The Bachelor's Kitchen

Salmon is one of America’s favorite fish. It’s easy to cook and it has a meaty flavor that appeals to our meat-heavy tastes.

Sadly, the popularity of salmon means it is being overfished in the wild. Many environmentalists believe some species of salmon could even go extinct. Some foodies complain that farm-raised salmon just doesn’t have the taste that wild salmon has. I tend to agree with that.

There are several popular species of salmon, each with different characteristics and flavors. They are part of the same family as trout. Most are in the Pacific Ocean. One is in the Atlantic, called what else, the Atlantic Salmon. Some of these are also found in some lakes in Northern Europe and North America. Most Atlantic salmon is farm raised and makes up most generic salmon fillets you find in the store.

Of the Pacific species, four are probably best known here in the U.S.: Coho, Pink (also called humpies), Red or Sockeye, and Chinook. Chinook, also called King Salmon, are the largest and prized for their large, lean fillets. Pink and Red varieties are often used for canning. Another canned species is the Chum salmon, which ranges as far South as the Central California Coast.

One problem with farm-raised salmon, or other fish, is that they are usually fed something other than what they would naturally eat, like corn. Salmon eat other fish, but supplying wild fish for farm salmon is very expensive. Thus, the taste of farm salmon is more mild, almost bland. It also has less of the rich Omega-3 oil that makes salmon so popular for heart health.

Because many people think salmon is less flavorful than it used to be, the key is to cook it in a flavorful way. That’s what makes this Skillet-seared Salmon dish so attractive.

All you need is a nice fillet of salmon, a couple of Roma tomatoes, a pepper of your choice, some olive oil, a little salt and pepper and if you like it, some cilantro.

Wash and dry your salmon fillet. It should be about an inch thick at its biggest point. Like all good fish, it should be nice and pink, moist and not fishy smelling. You can leave the skin on if you like, or take it off when it’s cooked. Also, feel your fish. It’s the best way to tell if there are any little bones in it. When doing anything in a skillet with oil, always try to get your food as dry as you can.

Halve and remove the seeds from your tomatoes. Then chop into large chunks. Do the same with your pepper. You can use a regular green or red pepper, but for a little bite, use a jalapeno. Just be sure to clean out all the seeds and ribs. If using cilantro, wash and dry it thoroughly.

Now heat your skillet on medium high, then add a tablespoon of oil. When it’s hot, carefully lay in the fish. Just let it sit there for about 4 minutes then carefully turn it over. Be gentle. Fish cooks quickly. It should take about 8 minutes total. It’s done when a fork can easily pull it apart and it flakes into small clumps.

Remove the fish from the pan and set aside on a plate. Cover it loosely with foil.

Add the tomatoes and pepper to the pan and saute for a minute or two then add that to the fish. Garnish with cilantro, if you use it, and enjoy. For something a little heartier, add a couple spoonfuls of rice on the side.

One of the wonderful things about cooking salmon is that it can take a little overcooking because of its high oil content.

Posted on September 29th, 2019 by James
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What would Homer Simpson do without Marge’s weekly Pork Chop Night? Pork chops are an American dinner staple. Pork is usually inexpensive and chops are easy to do in a skillet.

We had some pork chops in the freezer, so I decided to make a pork chop dinner. We also had lots of russet potatoes. Broccoli was on sale, so we had some crowns ready for steaming. Also on sale were button mushrooms. Sounds like the makings of a dinner to me.

Pork chops. I combined a couple of different recipes to come up with a pork chop that was incredibly tender and moist. The biggest problem with the usual skillet fried pork chops is that they get too dry and greasy. This method gives you the flavor of fried chops but the gentle heat of baked.

• 4 pork chops, washed and dried
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs or crushed crackers
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons yellow corn meal
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
• 1 tablespoon milk

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Beat egg in a shallow bowl, stirring in milk. In a shallow dish combine crumbs, flour, corn meal, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano and Old Bay.
3. When pan is hot, add oil. Dip each chop in egg mixture and then dredge in dry mix, making sure all sides are coated. Carefully lay the chops into the hot pan. Brown on each side, about five minutes per side.
4. Meanwhile, grease a baking dish. Move each chop once browned to the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 to 49 minutes or until the chops reach an internal temperature of at least 170.
5. Remove from oven and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.

Smashed Potatoes. I don’t do a lot of mashing when I make mashed potatoes, it’s too easy to get them all gluey. Besides, I like some lumps of potato in the mix.

