Hummus from Scratch

I have a ton of dried beans that I am learning to use... and with the ease of making homemade hummus on the fly and being able to season and flavor it on a whim, I developed this basic recipe.  The recipe is a "quick" boil rather than overnight prep or crockpot overnight.  You could also add the spices and cook the chick peas over night on low.

The volume of beans that I've used here produces an amount of hummus similar to what you get in a grocery store container.  Flavoring the beans during the cooking process is fabulous as you can eat them plain, add them to salad, rice or quinoa, dry roast them for a snack... and of course, grind them to a paste to make hummus.

CHICK PEA BOIL INGREDIENTS:
½ cup dried chickpeas

water

... later more water

2 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon black pepper (I use telicherry pepper from a specialty store, but any will do)

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

⅛ teaspoon ground sumac

small pinch of cinnamon (maybe 1/16 teaspoon)

pinch of salt (start with ½ teaspoon)

optional: ½ t baking soda to further soften the beans (it will effect the taste, but in a fine way)

HUMMUS INGREDIENTS
the cooked beans (about 2 cups)

reserved seasoned water from your chickpea boil

juice  and zest of 1 lemon; maybe 2

½ cup of tahini

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (go to a restaurant supply store and buy it in a large container, for making dressings, sauces, etc.)

2 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons cumin (paprika and za'tar are also great)

salt, ground pepper if needed

OPTIONAL GARNISHES
extra virgin olive oil

kalamata or similar olives

parsley

EQUIPMENT NEEDED
colander
4qt or larger pot
chef's knife
zester (a microplane is a great tool to have)
cutting board
measuring spoons/cups
large bowl
ladle
stick blender, blender or food processor

INSTRUCTIONS
Rinse the chickpeas well in a standard colander, making sure to remove any debris.  Put the chickpeas in a 4 qt saucepan and cover with 3" of water.  On an appropriate sized burner, bring contents of the pot to a rolling boil.  Turn off the heat and let the chickpeas sit in the pot for an hour.  They will double in size.

Drain and rinse the cooled chick peas in the colander.

Cover with water 4-5" above the beans.  They will double in size again during this cooking phase. Add all of the ingredients listed under "Chickpea Boil Ingredients" aside from the salt (you will add this in the last 15 minutes of cooking).

Bring the contents to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Be sure to check the pot to ensure you haven't boiled all of the water off.  You can certainly add water, need be.  At this point, add your salt.  Boil for another 15-30 minutes to desired tenderness.

For softer beans, you can add ½ teaspoon of baking soda and/or leave the lid partially covering the pot during the boil.  Experiment with that to see what you prefer.

Turn off the heat on your pot. Put the colander in the large bowl and drain your beans, keeping the boiling liquid in reserve.  Remove the bay leaves from your beans.  Either transfer the beans to a blender or food processor or a bowl in which you can grind them with a stick blender.

Add the zest and juice of one lemon, fresh garlic, cumin, olive oil and tahini.  Blend until it starts to get smooth.  Taste the paste.  Add some more lemon juice or even a bit of tahini if you want the flavor to change.  Blend. If the hummus is too thick, little by little add some of your reserved liquid until you are satisfied with the thickness.  If you forget to reserve liquid, water will do.  Keep blending.  When it is your desired thickness, taste and add a little salt or pepper if you want to.  Blend again.

Serve in a beautiful bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of fresh parsley.  I love adding olives, too!  Serve with pita, sliced veggies or even feta cheese!

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A note on tahini:  It keeps quite well in the refrigerator.  Two things I love doing with it:

Make a vegan dressing: tahini, lime juice and zest, rice wine vinegar, mirin (optional), sea salt, freshly ground black pepper.  I use this to make a vegan cole slaw... here is my recipe: Vegan Cole Slaw

Make a sandwich: baked tofu on a toasted crusty whole-grain bread, thinly sliced cucumber, mung bean sprouts. Mix equal parts of tahini and peanut butter.  Thin with a little rice wine vinegar and add a drop or two of liquid smoke.  Spread some on the bread and enjoy!!

