Hummus, A Love Story: Recipe and Pictures

LTH,

Immodestly, I make darn good hummus, layers of flavor, and a trick or two I picked up along the way. Mine is not traditional, though not so out there as to upset, what Saveur refers to as, "Heritage Eaters". Hummus is really quite simple, anyone with a Cuisinart or blender can whip up a basic recipe in 5-minutes, leading me to wonder who the hell buys premade. Mine takes a little longer than 5-minutes but, hopefully, the payoff is worth the extra time.

Gary's Hummus Recipe

- Cut pita bread into 6ths, separate leaves.


- Toast dry spices. (see recipe)


- Let cool
- Grind in spice (coffee) grinder

- Lightly dampen pita leaves with olive oil.
- Dust with ground spice mix


-Bake pita in 300° oven, turning twice for even crisping.

- Pan toast garlic and jalapeno. (Serrano or habanero are good options)
- Note, my recipe uses both raw and roasted jalapeno/garlic


- Destem and seed both raw and roasted jalapeno, add, with both raw and roasted garlic, to Cuisinart, roughly blend.

- Add garbanzo beans, reserving a bit of liquid (either from the can or cooking water), tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and toasted ground spice mix.

- Pulse blend


Check for desired consistency, using reserved liquid if necessary. When hummus is just about finished, at very last second, add two ice-cubes and pulse blend. The ice-cubes whir around incorporating air into the mix while adding a bit of liquid, resulting in slightly lighter hummus.

Decant into serving bowl, in this case tupperware as the hummus was traveling, top with olive oil, dusting of spice mix and parsley.


Serve with pita chips and vegetable slices. Daikon radish, cucumber and carrot, pretty much any veggie that can used as a scoop, works well.

Complete Hummus recipe may be found here

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary,

Many thanks for posting your recipe, which is an interesting take on the dish and surely a very delicious one. I'll have to give it a try (there are always lots of garbanzos/ceci/chick peas on hand in this household).

Antonius

Gary,

Thanks for sharing not only the recipe, but your secrets as well. I can attest to the deliciousness of Gary's hummus. Alone, it's very good. With those addictive, spiced pita chips--it's flat out awesome.

trixie-pea

This recipe looks most delicious but was is the measurements for the spice mix. Anyone???

I have recently discovered hummus & I want to make my own. Do you need a food processor to make it (mine is broken), or is there another way? Also, does anyone have a good recipe that you could share with me (preferably not using canned chickpeas)? Finally, what ready-made store brand of hummus do you like?

What is the secret to making good hummus, in your opinion?

Thanks!

You can use any method you like to pound the chickpeas into a paste, you can even leave them whole, in some varieties. Saveur in April 2006 had an article on hummus. It should contain chickpeas, lemon juice, sesame paste (tahini), and garlic in proportions that you prefer I like it to be garlicky and lemony, other people like it more sesame flavored.

You're in luck, Liz in Norwood Park!

GWiv posted an excellent, generous step-by-step instruction of his own style of hummus a while back. You'll find it here.

(And, I hate to be one of those people that mentions the ever-handy search function but, well...)

For store bought, I like TJ's refrigerated "uncle joe's" plain version. Also the whole foods refrigerated brand as well. Jewel and Dominick's carry the Athenos brand and a few others which I absolutely DESPISE - they are very thick and coarse ground. There are also shelf stable jar brands which I've tried....ONCE. I generally recommend going to your local mid eastern-ish restaurant, and buying some for take out - but that's really because I like Baba Ghannouj more than hummous, and I'll generally buy them at the same time. Making hummous at home is a snap, and I don't discriminate with the canned vs fresh cooked garbanzos, but to each his own. In my home made version, leek has posted all my ingredients, but I also throw in a very good handfull of parsley, fresh ground black pepper, and some evoo as well.

Garden Fresh has a very respectable commercial Hummos, if you don't make your own.

Hey thanks for linking this!

I've been making hummus for some time now and it really is pretty easy. I usually make a small serving (1 can of beans, 1/2 lemon, 1 Tbsp Tahini, 1 clover garlic, olive oil / water) in my $20 small food processor, for the larger quantity, I use the larger food processor. I've also heard of using a blender or even a potato masher. Anyway, in mine, it's basically - chick peas, garlic, tahini, olive oil, and lemon, plus salt and pepper. That's it. When it's fresh, it's better than any store bought item. Also, when you use pitas to make your "chips," it's much better than any store bought as well. I do the same as the poster, pita bread, cut into wedges, brushed with olive oil. I then salt with coarse sea salt.

I've found a few things really make a difference. Although I use canned chick peas, I don't retain the liquid. I rinse the chick peas really well. I feel this prevents a "muddy" flavor or consistency. If I need additional liquid, it's just clean water to the desired consistency. Also, to prevent strong doses of garlic, I mince, then paste my garlic with salt, before adding to the processor. Lastly, use a high quality olive oil, since this is not cooked.

The simple hummus recipe is a nice base to start experimenting. I've gone spicy, adding cayenne and chilies to the mix and I've also added some roast red pepper for that flavor as well. I've also experimented with different bean and enjoy great northern beans without the tahini for more of an american flavor. Good luck.

Anyone have a favorite mass-market tahini?

Santander wrote:Anyone have a favorite mass-market tahini?

There is always a jar of Ziyad tahini in my house. Available in most multi-ethnic markets and some chain supermarkets in the "international" aisle.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:

Santander wrote:Anyone have a favorite mass-market tahini?