• 6 medium russet potatoes
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Peel, wash and cube potatoes into about 1/2-inch pieces. Put in cold water in large sauce pan. There should be enough water to cover potatoes by about a half inch or more.
2. Put pot over high heat until the water starts to boil. Then turn down heat to maintain a simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes easily fall apart when squeezed with back of spoon or set of tongs.
3. Remove from heat and drain most of water out, leaving about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water in the pot.
4. Add butter, milk, garlic powder, pepper and salt to potatoes and use a hand masher to crush the potatoes and mix all ingredients. Do not over beat!

Carmelized Onions & Mushrooms. This is a great side, adding a nice sweetness to both the chops and the potatoes. You can also use this to make a really good gravy if you like that sort of thing. Just add flour, water and a little milk or cream and you’re good to go.

• 1 medium onion, halved and cut into slices
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil if needed

1. Use the same skillet as the browned pork chops and heat over medium-low. Add oil if needed.
2. Brown and caramelize the onions, stirring frequently and scraping up all the
3. brown bits in the bottom of the pan.
4. Next add in the mushrooms and cook until soft and brown, stirring frequently.
5. If making gravy, turn up the heat and add the flour, water and a little milk. Stir constantly.

Steamed Broccoli. This is an easy green veggie. Just steam the trimmed broccoli until it’s just tender but still has a little bite. Sprinkle with salt and splash some good Balsamic vinegar on it. This should be the last thing done for dinner.

You’ll find the pork chops tender and moist. Who doesn’t like homemade mashed potatoes? It was a good dinner. Leftovers didn’t last long.

Posted on September 27th, 2019 by James
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We know many of you don’t bother to click on the comments link when there is one for some of our posts. So, we want to point them out to you from time to time. Always feel free to contribute to The Bachelor’s Kitchen by comments, Contact Us or email to bchlrkitchen212@gmail.com.
You may recall we posted about making your own chicken stock. The best thing is that it’s easy and you know exactly what’s in it.
Along with that, we gave you one simple recipe for making your own chicken stock in case you needed one. There are many recipes and possible combinations out there. You can always come up with your own based on your own tastes and what you have on hand.

Reader Z in Chicago passed along her version in the comments. 
“Here’s my recipe. It’s faster and tastes great

• One family-sized package of chicken thighs.
• One package of chicken wings.
• Any chicken necks, wingtips, kidneys, hearts, etc. leftover and frozen (for this purpose) from previous meals–like a roast chicken dinner. Do NOT use chicken liver.
• 1 or 2 carrots cut into quarters.
• 1 stalk of leafy celery cut in half
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium-sized onion cut in half or quarters
• 1 bay leaf
• a dozen or so peppercorns
• a dozen or so sprigs of parsley tied together to make it easier to remove.

Put the chicken in a nice big stockpot. Put in the rest of the ingredients. Pour in enough water to cover the ingredients and then an extra inch or so more–about 2-1/2 to 3 quarts. Bring to a boil and instantly turn the heat down really low so that it just goes “blub-1-2-3-4-blub” (keep checking until it’s just right). Simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove chicken thighs and wings and put them in a bowl. They can be used for other meals.

Discard all the vegetables and seasonings. Strain broth through a fine sieve then return to the pot. Boil for 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Let cool and refrigerate.

Next day, after skimming off the hardened fat, you can put it into containers to freeze for soup or sauces, or heat it up, add some cooked chicken and noodles and have some yummy soup.”

So, there you have another good recipe for homemade chicken stock. 

Now, what do you do with it? You can freeze it ice cube trays for later use. You can make a really good soup. Use it instead of water to deglaze pans or added to cooked vegetables. You can store it in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks if unopened, once opened use within a week. If you enjoy cooking, you will be happy to have this in your pantry. 

Posted on September 25th, 2019 by James
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The Chinese invented pasta and you will find noodles and dumplings all across Asian cuisine. But nothing you will get at most Chinese restaurants in the U. S. is really Chinese; they are adapted to American tastes and ingredients. So, what you are really eating is Chinese American food. 

You do not need to order take-out or delivery, you can easily make your own Chinese-American favorites at home. One popular and easy dish is lo mein. The word lo means simple or obvious. Mein (pronounced “main”) means a type of wheat noodle or pasta. So, the English name for this dish would be “Obvious noodle.” 