Corn and Edamame Salsa

This salsa is great with any Mexican style food (I make it in the winter when fresh corn on the cob isn't available).  Leftovers are terrific mixed into scrambled eggs the next day.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 cup frozen edamame beans
1/4 cup onion, diced to 1/8 inch pieces
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced to 1/8 pieces
1/4 cup cabbage, diced to 1/8 pieces
1 jalepeno pepper, finely minced
1 1/2 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder (NOT garlic salt; and not fresh garlic either if you are going to cook it by the method below)
1/2 t dried thyme
zest from 1 lemon
..--..--..--..--..--..--..--
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
..--..--..--..--..--..--..--
juice from 1/2 lemon

RECIPE
Put the frozen veggies in a bowl.  Add the remaining vegetables and lemon zest.  Mix thoroughly.  Coat lightly with olive oil and mix.  Add the spices crunching the time into the veggies, freshly ground pepper and a tiny pinch of salt if you like.  Mix thoroughly, set aside until all of the beans and corn is thawed, allowing the flavors to meld together. A half hour should do.  Longer, even overnight, will not hurt the dish.

Bring a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil to temperature over medium-high heat.  Add the salsa and cook, stirring nearly constantly until the edges of the vegetables begin to brown.  Deglaze with freshly squeezed lemon juice.   Remove from pan as soon as the lemon juice is reduced to avoid burning.

Serve warm or at room temperature.  It's great along side fish tacos, as a filling for quesadillas, or even chilled as a dip with chips.

Fried Wontons & Dipping Sauce

Once you break into that package of wontons to make soup, it's always a temptation to make fried wontons for little afternoon snack.  I stuffed these with leftover crab dip from The Fish Guys at Columbus' North Market ... they just melt in your mouth.  Oh, so easy and oh, so good.

WHAT YOU NEED
10-12 wonton wrappers
1/2 - 3/4 cup stuffing (I used crab dip)
~ 4 cups safflower or canola oil
small diameter saucepan, 5-6 inches tall
long insulated tongs
jelly, jam or preserves (whatever you have on hand)
dijon mustard
rice wine or cider vinegar
pinch of salt

MAKING THE WONTONS
[note: if you aren't comfortable working with very hot oil, ask someone to help you.  This oil will be about 350 degrees which can burn badly]

Fill a small diameter high edged saucepan no more than halfway from the top with your oil.  You want enough so that the wontons can float freely as they cook.  Heat over medium high until a drop of water dances on the surface of the oil.  While the oil is heating, stuff your wontons as follows.  This amount of oil can certainly make more wontons than the recipe calls for.

Lay a wonton wrapper flat on the cutting board.  Imagine the wrapper in two triangles divided along the diagonal -- you will fold the filled wonton along that diagonal line.  Moisten the edges of the wrapper using your fingers or a pastry brush.  Put about a teaspoon of the filling in the upper right corner, about 1/2 inch from the edge.  Fold over and press firmly to seal the wrapper.  Bring the long corners together and pinch together to seal.  Set aside on a plate and repeat until you have made as many as you like.

Once the oil is hot, carefully place 3-4 wontons in your pot, using your tongs.   They should immediately bubble up and begin cooking.  Watch carefully to make sure that the oil is hot enough that the wontons are cooking well and not burning.  You may need to adjust the heat.  The trick is not to add so many wontons that you cool the oil, don't crowd them.  While the first batch is cooking, line a plate or baking sheet with paper towels.  Once the wontons rise to the top of the oil and are slightly browned, remove them from the oil one at a time using your tongs and set them on the paper towel.  Continue cooking the wontons 3-4 at a time until the batch is finished.  It is fine to stack them -- just be sure to add a couple of paper towels between each layer.   Set aside to cool and drain.

