Hummus Bi Tahini

A recipe of mine from 18 November 2004, Debi

I'm working from home today and I think I'll have Hummus Bi' Tahini made at home.

I'm doing a substitution -- limes instead of lemons since I have no lemons on hand. It's my first time to do that, but I bet it will turn out fine.

I drained the chickpeas, reserving some of the liquid. I processed the chickpeas, adding dashes of the reserved liquid to keep the beans moving. I don't like the mealy texture of chickpeas, so I puree really well.

When done pureeing, I added the juice of two limes, a teaspoon of minced garlic (equivalent to 2 cloves), and about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pureed more.

Tahini always separates, so every time you use it, you must stir it first to incorporate the oil back in. I used every drop of a quarter cup. While it purees you can see it change to the lighter, finished color. I then added a couple dashes of salt and another quick pulse on the food processor.

Now I always finger taste and will tinker with usually more tahini or lemon (lime) juice as I feel it needs. Today I actually added the second lime after my first taste, and another sprinkle salt. My taste test also told me I could have added a little more Tahini, but it was good enough and less calories this way.

Time to prepare: 15 minutes, or less.

To garnish, I made a little well and put in a tablespoon of olive oil. Sumac or pomegranates are traditional. I didn't have either, so I sprinkled with a scant amount of zaatar -- a mixture of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. Fresh parsley, or even bare would be fine, too.

And the last thing to do is to say, Sahtain! ("To your health!")

Lazy (No Knead) Bread

I'm excited about this very simple recipe.

Last night at 9pm I put in a bowl:
3 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
and a bit just shy of 1 3/4 cup of water.

I blended it together then covered it with a damp towel. I let it sit in my warm kitchen until 10:30 this morning.

When I uncovered the towel, I was amazed. The dough -- of just flour, salt, water and that little bit of yeast-- had risen and had lots of bubbles in it. (Picture 1). I set the oven to 500 degrees and as it was warming, I placed a 6 quart ceramic pot with lid on a cookie pan inside. Meanwhile I dumped out the dough out onto my floured counter. I sprinkled the dough top with some more flour, then folded it in on itself. (Picture 2). I set the timer for ten minutes to wait for the oven to be really heated up. Since there is no kneading, I was free to check my email or whatever.

After ten minutes of warming the oven, I plopped the dough in the pot, seam side up, put on the lid, and back into the oven. After 30 minutes, I removed the lid and let it cook another 15 minutes. And that's it! The "lazy bread" was done.

I suspect I need to lower my heat to maybe 475 or 450 because as you can see the crust was overcooked and the interior was just a tad undercooked. (Pictures 3 & 4). I suspect each oven (due to humidity, pot, type of flour, etc) would need its own minor adjustment like that.

Still, it was incredibly good, especially warm with butter. The crust was the best part, absolutely amazing, like something you'd get from a bakery. It would make wonderful sandwiches, or as a side with a winter stew. I suppose you could add butter or other seasonings if you wanted to crank up the flavor.

I found the recipe featured in the ReadyMade magazine blog, which includes a link to the original New York Times video and to other bloggers and flickrers who have made this bread.