Lo mein is an easy, simple and versatile dish. You can use different combinations of meats and vegetables to keep it interesting. Like most stir-fry dishes, most of your time is taken up with chopping. Also, you will need a few ingredients from the Asian food aisle in the grocery store that you may not have in your pantry. And you should make them a part of your pantry because they can be used for so many different foods. You can save a lot of time by using frozen vegetable mixes (without sauce) and leftover meat that just needs cutting into bite-size pieces. Most lo mein uses long noodles, like spaghetti or linguini. But you can experiment with other pasta shapes if you like. Very thin kinds of pasta like angel-hair or thin spaghetti are not recommended as they could get overcooked or break apart.

As with any pasta dish, the first step is always putting a big pot of water on the heat to reach a boil. When it hits the boil, add several heavy pinches of salt. Follow the directions for al dente pasta you’ll find on the package. Eight ounces of pasta will take about 10 to 12 minutes to cook. Drain and place the hot noodles in a bowl. Stir in about a teaspoon of toasted or dark sesame oil. Remember that this strong-flavored oil is more of a condiment than cooking oil. Make sure all the strands are coated. Then put a plate on top of the bowl to keep the noodles warm.

Now comes the time to heat up a wok or large skillet. Medium-high heat should get it to the right temperature without making it too hot to cook with later on. Once the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of oil. Most restaurants use peanut or soybean oil because most Chinese cooking is done over high heat. You can use any neutral-flavored oil. We like soybean oil the best. We don’t like canola oil unless we’re cooking seafood. When the oil is hot, add four cloves of garlic you have minced. We like to buy already minced garlic that comes in a jar as a time saver and something that does not go bad very quickly like fresh garlic. Also, add a tablespoon of fresh, minced ginger. You could replace it with about a teaspoon of powdered ginger but use a light touch. These will cook very, very quickly. Stir frequently for about 30 seconds until you can smell the mixture. Stir in about four-cups of mixed vegetables, fresh or frozen. Cook and stir for about three minutes or until slightly tender.

Next, we consider the protein. Our recipe calls for beef flank steak, but you could use almost any meat. We don’t recommend fish because it will fall apart. But this is a great use of leftovers, which cuts back on the cooking time by a few minutes. You need about a quarter-pound per person or serving and we usually make three to four servings. This dish makes good leftovers if you keep the noodles separate from the meat-vegetable sauce. Just make sure the meat is cut into bite-size pieces. If using a tougher cut of meat, like the aforementioned flank steak, slice very thinly against the grain of the meat so it is not too chewy and cooks quickly. 

Stirring the meat and vegetables, cook until everything is cooked through, about five minutes. 

Whisk together a quick sauce of three tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, a tablespoon of oyster sauce (We suppose any fish sauce would work, but you should find this in the Asian food section. It’s worth the fridge space.) and a tablespoon of Asian chili paste (we like Thai style). Pour this mix over the noodles and toss briefly. Pour into the wok with the now cooked vegetables and meat. Cook and stir until the pasta is hot, just a couple minutes.

This is healthy, because of the vegetables, and it is not, because of the sweet sauce. But when you’re craving Chinese-American food, this is as good as any you can buy.

Posted on September 23rd, 2019 by James
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We have been away for several months now. Well, not really away. Just busy. But we want to assure you The Bachelor’s Kitchen has not burned down or closed or anything like that. We have, however, been involved in other things for a while. We really want to get back to delivering to you regular quality posts about cooking and food.

One of the projects we’ve been working on is beefing up our Facebook page (see the column on the right for the latest). There you will find plenty of postings about food contamination and recalls, about cooking and its health benefits, as well as interesting bits and, of course, reposts of our content here on our website.

While we work to get this blog back on track, we encourage you to check out our Facebook page. Also, we have an email feed which you can sign up for in the right-hand column. That way you will never miss a post. We are working to beef that up, too.

In addition, we have a feed on Twitter. That has also been inactive for a while. That will be harder to keep up but we are determined to try.

We thank you if you are still around and hope you will find this blog useful and worth your time.

Posted on March 23rd, 2019 by James
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We don’t do it often, but making pancakes from scratch is a wonderful way to start a holiday weekend. It doesn’t take much more time and the quality is much better. So, get out your baking supplies, butter and syrup to make some fluffy pancakes.

