Hummus

I know that several of you have waited along time for me to post my hummus recipe! Several of you have asked for it and I have been unable to deliver. You see my recipe has been someone else's family recipe and I have never bothered to ask her for permission to share it. She was one of my college roommates and her dad is from Jordan and the recipe is very good as you can imagine! I guess I have felt like I am lucky to have the recipe myself and it is kind of a secret.

I am a bit of a hummus snob if you haven't already heard me say that before. My sister worked at a Greek restaurant in Spokane, Washington, where I am from, for many years. I believe it was about 10. I worked there one summer as well which was super fun and a delightfully tasteful job! Many of my paychecks were spent on food. So that is my excuse for being a hummus snob. You can't work there and not become pretty picky about your hummus.

So I worked a little on my own recipe so I would be able to share it with you. Granted most recipes are going to have the same basic ingredients but here is what I have come up with.

Start with one can of organic chick peas. Do NOT drain the juice! You will need all of the juice from that one can. You can just dump your whole can into the food processor and skip the bowl  if you like.

Grab a couple large garlic cloves and run them through the garlic press. Add that to the chick peas and juice in the food processor. You may decide later that you need a little more garlic but it is best to error on not using enough. Trust me. I have made that mistake because I am a garlic lover and forget that it gets more flavorful with time.

You will need some tahini. Tahini is a sesame paste and is what really gives hummus its flavor. You cannot make hummus without tahini. This one isn't necessarily my favorite one but I can buy it here in town and it is organic and raw.

You will need the juice of one lemon. Yes, you must use fresh. If you use that bottled stuff it will taste disgusting and I will be mad at you for ruining perfectly good hummus.

I am not kidding.

This is where my recipe differs from most. I like my hummus to be extra smooth. Remember I am a snob about this! You can make hummus with just this flour and no can of chick peas but it involves a little cooking so I decided to just add it to my recipe plain to see what would happen. I ended up using 1/3 of a cup. It worked.

You will need some ground cumin, paprika, and salt as well. I add about a teaspoon of both the salt and ground cumin to the mixture. Blend well after each addition to the food processor. You will need more cumin for the top with a dash of paprika as well. I also really like pine nuts and a little more roasted chopped garlic on top as well but I didn't have the pine nuts because they are outlandishly expensive!

You will also need a bit of olive oil for the top of your hummus.

It definitely turned out smoother than it has before but I think I will give just the flour a try sometime to see how that turns out. If you are wondering if I ever by store bought hummus the answer is yes! I only like two kinds though. Sabra is my favorite and I like the roasted garlic flavor or Holy Land brand. I refuse to eat all other store bought brands! I do like the hummus at Persepolis in town and I would be willing to try it at another restaurant as well.

Unfortunately, Niko's, the restaurant where my sister and I both worked in downtown Spokane closed. We were completely devastated as you can imagine. I made my sister call the owner and find out why. He said it was just time to be done. I am so sad that I won't be getting anymore Niko's food when I come home for visits! You all know how I love my Greek food.

P.S. I am also a snob about coffee. My excuse for that is that I grew up in Washington state, the birth place of Starbucks, the coffe shack on every corner, and basically the whole coffee craze!

I apologize for my snobiness!

Pam's Homemade Hummus

1 can organic chick peas and juice from that can

1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon Tahini (more if desired)

2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

Topping:

olive oil

paprika

ground cumin

pine nuts

Blend all ingredients in a food processor mixing well after each addition. Place hummus in a serving bowl and top with more ground cumin, paprika, and olive oil

8 Layer Mediterranean Dip

You will have to forgive me for the lack of posts. Traveling so close to Christmas and then trying to be ready for the day with all the meals planned, grocery shopping done, presents wrapped, house cleaned (my own and my cleaning jobs), table set, cookies baked, etc.... there is no time left for blogging. I did take pictures however of some of the things I did make so I can now share them with you.

Since I had made such a big meal for Christmas Dinner I planned to make some snack type foods to eat that evening and into the next day so I wouldn't have to cook again. Besides there are too many leftovers! I stumbled across this recipe on the Whole Foods recipe page for this dip and thought it was totally up my alley! So I made it on Saturday evening and we ate it Sunday evening. I thought I would share it today because it would make a great appetizer to try for New Year's Eve if you have something planned.

Miles' exact words when he came up the stairs after having eaten some, "That dip, me likey! You can do that again!" (I know he needs a little help in the grammar department but I will take the compliment.)

I started by spreading a layer of hummus in the bottom of a 9 x 7 inch dish. I used Sabra this time instead of homemade to save a little time. Then I topped that layer with some chopped spinach and then some roasted red pepper.

I know I made each of my layers a little more generous then the recipe called for because I was expecting to really like this and my dish was a different size then what they recommended. You can see the beautiful colorful layers stacking up here!

If you have an angled spatula like this one it works very well to spread things out and to pack the layers down. You should also note that you really need to drain the wet ingredients well so that the dip doesn't get too watery. (red pepper, artichokes, olives)

Next was the artichokes. I should have taken a picture of the can for you. I drained them and roughly chopped them. I should have also patted them with a paper towel just to absorb a little more moisture. Next time!

My favorite......Greek yogurt. I think a thicker brand like Athenos works best for something like this.

Top the yogurt with some roughly chopped Greek olives. I know Greek olives are an acquired taste so if you don't care for them use regular black olives but they do add some great color so don't skip them all together!

I guess I skipped the picture of the green onion. Finish it off with the green onion and a layer of feta cheese. I did refrigerate it overnight but if you give it about an hour it would set up nicely I think.

Doesn't that look delicious????

I served it with two kinds of multi-grain pita chips. I like the Kangaroo brand best not only for their garden herb flavor but also because they do not come all broken up like a lot of pita chips do. They are nice firm squares. Regular pita would have been great to eat with this as well.

We loved this dip so much that we ate it for dinner last night as well and had some more with our lunch today. It is about gone but I am not even the least bit sick of it! I might be making some more for this weekend myself!

You can click here Whole Foods Recipe for the original recipe I found. I didn't change any ingredients but just made bigger portions for each layer. Don't worry. You can't really mess this up!

Stay tuned.........I also made some slightly cleaned up molasses cookies that turned out quite incredible if I do say so myself. They would also be a welcome addition to any New Year's Eve party you might be attending.

Dinner is in the crock pot and Cars 2 is on the agenda for tonight's Christmas Break Movie Marathon! Enjoy your evening!