Meze, Part 2: Hummus

Continuing with the mezédhes, what meze table is complete without HUMMUS?!
It's fucking delicious, it's super-easy to make, it's dirt-cheap and it'll score you some major lady-wooing points to actually fake some culture. Hummus is also nothing like the shit you'll find in tubs at Costco, and it's so good, I'd practically put on candy bars too:

Good hummus starts with good produce, so skip the canned shit and go straight for the dried chickpeas sold in bulk. Get yourself 2 lbs, rinse them and soak them overnight in enough water to cover them by 3 inches. Add a heaping tablespoon of baking soda to the soaking water. This will eliminate the funky smells that tend to come out during the soaking.

The next morning, the chickpeas will have almost doubled in size. Drain them, rinse them, bring them to a boil, then simmer them for 2 hours. The baking soda will harden their peels a little, so they may take longer so cook than you'd think, but the flavor is completely worth it.

Once they are fork tender, take 3 cups and put them un the food processor. Save the rest for next week's salad post, (or add them to your chicken soup or something) and add about 1/2 a cup of good olive oil to the processor. Yes, I know it's a blender. No, I don't own a food processor.

See that buttery goodness WITHOUT butter? That's what you're striving for

Now, start blending (or processing, whatever), adding a little more oil and some water until you reach the consistency of smooth peanut butter. This is your base.

At its most elemental, hummus is just chickpeas and some spices. So we're going purist here. I'm just adding a little garlic, very little cumin, salt, pepper and paprika. And THAT'S IT. No need to go overboard here, this will be the next addition to your comfort food nirvana list.

Printer-Friendly Version:
3 cups boiled chickpeas (method shown above)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
Salt, pepper, very little cumin and a lot of paprika

1. put everything in a food processor until in resembles peanut butter
2. Awesomeness