Sunday Lunch

One of my favorite chefs from culinary school was Lebanese.  He taught us (fittingly) international cuisine.  He was a great chef and a good teacher.  He was a tall man when he stood straight, but he walked around the kitchen in a constant stoop.  I’m guessing he kept banging his head on the fixtures so he adapted with a slight bow at the hips.

The day we cooked middle eastern food was his time to shine.  He strutted around the kitchen with a smile on his face as we sweated our way through falafel, fattoush, tabbouleh, hummus, lentils and lamb.  I knew it was going to be a tough day for his tasting.  Maybe I should explain that further.   On a given day, our group of three would produce 4 to five dishes.   We would then present our dishes to the chef before the deadline.  If the chef had time, he would taste our dishes while we stood there and would then assign us a number grade for the day.  So of course on this day he was going to have time to taste as we stood there and of course he was going to be ridiculously hard on us because this is HIS food.

The lamb was cooked well, but needed more seasoning.  The Falafel was a little greasy, it should have been cooked at a higher temperature.  The tabbouleh was good, but needed more parsley.  The lentils were overcooked but seasoned well.  Finally he got around to the hummus.  I was sure we hit a home run on the hummus, I had tasted it, it was excellent hummus, a perfect balance of the lemon juice and olive oil, just enough salt.  He took a spoonful and rolled it around in his mouth then promptly spit it in the trashcan.  He said, in his broken English “you know why I spit this in the trash?”.  No answer.  “I spit in the trash because that where it belong.”  “Hummus (he pronounced it ccchhhhhu-mose) is chickpea, this is not chickpea, this is trash.”

I know he was trying to teach us a lesson about authenticity, but I thought we had made some pretty good hummus.  Anyway, here’s a hummus recipe, its good hummus, definitely not trash.

What you need:

1 can Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)-You’ll find them with the other canned beans.

Chickpea, Garbanzo, Whatever.

1 Tablespoon Tahini-If you don’t have, or can’t find tahini, just leave it out of the recipe.  The tahini adds a nice roasted nutty flavor to the hummus.

Tahini is Sesame Seed Paste

1 1/2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or paprika

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin (Optional)

1/4 cup Chimichurri (Optional)

Simply put everything in a food processor and blend until desired consistency.  I have tried making it in a blender before and it can be done, just stir it frequently.   I flavored it this time with the chimichurri I had made recently, really you can use your imagination here, its very versatile.  I Love chipotle hummus, cilantro hummus is fantastic, but feel free to keep it plain because after all, hummus is chickpea.

Blend it.

I experimented with doing it in Beth’s veggie chopper and while it didn’t get it as smooth as a food processor, its still pretty good.

Serve with warm pita bread, corn chips, or use it as a spread to liven up your sandwich.