Hummus...

So after making all that tzatziki and pita the other day, all I wanted was a big batch of hummus. I love hummus and thanks to one of my favorite chefs, ok really he is my favorite, I have an awesome recipe that I have used time after time with amazing success. Alton Brown you are awesome! He even has a video you can watch. I will include his recipe below, you can probably find the video on any of those fancy internet video sites or try you library, mine has some of his videos and yours may, too.

This is a slow cooker recipe. Usually I put the garbanzo beans on to cook overnight and then make the hummus in the morning to serve for lunch. However, this day I cooked the beans in the morning and we had hummus by dinner. Normally I cook the beans on low for 8 hours, this time I did high for 5 hours and they came out great.

Just put the beans in the cooker, add the required 7 cups of water and 1/4 tsp baking soda. That's it. Then literally set it, walk away and forget about it. 

 After about 4 hours this is what they looked like. I let them cool a bit, then I drained them and set them aside to cool further.

 Next I got all the other ingredients ready...garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, tahini (sesame paste, it usually is found in the international section of the grocery store, one jar is pretty cheap and should last quite some time). I didn't have enough lemon juice so I added the zest, too, to add a little more lemon flavor. I like it with extra lemon though. I feel most things are great with a little extra lemon. You can thank my little sister for this.

 I make the hummus in my food processor. It gets really full but it comes out great. First put in the garlic, salt, and then all the beans. Pulse and scrape down as needed. Then add the lemon juice and water. Puree a bit more, then add the tahini. It takes a little stirring to get it to puree all of it. The picture below is before I slowly stream in the olive oil.

 Then slowly stream in the olive oil. After it's incorporated. Open up the food processor and taste the hummus. You may need some extra lemon  or salt. Add the required seasoning, then give a couple more spins and move to a serving dish.

 Then sprinkle the top with a little ground sumac. I don't know where to buy this. I got mine from a mail order recipe of the month club I used to be a part of before I quit my job. I can't afford awesome stuff like that on one income. You should check it out though, they pair recipes with music and you get a 7" record and a gourmet ingredient that goes with the recipe every month, too. It is an amazing concept.
http://www.turntablekitchen.com/

 I, of course, had to make another round of fresh pita.

 It was so good! Now if only I could get munchkin to eat hummus, all would be well in my world. He does love the pita though.

Hummus
Slow Cooker Chickpeas:
7 cups water
1 pound dry chickpeas, sorted and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Place the water, chickpeas, and baking soda in a 2 1/2-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 4 hours, or on low heat for 8 to 9 hours, or until tender. Drain and serve immediately, or use in desired dish.

1 pound Slow Cooker Chickpeas, cooled
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 c water
1/3 c tahini, stirred well
1/4 c olive oil, plus extra for serving
Powdered sumac, for garnish

Place the chickpeas, garlic, and kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 15 to 20 seconds. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and process for another 15 to 20 seconds. Add the lemon juice and water. Process for 20 seconds. Add the tahini. Process for 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil.

Alton Brown's original recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hummus-for-real-recipe.html

Pita-makes 8

1 cup hot water
2 tsp yeast
2 1/2-3 cup bread flour
2 tsp kosher salt
t tbsp olive oil plus more for bowl

Add water and yeast to bowl of stand mixer and stir together. Let sit five minutes until yeast is dissolved. Add salt, olive oil and about 2 cups of flour to bowl with bread hook attachment. Mix on low until incorporated, then slowly add remaining cup to dough until it makes a nice balls and no longer sticks to bowl. (you may not need it all) Increase speed to medium (4 on my mixer) and "knead" for 6-8 minutes.  Remove dough to a clean bowl that is lightly coated with olive oil and set aside, covered with a damp towel for an hour and a half or until doubled in size.

When dough has doubled divide it into 9 equal balls. Rolls out balls into flat round discs using a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until hot. Lightly oil pan with olive oil and cook one pita at a time, about 2-3 minutes per side. When bubbles start to form on the uncooked side, it is time to flip. Put fully cooked pita on a plate covered with a dry, clean kitchen towel to keep warm until all the remaining pita are cooked.