Ok, so I've only made my own hummus once before, so I'm in no way an expert, and some might say that I should get comfortable with that before I start f*&%ing with it, but I don't care. I'm going to do it, and I'm going to tell you about it. (Please, jebus, let this work!) I'm also making just regular kind at the same time, so, really, all I'm doing is adding dates to a portioned off section of hummus. The measurements I'm using are for the total of both, FYI.
All righty, so I'm essentially live typing here, and just adding more as I complete the steps, so here goes:
Morning: I've measured out 2 cups of dried chick peas, rinsed 'em, and put them in a pot to low simmer all day. Now, it's probably not a proper substitute for soaking them, but this is faster, and as long as the 'peas are smooshy enough to blend in the food processor, that's really all I care about. I've added water a few time to keep it from boiling dry, so if you're doing it this way, keep an eye on that b*tch.
Evening: I've also put about 6 or 7 dates in a bowl and poured boiling water over them (just enough to cover) to soften them up in preparation for the processing later.
Roasting some garlic. I like the mellower taste it has, and I think that'll be a better match for my dates. #pullingtheoriesouttamy...
Drain the 'peas, keep the water, because you might need it to smooth out the consistency of the hummus. Throw them in the food processor and puree those suckers.
Add the tahini. Now, it's roughly a 2 parts chickpeas to 1 part tahini deal. Although, my cooked 'peas are way more than 2 cups now, I only put in around 1 1/4 cup o' tahini. i'm also a big believer in taste, and I eat everything as I cook, and my tastebuds say it seems like enough.
Add the juice of a lemon or lime. I used a lime because that's what was in the kitchen.
Cumin: If you like it, put it in. If you like it a lot, put a lot in. If you don't like it, don't use it. Do what your tongue tells you!
Cayenne/Chili Pepper: ditto.
Putting in my freshly roasted garlic. I'm using an entire bulb because a)the flavour is more mild, and b)I freaking love garlic. I'm kind of smooshing it up a little before tossing it in the processor.
Process that shiz.
Taste test... Yum! Now I'm taking a goodly portion of the hummus out of the processor and putting it into a container and putting it in the fridge for future eating... steel myself for adding dates to the remainder. And honey, I've decided. Well, maybe I'll see how it tastes with just the dates first.
Success! Ok, so I threw in the dates AND the soaking water, and I found that it just took the bitter edge out of the tahini a lil' bit, so I added about 2 tablespoons of honey, and now it's just delicious! A hint of sweet, but I can still tell that I'm eating hummus.
Oh, yeah! The hat. So, I made this hat for my best-friend-from-high-school who's living in Halifax. That means this baby's going in the mail sometime very soon! I used this pattern http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sideways-grande-cloche , but I modified it a bit because I didn't want to just twist the side detail together, I wanted to cable it, goddammit! So I stole the brim pattern from this guy: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter03/PATTcoronet.html .
I also decided I wanted the cable detail to have a little something extra, so I used some gold lamé thread with the yarn, because I'm drawn to the shiny like a magpie.