THE DIPPING SAUCE
Start with 1 tablespoon each of jam, dijon mustard and rice wine vinegar.  Add a few grains of course sea salt (or a tiny bit of fine sea salt).  Adjust the components to suit your tastes.

Serve and enjoy!

Goat Cheese Dressing

This recipe was developed in my kitchen by a dear friend.  It's amazing what a little inspiration and good wine can do for you...

3 tbs Goat cheese

2 tbs Plain yogurt

1 tsp Honey

2 tbs Olive oil

3 tbs Rice vinegar

1tsp fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemons, if available)

2 tbs Chopped scallion

freshly ground pepper

Whisk ingredients together until smooth & serve

Holiday Cocktail Sauce

While picking up fresh oysters at the seafood counter, my partner asked, "Would you hand me a jar of cocktail sauce?"   I responded, "I can make that.  I have the ingredients."  "Do you have horseradish?"  "Of course," I told him.

INGREDIENTS
juice from half lemon
1T horseradish
1/2-2/3 cup crushed tomatoes
2T tomato paste
1T vodka
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce (or pickapepper for vegetarians)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
sprinkle of grey salt

RECIPE

Squeeze 1/2 lemon into a bowl.  Add 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes (I like to use fire roasted, but any will do).  Add the remaining ingredients aside from the salt.  Check for desired thickness.  You may wish to add more crushed tomato until you the cocktail sauce is the thickness you prefer.  Sprinkle a touch grey salt (or any course salt you have on hand) over the top, right before serving. Those who are lucky enough to get a crunch with their bite will be delighted.

Serve with crudite, fresh oysters, grilled shrimp, calamari, smelts, hard boiled eggs, or with a savory omelet.  You can also use this as a base for a wonderful Bloody (or Virgin) Mary.

Avocado Dipping Sauce for Steamed Artichoke

For those of you who love steamed artichoke, this is a great alternative to the standard hollandaise sauce, butter and garlic, or a simple vinaigrette...

1/2 ripe avocado
juice and zest from one lemon
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 rounded teaspoon dijon mustard
pinch of salt
black pepper for taste

Bring a few inches of water to a rolling boil in large saucepan or stockpot. Trim two artichokes; slice in half lengthwise. Place the artichoke halves in about an inch or two of boiling water and add the juice from 1/2 lemon to the water to help the artichokes maintain good color. Don't worry about straining the seeds; you can do that when the artichoke is cooked. Steam covered until leaves are easily removed from the artichoke (about 20 minutes). Watch the water to make sure it doesn't boil dry and burn the artichokes. Strain and set aside to cool.

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In a bowl, mash the flesh of 1/2 an avocado. Add the lemon and olive oil and continue mashing. Add the remainder of ingredients and taste. If the mixture is too tart, add a bit more oil; if it's too oily, add a bit more vinegar or dijon mustard depending on the desired thickness or your personal taste.

Let the artichoke cool so that it is easy to handle, and enjoy!

[olive bar] Tapenade

Here's a neat recipe to bring you to the olive bar at your favorite grocer. It is high in salt and omega-3 fatty acids, so be mindful of how much you eat.

Choose a pint of olives from the olive bar of your choice. I like to get mostly the darker olives to a 3:1 ration with green olives. You might also like to get a half-pint or so of roasted red pepper, marinated mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, etc...whatever you like.

Olive oil, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, maybe a small minced shallot...

Mince the olives (garlic, shallot and the other marinated veggies) and place in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoons of olive oil and 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Heat gently over a low flame until the mixture is heated through. If needed, add water to bring to reasonable thickness.

This is absolutely wonderful as a dressing for whole wheat linguine lightly tossed with lemon and olive oil. For a vegetarian option consider adding cannoli beans and artichoke heart. For a meat choice, I love adding seared fresh tuna that is thinly sliced.

My favorite Cleveland crepe shop would make a spinach, tomato and brie crepe topped with a similar tapenade accompanied by a mixed baby green salad. Be sure to chiffonade the spinach for this (and in my opinion) and cooked spinach dish.