Buttermilk is a good ingredient to have around the house. Buttermilk, which is mostly whey, can be used for biscuits, pancakes, cakes or things like banana bread. The reason it works so well is that it has very little fat and, therefore, more acid. The acid reacts better than regular milk when using baking powder and/or baking soda. Also, buttermilk will last longer than regular milk in your refrigerator. But if you’re not making biscuits or pancakes very often, you should buy a half pint carton at the grocery store rather than a quart. That way, if you don’t use it right away, you will not have to throw out a lot of money.

In our recipe, you have the choice to make more acidic milk or use buttermilk. If using buttermilk, you can just measure out three-quarters of a cup to add to your dry ingredients later. Otherwise, you can get a similar tasting liquid by adding a couple tablespoons of white (or distilled) vinegar to the milk and allow it to “sour” for a few minutes. Keep the milk handy in case your batter comes out too thick.

As usual, first you mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Combine one cup of all-purpose flour, two tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of baking soda and the same amount of salt.

In a medium bowl, combine the “sour” milk (or buttermilk) with an egg and two tablespoons of melted butter or oil. Whisk together the wet and dry ingredients just until all ingredients are mixed. A few small lumps are normal, but make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter. Be careful not to over-mix, it will make the  pancakes tougher and flatter. The batter should still pour, but slowly, like honey.

Heat a griddle pan (that’s best) or a skillet over medium heat. It should be non-stick or well-seasoned. Coat the surface with cooking spray. Pour about a quarter cup of the batter onto the pan and let it cook until the edges are dry and bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. Flip it with a spatula or turner and cook the other side until slightly browned.

Move the finished pancake to a plate and apply butter and/or syrup. You can also use fresh fruit, whipped cream or applesauce.

Repeat as needed until the batter is used up. Extra pancakes can be put in an air-tight container and used later. (The make good sandwiches!)

Posted on August 22nd, 2018 by James
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It is sometimes hard to explain to someone who hasn’t eaten it just what makes a good Chicago style pizza. Most people just think that it’s any style of deep dish pizza. But real Chicago pizza can be so much more.

There are three or four local pizza chains in Chicago that are well known for Chicago style pizza. Probably the best known and most often cited as the place for that style of deep dish pizza is Gino’s East, located just off Michigan Avenue in the Downtown Chicago area called Streeterville. But you can also get really good pizza at Portillo’s, in the River North neighborhood, Pizzeria Uno and its offshoot, Pizzeria Due (pronounced the Italian way, doo-ay). Leona’s, which has a few restaurants in the area, also makes some good pie.

And then there’s an extreme version of Chicago style pizza called Stuffed Pizza. This is not stuffed crust pizza that you’ll find in a major national pizza chain but stuffed pizza. Similar to Deep Dish, it has a slightly thinner crust and a lot more toppings. It also has a top crust, like a fruit pie. A deep dish pizza has all the usual toppings in the same way you would have them on a thin crust pizza except the tomato sauce goes on top to keep the cheese from burning. But a stuffed pizza has all the toppings stuffed into the body of the pizza.

Another difference is a deep dish is usually cooked in a skillet. But the best cookware to use for a stuffed pizza is either a very large pan, like a big pizza pan with a high lip or a large casserole like a 9 x 13-inch dish. You might think that would make the corners overcooked. But the amount of stuffing keeps them from cooking faster than the rest of the pizza.

And finally, we have to talk about what goes into the stuffing. The big difference is the order in which you must layer the goodies. A regular pizza has the tomato sauce on the bottom and the cheese on top. But you can’t do that to a stuffed pizza because the cheese would burn. So, you put the cheese on the bottom layer, right on top of the crust dough. Then you add the other things you like on your pizza, like sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni or other vegetables. Then a top crust and top the whole thing off with a solid layer of tomato sauce, making sure it goes all the way to the edge of the dough around the sides.

You start with a homemade pizza crust dough. In a small bowl, dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in 1 cup warm water; in a separate small bowl combine one teaspoon active dry yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water. Mix together and let rest in the bowl for about 20 minutes, until foamy.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together remaining 2 1/2 cups flour with 1/2 cup cornmeal and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; remove half of this mixture from bowl and stir 1 cup sugar water into the bowl. When well mixed, return second half of flour/cornmeal mixture to the bowl and mix all together; then stir in yeast mixture. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 12 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.

