waste plant matter like old dead
leaves and kitchen scraps, some regular garden soil (not sterile from
a bag) shoveled on top, a big container to keep it all together,
maybe your kid's pee if he's into it (most boys will be), and water.
Combine and cover. If you've used kid pee let it sit for at least a
year. If not, and if you've built your pile with enough dead leaves
and soil, and made sure you put it somewhere the worms and bugs can
get at it, you should have nice rich humus in a few months with which
to dress your garden beds. Free fertilizer and it keeps the plants
moist too.

Oh, hummus? You say you want hummus, or hoummous, or hoummus, or
something like that, as long as it's chickpea dip? Well. No bugs, pee
or earthworms in hummus.

The word just means garbanzos in Arabic, so I could be snide (again)
and give you a can of chickpeas. But you want the dip, I know you do.
The recipes above all look pretty good. No, Lebanese don't put yogurt
in their hummus but on the other hand, why can't you if you feel like
it?

I posted a hummus recipe on RFC sometime in the Clinton
administration. Folks here keep saying "no blog posts" so I won't link
to mine. google dove's eye view and hoummus if you really care. (but
how did I spell it?? There's no accepted system for transliterating
Arabic into English)

Oh, homemade - many years ago a rather self-certain Israeli RFCer
--who I otherwise mostly liked --sniffed that HER sources were MOST
AUTHENTIC and not only did they cook the garbanzos from scratch, they
rubbed the translucent white skins off them before mashing with
tahini. I really didn't like her way of instructing us in this matter,
but when I tried it myself, she was right, the texture was much much
creamier and more refined. OTOH rubbing the skins off between your
fingers is a pain in the neck, and can only be done manually. You get
more fiber and grittier mouth feel if you skip this step. It's a real
"slow food" experience if you attempt it. You should then pound up
everything in a mortar and pestle and forego the food processor -
this, too, improves the mouth feel and flavor blends, but I won't tell
if you use an appliance.

Cook them from scratch or not, suit yourself. I do think that the from
scratch ones taste better but when I need hummus in five minutes for
the kids' lunches, I open a can. (or three. Hummus goes fast around my
house). Someone once suggested to rinse the beans to get that "can"
taste off them and I always do this, hoping that it helps. Maybe it
does. It's not as stark a taste difference as using from-scratch
beans.

With three cans I would put in about a third cup of tahini; at least
two lemons; NOT the bean juice but reserve some for thinning as
needed; and one large garlic clove to start, adding more to your taste
and tolerance. It all goes in the food processor. Taste, taste taste.
Lemons vary in their juiciness and acidity so I always start with just
one and add from there.

Cumin, hot pepper, parsley and/or allspice are optional additions in
the Middle East (among Arabs). Mayonnaise will make me sneer but
again, who's to say you can't add mayonnaise? Yogurt seems weird but
whatever. Many Americans add the olive oil to the blend, but
traditionally it's served with olive oil drizzled over the top.

You could garnish with paprika or red pepper, a few reserved whole
garbanzo beans (lets people know what's in the dip, besides looking
good - helpful when there's also baba ghanoush - eggplant & tahini -
on the table) or an olive or three. Parsley sprigs are nice too.

Good luck and sahtain (bon appetit in Arabic)

Leila