Hummus among us

I've read around for quite a while about something called Hummus. It sounds strange by name and looks pretty nondescript by itself. I'm not a huge fan of whole Chick Peas, but I wanted to give this a shot. After all, some of my favorite things I've tried were after taking a leap on a new idea. Lots of people wrinkle their nose at the idea, but have never tried Hummus, kinda like we were when we were kids. Broccoli? EWWWW!

I consulted a few folks that have had, or make their own Hummus for some ideas, did some searching and found a very good base that I cobbled together. This can be adjusted to your liking, but even this base is good by itself.

The ingredients! I have some Lemon juice (fresh lemons are better, but this was in the fridge and worked fine), Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans), Salt, Pepper, Tahini (Sesame Seed paste), Olive Oil, Cumin, Garlic.

Hummus is about a nice balance. Each part helps compliment or balance with another ingredient. Drain the Chick Peas and put them into a blender or food processor, add in 2 heaping Tbsp of Tahini, 2 Tsp Olive Oil, 1/4 Tsp Pepper, 1/4 Tsp Cumin, 2 cloves Garlic, 1/4 cup Lemon juice (or 2 small juiced Lemons) and 1/4 Tsp Salt.

You will need to stop the blender or processor frequently to scrape down the sides and get the Chick Peas down into the blades to get this smooth. You will need to add some water, or more Lemon juice to help keep the process going. Use a little at a time to ensure your Hummus isn't watery.

I like to add in more Lemon juice than water as this works together, as I like a bit more of a sour tang to the dip. Also, as the dip is processing you can decide if you like a little more smoothness by adding more Olive Oil. It's a good oil for you, but I wouldn't go TOO nuts with it. Put in a little at a time like the water till you get to the consistency you want.

The dip looks pretty plain here, but I guarantee it's tasty! Packed with protein, fiber, and other nutrients just in the Chick Peas, this is a great dip to fill you up and keep you full for quite a while! You can sprinkle the dip with some Paprika, red peppers, Cayenne pepper, whatever you'd like to dress it up!

Now remember, this is a base dip. I've added more garlic, Cayenne pepper, whatever you'd like to the dip to adjust it to your tastes! I'm looking forward to finding some sun-dried Tomatoes to add into my next batch. This is traditionally eaten with Pita chips, but I've found Carrots and tortilla chips work great. Pretty much whatever you'd want to eat on a veggie or chip as a dip will work!


1 16oz can Chick Peas
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
1/4 cup Lemon juice
2 Tsp Olive Oil
1/4 Tsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Tahini
2 chopped cloves Garlic
Water as needed

Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend and scrape down sides. Add Water or Lemon juice as needed to help blend or for taste.

Scotch Eggs

I saw a video a long time ago about an interesting dish called Scotch Eggs. At first I was wondering if they meant they were poached in Scotch whiskey? It seemed odd, so I watched and it wasn't at all what I originally thought.  I made a few the other night and decided to give them a taste. They're quite good, and darned near a delicious hand held whole breakfast. I couldn't find a way to incorporate the milk into the dish, so you'll have to supply your own glass of moo juice.


First, you'll want to hard boil your egg(s) and shell them. Just place however many eggs you want to convert into a pan with water covering the eggs, and boil them for 15-20 minutes. After that, cool the eggs until they're easily handled. Shell 'em. Then you'll want to pat them over with a little bit of flour. This helps the sausage stick to them.

The sausage I decided to use was some Jimmy Dean Sage, but if you have a personal favorite, go for it! Once the eggs were patted with flour and shaken to remove any excess flour, you pull off some sausage, a little larger than the size of each egg you will be working with. Press the sausage in your palm, almost like you're making a thin hamburger patty. Place the egg in the center of your sausage patty.

Gently work the sausage up, and over the egg. You want to work slowly on this, as the egg, while hard boiled, can still split open and ruin the process. Once you've worked the sausage around the egg, it should look like this:

From there, put the ball into an egg wash (1 egg with little milk, whipped together). Once the ball is coated in the egg wash, roll in some bread crumbs. I used plain crumbs, but if you want to flavor it up a bit with some Italian crumbs, go for it.

Now I did get a little creative and added something interesting in place of crumbs for one......

MAKE IT BACON BABY!

So yeah, I wrapped my hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, with crumbled bacon.

This looks dangerously delicious!

Normally these are fried. For me, the sausage (and the bacon one) were already screaming at my arteries. So I decided to bake them. Oven safe pan, 425F for 15 minutes.

Quite good, though I will admit I had 3 and they were tasty. I think next time I'll limit myself to one, as they are filling!



Eggs (your choice on how many to make)
Sausage
Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Milk