I made hummus yesterday, but I use the recipe that I developed years ago, which includes fresh lemon juice (I have plenty of lemons right now), tahini, garlic, EVOO, and toasted sesame oil. I made it because we bought lavash at the Lebanese/Syrian market across the street from the Brazilian market. This new lavash is much thinner than what I had bought before and is much better than what I have been able to make myself. I buy tahini for cheap at this market as well, plus they have sell bulk garbanzo and fava beans.

I do not soak garbanzo beans overnight - I boil them covered in water with bay leaves for two minutes, cover the pan, and let them steep off heat for an hour. I strain off the water and then I cook them in the pressure cooker (with 1/4 tsp baking soda) with the bay leaves and fresh water for 12 minutes, allow the pressure to go down off heat, and then they are perfectly done. The PC saves a lot of cooking time, and I use it on a portable induction burner which shuts off by itself. I do not use the induction burner with any other pan, but it works perfectly with the PC.

For some reason I do not like cumin with hummus. Some recipes call for it, and some do not. The recipes vary from Lebanon, Greece, Turkey, and Syria, but I do not remember which ones use cumin or not. I think Greek hummus does not - at least what I've had in Greek restaurants has not had it. One of the main reasons I make my own hummus is so that I can make it without cumin. I do use cumin with black or pinto beans when I make a Tex-Mex bean dip, however, and I use cumin when I make chana masala.

BTW, you can use the hummus you made as a sandwich spread. I believe Ina used something similar with a tuna salad, and it was actually very good. I spread it on a flour tortilla, heat that up a bit, and then add the tuna salad. You can also make it like a tuna melt.

Thank you for posting Annie! I will give this a try. I have tried all kinds of humus recipes and inventions and love most of them. I often use very little garlic because I find garlic gets stronger and stronger as the humus ages.

Annie, I recall reading in either Cook's Illustrated or Cook's Country a helpful hint for making hummus with canned beans. They found that heating the canned beans before smashing them in a blender or food processor softened the skins to the point that the resulting mixture was quite a bit smoother than without the added heat.

I never tried it because my daughter-in-law usually brings hummus to family gatherings, so I stopped making it myself. But I was thinking about doing the same thing for three or four bean salad. I was wondering if heating up the beans a bit and then immediately pouring on some vinaigrette would give more flavor. Perhaps the warm beans would soak up the dressing's flavor better. I bought a couple of cans of beans last week just to experiment with.

I buy canned garbanzos....goya brand usually....I drain and save the juice. Put it into the processor add a big or 2 small cloves of garlic, 2 big spoons full of tahini...about 1/4 cup, juice of one big lemon....can't add too much.....a good pinch of cumin, buzz it up and add olive oil until it's dipable.
For a change up I may add some jarred roasted red pepper....and I amy also add a bit of pickled jalapeno. I may add some sundried tomato....and/or some basil....lots of basil!!
I have been known to add 6 or 7 calamata oilves....with or without the other stuff....
If i am feeling guilty about fat...I will add some of the saved juice from the can to thin it out...instead of olive oil....and some times, I have been known to be out of tahini and used peanut butter and a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil.

LindaC, that's exactly how I usually make hummus, and it's fine, although I like just a little lemon juice and if Mother is here I leave it out because she's allergic to lemon.

This was different, though, and didn't have any oil in it, except the stuff that was drizzled over top. The texture was so much better, it was like something else entirely.

Lars, I also dislike cumin with hummus, but Elery likes it a lot. Mine was without. I also use cumin in "Mexican" dishes, although I know the stuff I make isn't any where near authentic.

I'll have to use the hummus for a sandwich, that might be really good, even better if I had some sliced tomatoes from the garden. I wish I had somewhere close that I could buy good bread like pita or lavash, but that would be about 50 miles away, so I have to make do with what I bake myself. Heck, the local Meijer has gotten so bad that I couldn't even find the spot remover stuff for my dishwasher that I like. I keep saying that I just need to go to Grand Rapids once a month and shop, then I could hit the Mediterranean place, the Asian grocery, Trader Joe's, Fresh Thyme and one of the big stores that actually have a selection that didn't just include items targeted at college students.

Annie

I make mine pretty much like LindaC, except I never add oil and I add a squirt of tamari (buy low sodium garbanzos). If I want it fluffier, I just add some water and whip it in the food processor a little longer.

Annie, if someone wants cumin in the hummus, they can add it after it is made, but it is impossible to remove it once it is in. I generally add chopped olives when I serve hummus, and they can be green or black. Kalamata are my favorite, but I do not always have them on hand.

Thanks for that tip, Lars. I'm not an olive fan but Mother is, Amanda is and Elery is, they'd love olives with the hummus.

The recipe has the cumin and paprika sprinkled on top of the hummus, it isn't mixed in, but it would be hard to avoid, I think, if it were a large bowl for a community serving.

Annie

Couldn't it just be reheated with a bit of liquid (water?) to get it back to the proper consistency? Maybe reserve some of the cooking water for that purpose?

Thanks for bumping this thread, muse.

I have to say that my very favorite hummus is this slightly untraditional recipe from Mehmet Gurs:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/green-lentil-hummus

It avoids the soak, and I do think that for any kind of hummus dried beans do better than canned if you have the time.

muse, it reheats very well without additional liquid, although a little extra olive oil is drizzled over top. The issue arises when you don't have a way to reheat it, it gets really thick when cooled and if you don't reheat it, it's impossible to spread, dip or scoop.

Writersblock, I've seen all kinds of hummus recipes lately, containing things from sweet potatoes to broccoli. The one you posted sounds good, and I agree, dried beans are better than canned, although canned is also perfectly acceptable in a crunch.

Annie