Sean & Graeme

Hommus Recipe

Having just made the 3rd kilo of Hommus in about 10 days, I have had a few people asking what recipe I use.  Here it is;

Hommus b'Tahini 

Makes approximately 3 cups

• 1.5 Cups of Chickpeas (soaked overnight) *see below
• 2 Teaspoons of Salt
• Approximately 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 3/4 Cup of Tahini
• 1/2 Cup of Lemon Juice (more to taste)
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Chopped Parsley to garnish
• 1 dash of Olive oil to garnish

 Drain the soaked chickpeas place in a pot and add three times their amount of water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil.  Boil vigorously for about an 10 minutes, turn the heat down, cover the saucepan and simmer until the chickpeas are very soft - approx. 1 hour.  Drain liquid and reserve.

Reserve 1/2 cup of whole chickpeas for garnish.  Puree the remainder of the peas in a blender.

Crush garlic with the remaining teaspoon of salt, beat or blend into the puree.

Slowly beat in the tahini and lemon juice alternately.  Blend in a little of the reserved liquid to make the mixture a thick and creamy consistency.

Add salt and lemon to taste. (this is of course purely subjective)

 

*Soak the chickpeas over night in three times their amount of water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.

NB - this is the recipe I ‘use’ but normally use 500g of chickpeas and at least triple the amount of Tahini, Lemon, Garlic and salt.  I always add more too.

 

Cava Palaver!

Many thanks to those that turned up last night for our birthday drinks.  Henceforth, forever more, known as 'Cava Palaver!', thanks to our friend Ian.  Great fun had by all, we spent the day cleaning, cooking and gardening.  The food certainly seemed to be appreciated.

 

Alicante Adventure

We've just got home from a road trip down south.  We had no plans, and it is was a three-day weekend, so when we found out a friend was staying near Alicante, had a pool and space for us to sleep.. we hit the road.

The drive down was about 350 miles, not so far. It's been ages since we took the car out for a long run, I really enjoyed it.  We'd driven as far as Valencia before, but this was much further, and a lot more interesting, as well as far busier with tourist traffic. If Spain had a tax on overloaded speeding French cars, we'd be clear of the gov't debt.  

So we sped past the sights, saw lots of mountains, roadsigns in Arabic, the HKG-style high rises of Benidorm, and got to Elche in Alicante province in time for a swim before dinner.  

Big thanks to Dave for getting the BBQ ready on perfect timing.  It was great to spend a long evening drinking wine, catching up and being entertained by "The Ed and George Show". 

Sunday, after more pool time, we took our hosts out for Paella and then made our way back, a little slower than expected. We had thought about finding a hotel in Benidorm, but after a drive though, we saw enough and made a quick escape, choosing to spend the night outside Valencia instead.  

It was great to get away and fantastic to be able to spend time with a friend I haven't seen for too long, and get to meet his two sons.  I wish we had been able to go further South, but we've plans this week, so will have to pick up the road trip after the summer ;)