When the dough is nearly risen fully, preheat your oven to 450F. Meanwhile, you make your stuffing. In a large bowl combine 1/4 pound sausage you have already browned and cooked, about 3/4 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/3 cup diced pepperoni, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/8 cup chopped green bell pepper, 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 3 sliced cloves of garlic. Mix well.

Obviously, you can modify the stuffing to meet your personal taste.

Press half of the dough in the bottom and up the sides of a lightly greased deep dish pan. Bake crust in preheated oven for 4 minutes, then add the stuffing mixture to the bottom crust and cover with top crust; seal edges together with fingers, and trim excess. Slit top crust to allow steam to vent during baking; top with 1/2 cup herb-laden tomato sauce.

Bake on lower rack at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then cut and serve. Usually, one piece with a salad makes a full meal. In fact, for most, this one pizza will feed you for several days.

Go for something different, a pizza that’s a real pie. Make sure you have plenty of cheese, that’s the best part.

Posted on August 20th, 2018 by James
Filed under: Baking, recipes | No Comments »

Have you ever noticed that the spiciest cuisines come from the warmest places? It’s true. Look at Mexican food. Or Indian, North African, Thai. They all use the hottest spices. Why would they use so much piquant spices when they live in such a hot climate?

According to Binghamton University professor Michael Pettid it derives from the Asian concept of balancing one’s life force.

“In East Asian cosmology, the idea of regulation of one’s ki (or chi, life force) is vital to overall health. Food is an important means to keep one’s ki properly attuned to the external environment. The practice of eating spicy or hot foods on hot days stems from the belief that one’s ki is cool in the summer and to bring that in balance with the external environment spicy/hot foods should be eaten.”

But it turns out that it’s more than just a phiosophy, it’s also medical science. Spices like garlic, ginger and peppers increase the circulation of the blood. And that, according to Columbia Univesity professor Dr. John Thomas Pinto, helps cool you down.

“If you affect blood flow, that might also affect heat exchange in the body to allow sweating. Evaporation [of the sweat on skin] causes cooling.”

A favorite dish in Korea on the hottest days of the year is steaming chicken soup. Mexicans in the height of summer eat chili peppers like carrot sticks. Cumin and corriander are common spices in Indian dishes where the weather is almost always warm.

So, don’t be afraid of that hot broth or spicy enchilada just because the weather in warm. You might find it cools down The Bachelor’s Kitchen.

Posted on August 18th, 2018 by James
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With all the talk about health and contaminated eggs, some of you might be looking to egg substitutes as an alternative. Because these mostly egg white products are pasteurized, they won’t be contaminated with salmonella, as some eggs are now. These products have been touted as healthier for a long time because they lack the fat and cholesterol of egg yolks. Then again, whole eggs have nutrients that those substitutes don’t have. And those nutrients can be good for you.

We’ll take real eggs every time. While the taste of egg substitutes aren’t bad in some applications, if you’re looking for an omelette or scrambled eggs, the real thing works best.

But we do have to say that if you’re making a custard, quiche, egg casserole or something like that, the egg substitutes can work well. They save a lot of time in beating and mixing eggs or in baking.

Why, you may ask, don’t we recommend egg substitutes for things like scrambled eggs? Because they have a tendency to separate into grainy particles that are very unappealing. Another thing I don’t like is the addition of all the other ingredients to make these product shelf stable and not as ugly as plain egg whites. We can’t stand egg-white only omelets or egg dishes because they look and taste terrible. Unless you eat eggs every day, you shouldn’t have any health problems from eating eggs. But always consult with your doctor or a nutritionist.

Posted on August 16th, 2018 by James
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Perhaps you’ve heard this before. If you’re looking for a healthy snack idea, here’s a great one. It takes only a few minutes to make and it never lasts long in our house.

It’s hummus. This ancient dish has been around in the Middle East and Southern Asia for centuries. But if you buy one of those expensive tubs of the stuff in the grocery store, you should be forced to run 10 laps around that store. It’s so easy to make, there’s really only one excuse: no food processor or blender.

Without these tools, making hummus is a bit of a chore. And you never get the consistency you want. It can be done, of course. People were doing it without electricity for hundreds of years. But it’s a bit of work.

So, we’re going to assume we’re all in the modern era and have some sort of chopping or blending device around the house. Let’s gather together the ingredients in The Bachelor’s Kitchen.