There is always a jar of Ziyad tahini in my house. Available in most multi-ethnic markets and some chain supermarkets in the "international" aisle.

Best,
Michael

Me too. This stuff will last a while. You may have to search for it at your local grocer though....

tyrus wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

Santander wrote:Anyone have a favorite mass-market tahini?

There is always a jar of Ziyad tahini in my house. Available in most multi-ethnic markets and some chain supermarkets in the "international" aisle.

Best,
Michael

Me too. This stuff will last a while. You may have to search for it at your local grocer though....

I find Ziyad's products -- including their canned chick peas -- to be of excellent quality. I also like the Cedars* brand tahina, which comes in a clear, plastic bottle.

=R=

*In the interest of full disclosure, Cedars is a customer of mine but I've been buying their products since before they were one.

I found Tahini at Strack and Van Til's in the veggie area, on the low shelf ringing one of the prepared food bars, near the cheeses.

I'll add another thumbs up for Ziyad. Good stuff, lasts forever refrigerated.

However, they did have a recall back in april, due to possible salmonella (no illnesses reported according to that FDA link). I don't know if they're back on the market, but any reputable store should have turned over their stock at the time.

JoelF wrote:I'll add another thumbs up for Ziyad. Good stuff, lasts forever refrigerated.

However, they did have a recall back in april, due to possible salmonella (no illnesses reported according to that FDA link). I don't know if they're back on the market, but any reputable store should have turned over their stock at the time.

I cannot find a link to confirmation at the moment (will try to find one) but I'm almost certain it was determined that the reason for this recall occurred further down the chain and was due to events that took place after the product in question left Ziyad's possession.

=R=

I was reluctant to post at all about the recall, but I partly wasn't sure it was back on shelves yet -- sometimes those recalls can take a long time to make their way back through the supply chain.

Their quality has always been high, it's good to hear that it wasn't their fault. I know I bought a few Ziyad products a couple weeks ago at Arax on Milwaukee in Niles.

My only complaint about their tahini is the tall narrow jar that pretty much ensures you'll be smeared with sesame oil by the time you get to the bottom of the jar.

Never, ever, ever buy canned hummos. By the time you add enough olive oil, lemon and garlic to make it swallowable, you could probably have started with sand.

On to chickpeas, though: canned or rehydrated dry?

JoelF wrote:However, they did have a recall back in april,

Please note recall was April 2005.

Whoa -- I was sure it was this year, I didn't think my memory was good enough to remember something obscure like that so long.

I completely withdraw any concerns.

I think we are confusing two separate incidents. The incident this year was the contaminated hummus at Pars Cove at Taste of Chicago. Pars Cove, if I recall, said the source was their Ziyad tahini.

Edited to add: I am not sure if the tahini was or wasn't, in fact, the source.

Darren72 wrote:I think we are confusing two separate incidents. The incident this year was the contaminated hummus at Pars Cove at Taste of Chicago. Pars Cove, if I recall, said the source was their Ziyad tahini.

Yes, Darren, you are correct. Thanks, for the illumination.

=R=

If you're concerned about store bought tahini, make it at home.


3/4 lb sesame seeds
2 t peanut oil
3 T peanut oil

Place seeds on a baking sheet and toast in 350°F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly toasted. Process in food processor for 3 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons peanut oil and process on high for 30 seconds. Add 3 tablespoons peanut oil anf process until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Sesame seeds in bulk are available at :
Middle East Bakery and Pastry
1512 W. Foster Ave.
773-561-2224

They even have bags of toasted sesame seeds, which reduces the time on the above recipe to about 6 minutes.

FrankP wrote:Sesame seeds in bulk are available at :
Middle East Bakery and Pastry

Bulk sesame seeds are available at Korean markets as well.

Chicago Food Corp
3333 N Kimball Ave
Chicago, IL
773-478-5566

Super H Mart
801 Civic Center Dr
Niles, IL 60714
847-581-1212

On canned vs not canned, I don't use canned chickpeas - I buy the dry ones and boil them myself. Also, you don't need a food processor - a blender will work fine for making hummus.

A question about roasted pepper hummus. We made regular hummus and roasted peppers hummus recently. I love roasted peppers, but in this case the regular hummus was much tastier than the roasted pepper one. Any ideas on how to make roasted pepper hummus better?

eggplant wrote:A question about roasted pepper hummus. We made regular hummus and roasted peppers hummus recently. I love roasted peppers, but in this case the regular hummus was much tastier than the roasted pepper one. Any ideas on how to make roasted pepper hummus better?

How did you make your roasted pepper hummus?

Darren72 wrote:

eggplant wrote:A question about roasted pepper hummus. We made regular hummus and roasted peppers hummus recently. I love roasted peppers, but in this case the regular hummus was much tastier than the roasted pepper one. Any ideas on how to make roasted pepper hummus better?

How did you make your roasted pepper hummus?

Roasted a few red peppers, peeled them and blended them with the other hummus ingredients. So it was regular hummus with roasted red peppers.

Roasted Red Pepper hummus. I've done this as well and found it to be a bit bland. I added some chili powder to the mix which gave it a smokier flavor. I would play around with seasonings as well. You'll also want to increase the salt/pepper when adding the roasted red pepper. BTW, I just use peppers from a jar packed in oil. Much faster with limited taste loss. Good luck.

eggplant wrote:Roasted a few red peppers, peeled them and blended them with the other hummus ingredients. So it was regular hummus with roasted red peppers.

That's basically how I do it also, but I have a very high proportion of peppers to chick peas, maybe even one to one.