Zahav's Hummus adapted from Michael Solomonov

M

marilynfl

Moderator
Two decades ago I was walking down the main street in Princeton, NJ and noticed a waitress at a local Chinese restaurant sitting at an outside table with a mound of snow peas and bean (mung) sprouts in front of her. She was carefully stripping off the seam and tips of each snow pea and setting it aside. For the mound of bean sprouts, she was breaking off the tail end and leaving a single stem of pure white sprout.

My first thought was “Why all that extra work?” But that was immediately replaced by my second thought which was “wow…we love their food. Maybe this is one reason why?”

So…this recipe involves two extra steps…one quick and one not-so-quick. Both the addition of baking soda to the soaking water and removing the outer skin afterward supposedly helps in the tenderness of the final result. I can’t say for sure, but this is the best hummus I’ve ever made so I’ll be doing these two extra steps from now on.

And while I say "adapted" I pretty much changed everything. I used less baking soda, less olive oil, less tahini and Michael doesn't mention the lemon zest or de-skinning the chickpeas. I picked that hint up here...probably from Traca. So I've linked the Food & Wine recipe so you can try the source as comparison.

Zahav's Hummus

adapted from Michael Solomonov version in Food & Wine

1/2 pound dried chickpeas

1 tsp baking soda

4 large garlic cloves, roasted

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup reserved cooking water

2 large slices of lemon zest

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

In a large bowl, cover dried chickpeas with 2 inches of water and stir in baking soda. Let sit overnight to soften.

Next day, drain, rinse, then add chickpeas to a large pot and cover with at least 2 inches of water. Gently simmer for 60-75 minutes.

While chickpeas are cooking, take garlic cloves (with skins still on), set on a piece of foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil. PUll up sides to make a small enclosed bundle. Roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (I used the toaster oven for this step.)

In a small saucepan, lightly simmer the oil with the cumin and the lemon zest for 3 minutes. Discard lemon zest.

When chickpeas are done, drain but RESERVE 1/4 C of liquid. Pour drained chickpeas onto a large cookie sheet, sit down and get comfortable. Take each chickpea and gently pull off the skin and discard. This simple task will take you the same amount of time it takes for the garlic to roast. Consider this Zen moment (actually 45 minutes) as a time-out for your psyche to contemplate Inner Beauty while mentally compiling drugstore coupons for your Outer Beauty.

I have no idea how much weight you end up losing in “chickpea skin” but I'm so happy with these results that I’ll do this extra step forever until someone proves me wrong.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/Marilyns%20Minutia/001-1.jpg

In a Vitamix or food processor, add the reserved water, cumin & oil, tahini, peeled roasted garlic, fresh lemon juice and chickpeas. Whirl until perfectly smooth. Add salt and adjust if necessary.

Fills two 8-oz tubs and one 2 oz container.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/israeli-hummus-with-paprika-and-whole-chickpeas-cocktails-2009

 
I guess I way over-cooked my chickpeas because they came out mushy and there was no way...

I was going to get the skins off! Mine certainly did not look like the ones on your sheet pan. I must try again.

 
It makes such a huge difference, eh? One thing, when I was discussing

hummus earlier this year, I had several people weigh in on a discussion about the baking soda. According to Crescent Dragonwagon (Bean by Bean author, James Beard Award winner) and Steve Sando (owner of Rancho Gordo beans), baking soda is "nasty stuff" and they discouraged using it.

Cook's Illustrated and chef/author Greg Atkinson uses Kosher salt instead. (Ever taste straight baking soda? It's super salty. Makes sense why this works instead.)

Why salt/baking soda works? It's like brining--it permeates the skin and tenderizes the bean.

Skinning the chickpeas takes it to a whole other level! Such a creamy result.

 
Okay...it's 5 hours later and the hummus is now cold. It's still tasty, but has

firmed up considerably. I had tasted it warm and it was creamy and thinner. I'm not sure how I'll thin it out but it still tastes wonderful.

 
Did you happen to save more of the cooking liquid? I always do that when making hummus

for that reason, though I have never peeled the beans. Now I'm afraid to try--with your endorsement I might like it and then I'll have to do it from now on.

Veggie stock would work too, or just a dribble of water.

 
When you chill it, the fats solidify. If you plan on eating it chilled, add a little

boiling water to get it to the consistency you desire. Remember you may need to bump up the flavors a bit too. (Just like ice cream base tastes too sweet before you freeze it, temperature impacts the flavors.)

 
Ok, I'm finally a convert to de-skinning chickpeas. I used to think it was overkill,

but stumbled across a suggestion last week that rubbing together handfuls of chickpeas in cold water would remove the skins. (You still have to separate the skins, but you can do this pretty easily by tipping them out with the water, rinsing, and repeating.)

Here's what I have to admit: it's worth the 10 minutes it adds to a 10-minute process. It makes a HUGE difference to the texture--removing the skins gives you a much more velvety, cohesive hummus. It doesn't taste slippery; the flavor is somehow smoother.

Thank you. I have SEEN the LIGHT. (Amen.) smileys/wink.gif

 
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