Gary's Hummus

2 16-ounce cans garbanzo beans
1/2 cup tahini*
juice from 1 lemon
2 cloves roasted garlic, crushed
2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
1 Jalapeno, fresh, minced
1 Jalapeno, roasted, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dry-spice (recipe to follow)
chopped parsley

Drain the juice from 2 cans garbanzo beans, reserve 1/2-cup liquid. Place the drained beans in a food blender or processor
one half can at a time. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, jalapeno and 1-tabelspoon olive oil, blend until very smooth.
Add reserved garbanzo liquid if necessary

Pour onto a large plate, and pour remaining olive oil over the top. Dust with dry-spice mix, garnish with parsley

Serve with sliced vegetables for a dip, along with oven toasted dry-spice pita wedges. Slice cucumber, olives,
radishes--all are traditional.

Serves 8 to 10 as a first course.

*Sesame paste. Available in Middle Eastern groceries or delicatessens.

Gary's Note:
As a time saver I usually use a food processor and add the garlic, jalapeno etc first and let the machine do the work of
mincing/chopping.

My hummus 'secret' is to drop a couple of ice cubes into mix during the last minute or two of blending. The ice cubes, as
they are breaking up, aid in whipping the mix and the water adds volume. This results in a lighter textured hummus.

Pita Chips

Cut pita in 8ths, separate the leaves, put in a large bowl, lightly toss with olive oil and sprinkle with dry-spice mix.
Put on trays in a 300-degree oven, bake until just approaching crisp. Toss a few times with tongs during cooking.

Dry Spice Mix

Pan toast kosher salt, whole black pepper, whole white pepper, whole cumin seed, whole dried chili (arbol, ancho,
gaujillo, pasilla, pequin or a mix). Let cool, destem/deseed peppers, grind to a medium fine consistency.