(no subject)

[johnpalmer]

So...

I'm sure some of you are curious as to how the next batch of hummus went, after the discussion of the last batch.

Well, it was horrid, so I didn't eat any of it. See, at some point in time, I decided that chick peas should be skinned.

Let's just say that there are several *bad* methods for getting the chickpea innards without the skin. Trying to push them through a strainer is simply too much work... maybe it gets easier if I boil them longer, so they're *really* soft by the time I do so, but I don't think it'll be worth it.

The idea that I could crush them and boil them and remove skins from the top was also a magnificent flop, and I soon ended up with a large quantity of boiled, soggy garbanzo mess. ("Garbanzo" just sounds so messy in that context, I had to switch from "chickpea".)

Okay... so I started soaking some more. This time I did the only thing that made sense (given that I *wanted* those bloody things skinned)... I boiled them for over an hour (maybe as long as two), and then let them cool, and grabbed and 'squirted' the beans out of their skin. (For those of you who don't know chickpeas, they come in a membrane that's relatively tough. It's not like, say, a kidney bean or a pinto bean, where the skin and the innards seem more like part of the bean.)

Now, I don't know that this improved the hummus any... I do notice that it's nice and smooth, but I think the first batch was, too. Frankly, I think I ended up spending half an hour skinning chickpeas for no good reason.

If a ricer is *really* cheap, I might consider buying one, just to try it out. (A ricer is kind of like a giant garlic press; it's traditionally used to 'rice' potatoes, I believe.) Otherwise, I think I'll find the skins to be a perfectly ignorable part of hummus from now on.

I also answered one burning question on my mind, thankfully without burning anything... yes, you can boil hummus if you've got too much liquid in it. A low temperature, and a good lid that nevertheless has a steam vent does nicely for thickening things up.

This time out, I also included some fresh cilantro. It was ... interesting. It wasn't bad, but it didn't make my hummus more hummus-y. It deserves another try, for sure.

I've also been munching on falafel, with tomato and with cucumber/yogurt dressing. Cilantro makes an interesting addition to that, as does mint. Next time, however, I'm not going to put the cucumber in my mini-chopper. I like chunky style cucumber, not cucumber pulp. (Sooner or later, I intend to add more than cucumber, yogurt, and a single seasoning to my dressing, but for right now, it's working out nicely.)

I'm definitely glad I found the bulk food stores in my area that have the instant falafel... I don't think I'd have the patience to make it myself.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Next time I see you, love, remind me to lend you my ricer for a test drive. It's a sturdy, perfectly functional 1940s vintage model, and we never use it because we prefer our potatoes hand-whomped. Heck, we can even try it out down here - your Hummus Saga has had me really craving some home-made hummus.

For a yummy variant on the cucumber dressing theme, try adding a good deal of minced garlic and a glug of olive oil. Voila - instant tzatziki, the yummy Greek variant on the yogurt-cucumber thing.

Ricers

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Instead of a ricer, you might consider a Foley (TM) Food Mill. As I recall, they're about twenty bucks new, and they turn out not to be everyone's favorite kitchen gadget (having been largely superseded by the food processor), so they often turn up at yard sales, flea markets, and thrift shops.

I use mine in the summer a lot, when I'm trying to reduce the volume of huge masses of fresh tomatoes. Although if the community garden is sold I may not be doing that any longer.

[bleppo.livejournal.com]

Hi. Arrived here via the foodporn community, and enjoyed perusing your journal... Mind if I add you to my friends list?

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Sure, no problem... but be warned, I sometimes speak about very weird things... the food stuff has come about due to unemployment and experimentation with cheap foods.

Re:

[bleppo.livejournal.com]

Very weird things are my favorite things... And I am unemployed at the moment as well, so I understand....

[thette.livejournal.com]

You know what makes a wonderful youghurt dressing?

Youghurt, cucumber, a little salt and pepper, mint and garlic. If it's not used as "chilling" for spicy dishes, a tad chili pepper, curry or garam masala is delicious.

One can also use a mixer and make soup out of it.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the ideas; I think I'll try them. I actually did make a 'soup' dressing when I tried to use my mini chopper to do the fine chopping on cucumber... it worked out okay, but Pat (kightp) usually chops the cucumber, then squeezes it in a towel to dry it up some, which seems like a good idea to me... of course, if I wanted super-fine cucumber, I could drop the dried cucumber into the dressing.

I'm thinking I might try adding some grains to falafel... corn meal, or wheat kernels (49 cents a pound!) after toasting them. It'd be neat to have a meat replacement that's as tasty in its own way (and as filling) as meat.


(Note: this comment was added, deleted to fix the lj-specific link, then re-added.)