hummus and 'The Accidental Baker's' artisan flatbread crackers

Thank you, Alton and Good Eats, for inspiring me to try hummus.

To be honest, the word hummus just never sounded like something I wanted to taste.  As would happen in life, things change.  During the past 1 1/2 years, I've enjoyed broadening my culinary horizons.  Thus, hummus, your time has come...

Since I've never tasted hummus I have no point of comparison; however, Alton's recipe, in my opinion, is very good.

I wanted to taste the hummus with an unflavored cracker; thereby allowing the hummus flavor to shine.  I chose an artisan cracker sold by Whole Foods.  'The Accidental Baker's' Sea Salt Artisan Flatbread Crackers (made in North Carolina) were the perfect choice. I highly recommend this product!

Here's a news clip from The Accidental Baker's kitchen:

Hummus recipe adapted from Good Eats, found HERE on the Food Network.  Also, click here for some nutrition information related to chickpeas.

Cook the dry garbanzo beans/chickpeas:
Add to crock pot:
7 c water
1 lb dry chickpeas, rinsed and sorted
1/4 t baking soda

Cook on low for 8-9 hours.
Drain the beans, reserving some of the liquid to add to the hummus if needed.
This will yield about 40 ounces of cooked beans.  My adaptation of the Good Eats recipe uses 10 oz or 1/4 of this recipe.  I either add the remaining beans to a soup or freeze the beans for future hummus.

Make the hummus:
(this yields about 1 1/2 cup hummus)

Into food processor, add:
10 oz drained cooked chickpeas (I don't remove the outer husk as some recipes suggest; my hummus is velvety smooth)
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 T tahini (sesame paste)
process well

add:
1 T water or the juice from cooking the beans
4 t freshly squeezed lemon juice
process well

add:
3/4 t salt
3/8 t smoked paprika
process well

slowly add through feed tube while food processor is running:
1 T olive oil
process well

I don't think you can over-process; I mix until the hummus is as smooth as I like. You may need to add a little more liquid if you want a thinner hummus.  For me, the recipe listed above was perfect.

I'm now ready to try various flavor-versions of hummus.  A simple internet search yields numerous add-ins for my future hummus preparations.