Hummus is essentially a chickpea dip. You can adjust the taste according to what you like: more garlic, less olive oil, whatever. Just load the stuff up in the food processor and let it go until you get the consistency and smoothness you like. And it’s easy to make in large batches for a party.

While you’re at it, you can also make your own pita chips. They’re baked, not fried. That means all of this is a lot healthier for you than almost any other snack you can name, especially the ones you pay all that money for in the supermarket.

It’s best to start on the pita chips first because they take a little longer. Preheat the oven to 350°F and get out a cookie sheet. Get a package of pita bread, or pocket bread it’s sometimes called, and cut the rounds into eight wedges. You can stack them up to do it quicker, just keep it to about 4 or less at a time. Lay the wedges in a single layer on the cookie sheet, keeping just a little space between each one. You’ll have to do it batches, so that’s why we start on this first. Pop the sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Test them for crispness. Don’t leave them in too long, they become so hard you can’t bite through them. Take them out just when they start to get stiff. Let them cool and then put them into an airtight container. I like a zipper storage bag.

While those are in the oven, get the hummus ingredients together.

• A 15 oz. can of chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans. If you can’t find them in the canned beans section of the store, look in the ethnic food aisle. In my house, I get two cans, it goes that fast.
• Extra virgin olive oil. How much? Depends on your taste and the quality of the oil you have. The stronger the flavor, the less you’ll want to use. You can also use regular olive oil or even some other oil, like the manufacturers do. But the flavor changes, so keep that in mind. A milder oil will yield a milder flavor hummus. I’d start with about a quarter cup per can of beans. But keep the bottle handy, you may want to add more.
• Lemon juice. And don’t go cheap and buy one of those disgusting little plastic lemons. I’ll admit, sometimes lemons are amazingly expensive out of season. In a pinch, you could use bottled RealLemon juice, but you’re really better off just buying a single lemon. It may cost a dollar, but the taste difference is profound.
• Garlic. If you like the taste of roasted garlic, take a few heads and put them in foil and stick them in an oven (about 350) for a half hour or so until the whole house smells wonderfully garlicky. You should do this the night before or earlier in the day so they have a chance to cool to room temperature before you squirt the contents into the work bowl of the food processor. If you use fresh, unroasted garlic, be sure to chop it fine first. Four or five cloves should do it, but you can use more or less according to your taste. Using garlic powder in this instance is not cheating and may actually work better.  About a full heaping teaspoon is where I would start, less if you don’t like garlic breath.
• Cumin. I love this spice. Not only does it add a marvelous fragrance to the dish, but a little bit of a spicy kick that compliments the garlic perfectly. I usually start with about a half-teaspoon and then see what it tastes like.
• Other spices you might like, such as paprika, basil, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon. Think aromatic spices over peppers, although a little heat won’t hurt. Use small amounts at first, maybe just a pinch or two at a time. Remember, you can always add more but you can’t take it out.

You’ll notice my measurements are not exact. This just isn’t an exact science. This is one of those dishes you just have to taste as you go and adjust accordingly. If you use your taste and your heart as well as your brain, you’ll do just fine.

1. First open the cans of beans. Get out your stainer or collander and a mixing bowl. Pour the cans into the strainer which should be over the bowl to catch the liquid. Normally, I don’t save the liquid from a can of beans because it’s usually yucky. But in this case, it might come in handy. Set the bowl of liquid aside and rinse the beans in the strainer under cold running water. Do it thoroughly.
2. Dump the beans, garlic, oil, cumin and other spices into the food processor. Add the juice of one lemon. Remember to hold your hand under the lemon to catch any seeds. Don’t be afraid to use your hands, they’re the best cooking tool you own. Now add a couple tablespoons of the bean liquid to the whole thing. Apply the lid and let ‘er rip. No need to pulse here. Just let it run until the mixture looks mostly smooth. Taste. Very important that. Adjust accordingly. You may need to add more oil, a bit of salt, a few grinds of black pepper or whatever you think it needs. If it’s too thick, add a bit more of the bean liquid. Run the food processor a bit more until it looks like a thick milkshake. And there, you’re done.

Wasn’t that easy?  Now your pita chips should be ready. So transfer the hummus to a bowl or plastic container and start dipping. Chickpeas are very healthy. Sure, the pita bread adds a bit of fat and carbohydrate, but you can also use crackers, vegetables or tortilla chips. It’s a good snack.

Posted on August 14th, 2018 by James
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