Felice wrote on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:31:21 -0500:


> "Nathalie Chiva" <Nathaliedotchivaatgmail.remove.com> wrote in
> message ...
>> On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:57:21 -0500, "Felice" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Here's my first attempt. It seemed basic, and I guess it is,
>>> so it turned tasty but a bit in the bland side.
>>>
>>> 2 cups chickpeas (dried and cooked until soft)
>>> 1/2 cup well-stirred Al Wahdi tahini, from Lebanon
>>> 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
>>> 2 good-sized garlic cloves
>>> juice of 1 lemon
>>> a bunch of salt and some white pepper
>>>
>>> I added quite a but of olive oil to keep it moving in the
>>> processor (it wouldn't budge in the blender, and was THAT a nasty
>>> job scraping it out and transferring it). I've seen a number of
>>> other suggestions -- lemon zest, chili powder,
>>> cumin, paprika -- but decided to go basic the first
>>> time around. Middle Eastern is not my forte.
>>>
>>> So can anyone help me jazz it up a bit?
>>>
>>> Felice
>>>
>> More garlic. And I don't use the tahini. If you want more
>> liquid without adding too much olive oil, just use water-
>> works a charm.
>>
>> Nathalie in Switzerland

> Thanks, Natalie. Someone else had also suggested using water
> as the added liquid. I'm almost ashamed to say I thought water
> was too obvious and that there must be a more exotic
> ingredient!

Just to go back slightly, I always use cumin, chicken stock if the
hummus is too dry and I never add tahini. The sesame taste can be gotten
from 2-3 drops of toasted sesame oil.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not