10.13.2008

i'm so domesticated

Since Erica alluded to the fact that I make my own hummus, I decided a little post about hummus would be nice. Actually, I just got a craving for hummus yesterday and made some... and as I was so doing, I took pictures along the way.

Hummus is super-easy to make, and I figure I can make the amount I could buy in a store for about a tenth of the cost. This is a very good thing, since Rob and I really like the stuff. So I started out by piling the ingredients together: a can of Garbanzo beans (no, Erica... I do not grow them myself), some kosher salt, garlic, pepper, tahini (sesame seed paste), olive oil, and cumin. Not pictured is the half of a lemon who's juice goes in to the hummus. It's not pictured because I didn't have a lemon in my fridge yesterday. ;) I have a recipe (see my cheesy notes?) because I'm not one of those magic cooks who just knows how to make delicious dishes without a guide. So despite the fact that I've made this recipe about 50 times, I still have to look at it every time.
I toss all the ingredients except the tahini into my Cuisinart (love this thing!)
and whirl it around for about a minute or so, then add the tahini. I'm not exactly sure why I wait to add the tahini until later, but I do because that's what the recipe says to do. I'm sure if I put it in with everything else at the beginning it would end up inedible. I'm just sure of it.

Then ya just scoop it out into a container of choice and enjoy. I usually eat it with celery, bell pepper, and cucumber slices, or in a pita with fresh basil and feta cheese and maybe some sprouts and tomatoes. Or chips.

Chiiiiiips...!

I had an overabundance of corn tortillas yesterday (bought a package on Friday not realizing that I already had some) so I decided to make tortilla chips to go with my delicious hummus. Now, before I sound TOO much like Betty Crocker, lemme just say that Rob has made tortilla chips for us before. On several occasions, actually. We got a "fry daddy" (is that a brand?) deep fryer for our wedding, and I honestly did not know what the heck to do with such a thing. I grew up believing in my heart of hearts that fried food was going to send me to an early grave; consequently I had never deep-fried anything. Rob convinced me once to make French fries, insisting that Crisco be the medium of choice. They were sooo yucky (sorry, Babes). But Rob convinced me to try again with canola oil and they were much much better. So when he wanted to try making tortilla chips, I was more than happy to let him experiment. The result? They were the best chips I've ever had, hands-down. And since they were just corn tortillas and canola oil, they had to be better for us than the store-bought ones with loads of preservatives and artificial flavorings, right?

So since I had all these extra tortillas and a bowl full of fresh hummus on my hands yesterday, I decided to try my own hand at deep-fryering and chip-making. It's simple, really. Heat up a couple of cups of canola oil in the fryer, grab a stack of about 4 or 5 tortillas and cut them into fourths:
Then pop them into the hot oil:
Fish them out when they start to turn golden, and let them drain on a baking rack. Salt well.
Ta-da! Fresh, delicious tortilla chips. I think they might even be cheaper than a bag o' chips. :)

Here's the finished product: hummus, chips, salsa (NOT homemade, hahahah), and refried black beans (out of a can, thankyouverymuch). Best enjoyed with a BL Lime, if your conscience allows you. If not, Sprite is good too. (And I can't recommend this sermon highly enough. Gotta love Driscoll's straightforwardness)

Rob and I kicked back and snacked on this feast while watching the iTunes free movie download from last weekend, Dogtown And Z-Boys, a documentary on the beginning of skateboarding. It was a delightful Sunday afternoon.

7 comments:

Rob Hulson said...

Mmm. So tasty. That was one rocking little meal.

Rosanna is so awesome because for the first time in my life I've really enjoyed meatless meals. It used to be this big thing where I was mentally impaired from enjoying a meal if there was no meat in it (save PBJs or ramen, but even ramen has chicken FLAVORING). How stupid.

Anyway, I don't even think about it anymore (though I have no intention of ever giving up meat, nor does she). Her stuff is just sooo delicious. And you can learn to do it, too. Try out our meal and tell us what you think!

Lauryl Lane said...

Yum. I make my own hummus too, with the recipe I grew up with, which is probably much like yours except that I know I add the oil slowly while the peas and tahini and stuff are processing... Have you tried adding other things to give it different flavors? I added Mediterranean olives one day and it was A. Maz. Ing. We also go overboard with the garlic and lemon. Yummy yum yum.

Anonymous said...

mmm. i love hummus!

if you want to make your chips healthier, just drizzle with olive oil and bake unil crisp!

Rosanna said...

Well yes. But what fun is that? ;)

Holly said...

wow! that looks fabulous! just my kind of meal. I've never thought of making your own chips but I am awfully tempted to now. =)

Anonymous said...

I have a husband that refuses to eat anything healthy. I love cooking healthy. So I am always looking to

a. falsify calorie content
b. meet somewhere in the middle
c. shortcut and make things healthy
d. tell him everything is healthy and make fattening foods my personal mission...

"No honey! This isn't oil! This is ANGEL OIL! IT HAS NO CALORIES!"

Jaime said...

that looks SO good!