Crazy about Hummus...

At my last BLTN (Better Late than Never) I was given the task of organizing our dinner menu. Our group has had a number of tried and true menus over the past 3, almost 4 decades of getting together and in an effort to please most, I edited our selections, increased our vegetables and leaned on our friend, Michael, for his Greek influenced recipes. The dishes I keep going back to now a week afterwards, though, is the grilled zucchini with za’atar and Michael’s Ottolenghi’s hummus. And not only me - John, Les and I have been passing photos around of our latest creations. When a meal keeps reverberating with me, I felt I had to share. I’ve served them on a bed of arugula and added in my garden’s bounties. Little yellow cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and it’s a meal! I’ve copied the recipes from the Guardian and have adjusted the weights / amounts for us Americans. I still don’t understand what baking soda does to chickpeas to make this hummus the best I’ve ever had but I’m not questioning it. Here’s the Hummus recipe. I’ll post Flo’s Za’atar later.

Enjoy!

Basic cooked chickpeas

Ottolenghi suggests making enough cooked chickpeas so you can have them at the ready in the freezer. I’m giving you the option of just making one as well .

He says, ” I like the idea of having two contrasting hummus dishes in one meal, but not everyone will share that sentiment. Luckily, cooked chickpeas freeze very well; just defrost them and bring back up to room temperature before using. I say to cook the chickpeas for 45 minutes, but it can take substantially longer, depending on variety and freshness, so cook them until they’re completely soft.”

Soak Overnight
Prep 5 min
Cook 45 min
Makes 600g (21.2 ounces or about 1 pound, 5 ounces - this makes about a pint and 1/2 cup cooked) If you want to make just hummus cut the portions in half but his hummus is so good I don’t think you’ll want to.
250g dried chickpeas (a little over 8 ounces or 1 cup of chickpeas)
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Salt (use Kosher)

Start the day ahead by soaking the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water and a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Drain and refresh, then put in a large pot with 1.8 litres (about 8 cups) of water and half a teaspoon more of bicarb. Bring to a boil on a medium-high heat, lower the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes. Add a teaspoon of salt and cook for 15 minutes more, until the chickpeas are very soft when squashed between your fingers, but still hold their shape, then drain.

Hummus with cinnamon, lemon and ginger

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s hummus with cinnamon, lemon and ginger from The Guardian

Prep 5 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 4 as a meze

For the hummus
300g freshly cooked chickpeas (see previous recipe) - this is about a cup and a quarter of cooked chickpeas
3cm (1.2 inches - personally I like a lot of ginger and use closer to 2 inches) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small garlic clove
2 lemons – shave off five thin strips of peel, then juice, to get 3 tbsp
Flaked sea salt (I used Kosher salt)

For the fried aromatics
60ml olive oil (1/4 cup)
1 red chili, deseeded and finely sliced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
2cm piece fresh ginger ( little less than an inch), peeled and julienned
1 cinnamon stick, lightly crushed (I use my mortar & pestle)
5g (4 grams are equal to a teaspoon so use your taste buds to round it up or down) coriander stalks, cut into 4cm lengths, plus 2 tbsp picked leaves - NOTE - this caused a lot of confusion! Michael (who grew up in the UK and other parts of the world) cleared this up. This really is the equivalent of fresh cilantro. I am not a fan of cilantro and misunderstood this the first go round so I used ground coriander in the oil. It was still great but if you like cilantro give it a try!).

Put the first four ingredients for the hummus in the small bowl of a food processor with the lemon peel, two tablespoons of lemon juice, half a teaspoon of flaked salt and a tablespoon of water. Blitz for about two minutes, until you have a smooth paste (you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times).

For the fried aromatics, heat the oil in a medium pan on a medium heat, then gently fry the chilli, garlic, ginger and cinnamon for five minutes, stirring every once in a while, until the garlic is just starting to brown. Add the coriander (cilantro) stalks and fry for a minute or two more, until the garlic is a light golden brown and the chilli aromatic. Transfer the solids to a plate with a slotted spoon (reserve the oil) and sprinkle generously with flaked salt.

Spoon the hummus on to a large plate, creating a large well in the centre with the back of a spoon. Spoon the oil into the well and drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice. Top with the fried aromatics and fresh coriander, and serve.

John’s hummus