Recipes from the Collection of Mark and Danielle Hughes
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HummusMade of garbanzos (also called chickpeas), the sesame seed butter known as tahini and lemon juice, hummus is low-fat, high-fiber and high in protein. Classic hummus recipe 1
cup dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Drain garbanzos and rinse well. Cover again with 4 cups cold water. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook, skimming the foam and stirring occasionally, 45 minutes. Spoon out a few garbanzos and cut in half. If the center of the bean reveals a hard, white node of starch, continue cooking 15 to 30 minutes more. Cooked garbanzos should be uniformly yellow inside. Drain garbanzos, retaining the cooking water. Let beans and water cool to room temperature, then refrigerate both until well chilled, about 2 hours. Place garbanzos in food processor. Add salt and lemon juice. Process until smooth and light in color. The puree should be thick, but not so thick it rides up the processor blade. To thin the puree, add cooking water 1 tablespoon at a time until the puree moves freely. Transfer the puree to a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. With a rubber spatula, force the puree through the sieve. The skins of the garbanzos will be left behind in the sieve. Discard skins. Rinse and dry the food processor bowl and blade. Return the pureed garbanzos to the processor bowl. With the blade running, add garlic and tahini. Scrape down sides once or twice, and adjust salt and lemon to taste. When the mixture is smooth, and again with blade running, drizzle olive oil and process very well. If mixture is too thick, add cooking water 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Serve drizzled with olive oil. Tips for turning good hummus into great hummus By Michele Kayal, Associated Press (SJMN 03/14/07) Creating the perfect hummus should be easy. After all, it's just a simple puree of garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic and lemon juice. But it's the subtle tweaks that can make the popular spread go from good to great. Here's the breakdown: THE BEANS: Connoisseurs insist on home-cooked dried garbanzo beans for their nutty flavor and complex texture. Experts generally favor domestic garbanzos that are not too small or gnarly. Buy from a shop with high turnover. Hummus pros admit to using canned beans now and again. In the recipe at left, two 15-ounce cans can be substituted for the dried garbanzos (skip the cooking and begin with the initial puree). Be sure to rinse beans well to remove added salt. Also reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon, adjusting at the end as needed. THE COOKING: Before cooking, dried garbanzos are soaked in cold water overnight. Adding baking soda to the soaking and cooking water can reduce the cooking time and produce a better hummus. Baking soda creates an alkaline environment that allows water to penetrate the beans more easily, said Barry Swanson, a professor of food science at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. "The carbonate does some nice things to the proteins," he said. "They absorb more water. It gives it a more creamy texture because there's more water staying with the proteins." To check whether garbanzo beans are fully cooked (it takes 45 minutes to one hour), cut one in half. When the inside is a uniform yellow and free of hard, white starchy bits, mission accomplished. THE PUREE: Some cooks puree garbanzos while still warm, but many pros chill their beans first. Science backs them up. Making hummus is a bit like whipping heavy cream - the colder the better. The starch crystals in the garbanzos break down more easily when warm. So pureeing warm beans often results in pasty hummus. THE TEXTURE: Grocery-store hummus ranges from chunky and almost chewable to light and smooth. Connoisseurs strive for a texture in between - a smooth but hefty paste free of bits and bumps. That means getting rid of the tough outer skin on the beans. A fast method is to puree the garbanzos with skins on, then force the mash through a fine-mesh sieve. The puree will ooze through the mesh, but the skins will stay behind. Whipping olive oil into the resulting puree lightens the hummus. Mashing the garlic also helps produce a smoother result. THE LEMON, GARLIC, TAHINI AND SALT: The balance of lemon juice, garlic, tahini and salt depends on individual taste. Tahini is available raw and roasted. Traditional recipes call for raw. Roasted tahini has a deeper, smoother flavor. VARIATIONS: Our recipe produces a smooth, mellow hummus. Once the basics are mastered, it's easy to experiment. Many traditionalists won't eat hummus without mixing in a half-teaspoon each of cumin and ground coriander. Less traditional cooks swirl in a tablespoon of pesto or chopped sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Others substitute cashew butter or another nut butter for the tahini. Finely chopped parsley and extra-virgin olive oil are common garnishes. Toasted pine nuts are popular, as are crunchy garbanzo beans doused in olive oil. Some people sprinkle paprika over their hummus; cumin is more authentic. But substituting edamame, black beans or other ingredients for garbanzos can raise eyebrows. "Hummus is Arabic for chickpea," said Theodore Roe, an instructor of Mediterranean cuisines at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. "Having tofu hummus is not hummus." |