Making hummus is very much an art and not a science. Everyone makes it differently and prefers a different taste to it, so be sure to read this recipe completely before preparing. INGREDIENTS: 3 cups (about 30 ounces) garbanzo (chick peas) beans, rinsed well and drained 1/4 - 1 cup lemon juice 1-3 cloves garlic, peeled, whole 1/4 - 3/4 cup tahini (sesame paste) 1 teaspoon salt water or olive oil to desired thickness consistency Yields about 4 cups. DIRECTIONS: Place first 5 ingredients in a food processor and run until well blended. Add water or olive oil to obtain desired thickness or consistency. Keep in mind that hummus will thicken up a little once is has been completely mixed and allowed to sit in a refrigerator for a couple of hours. Spoon into serving bowl or platter. Make designs with a spoon and pour olive oil into designs for a garnish. KEEP REFRIGERATED, freezes well. Mark's Tips: You want the canned garbanzo beans, not the bulk, dry ones that you have to soak overnight and then boil. Most grocery stores have garbanzo beans on the same aisle with the other beans. However, if your store has an "international foods" aisle, try there as the off-brand beans are usually much cheaper than the domestic brand and are just as good. I get mine at the Buy For Less store on Portland and the NW Expressway in their international foods aisle. Sometimes they have the Indo-European brand #10 cans (6 pound 10 ounce) or the Mid-East brand 29 ounce cans or the 15 ounce cans. I'm not sure if all Buy For Less stores will carry these particular brands. They also have tahini. One 29-ounce can or two 15-ounce cans of garbanzo beans is about equivalent to 3 cups. If your food processor is not large enough to hold all the ingredients, measure out the quantities above and process in increments, pour batches into a large bowl and mix together well. A good blender will work, but you may have to use a spatula to keep pushing the hummus into the blade. BE CAREFUL not to catch the spatula on the blade. To be safe, turn off the blender first, move the hummus back over the blade, cover the pitcher, then turn back on. Repeat. Using a blender usually requires so much additional liquid to get it to process that it can be difficult to obtain the desired thickness/consitency. Because of the large amount (1 cup) of lemon juice, this will obviously make a very sour hummus, which some people prefer. A friend of mine doesn't like the lemon at all, so I just replace it with olive oil and water and then use just a splash of lemon juice as a preservative. NOTE on lemon juice: Some people are allergic to the preservatives (sodium bisulfite and or sodium benzoate) found in the lemon juice concentrate you get in the NON-refrigerated section of the grocery store. You can the the concentrated juice WITHOUT the preservatives in the frozen foods section. I've only seen in from Minute Made in a 7 ounce bottle that is in a black and yellow box - price around $1.50+. Note that it may not necessarily be located with the other juice concentrates and you may have to ask for it and many stores do not carry it. Crest Foods is the only local grocery where I've found it. You can adjust lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and salt to your taste preference. I like to use olive oil instead of water and LOTS more garlic, but your call. If you have a garlic press, go easy on the garlic - start out with half a clove at first and then modify to taste. Pressing, rather than chopping the garlic clove yields a much stronger garlic flavor because you expose a much larger surface area of the clove as opposed to just tossing a whole clove in. Trust me on this.... Other variations include incorporating roasted red peppers or roasted jalapeno peppers. You can usually buy the roasted red peppers in a jar, but the jalapenos you'll have to roast yourself. Go to http://www.cooks.com and search for "roasting peppers" for instructions. It is better if you can prepare this the day or several hours before you plan on serving it to allow all the flavors to develop properly. You may see some recipes that call for cummin (aka camino) spice. Use it if you like, but add it gradually as it can overpower the hummus. Try to get fresh tahini (or tahina) paste at a local Mediterranean, Greek, Arabic, or Indian specialty store - the commercial brands you get at the grocery stores can sometimes be exceptionally strong and too much can over- power your hummus, so add tahini gradually. In Oklahoma City, get supplies at Mediterranean Imports & Deli on the east side of N. May Ave. at NW 56th St. or Sweiss Brothers Pita Bakery on the west side of N. May Ave. around NW 16th St. Also Nunu's Mediterranean at 3131 W. Memorial Rd. - about 1/4 mile west of the May Ave. intersection. Tell Nunu that I sent you - I used to cook there. All owners are members of St. Elijah's. Also, the best pita bread I've found is made by the Sweis Brothers Bakery at 2115 N. May Ave. - west side of the road just south of the NW 23rd St. intersection. Nunu's sells it, but frequently runs out. If you plan on making a lot of hummus and or pita chips, it is probably a good idea to go to Sam's to get your olive oil as they have the best price, as usual. I use their brand, Member's Mark. Also buy your lemon juice at Sam's - if you use the non-refrigerated variety. For Christmas 2007 I received a Black & Decker 10-cup food processor, model FP1550T. It cost about $40-$50 and has PLENTY of power for a very reasonable price compared to most other popular food processors like Cuisinart and Kitchen Aid. The only thing I don't like about it is that it has a serrated-type blade which can't be sharpened, but most are like that anyway. As adapted by: Mark McGinness Oklahoma City Revision 20150720 Don't miss St. Elijah Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church's HUGE annual Mediterranean food festival every late October/ early November. Go mark your calendar now and listen to the radio and TV or check their website or call the Church directly for dates & times. Be sure to take the Church tour and see the exquisite Byzantine iconography. Many of the members make delicious desserts like this that are for sale in the "Culinary Cupboard," but they almost sell out the first day, so go early the first day of the festival for the best selection. http://www.stelijahokc.com On Facebook, search for "St. Elijah Annual Food Festival" http://www.antiochian.org http://www.ancientfaith.com 405-755-7804 SE corner of NW 150th and N. May Ave. And don't forget their sister church's festival every September: Greekfest at St. George Greek Orthodox Christian Church West side of N. Pennsylvania Ave. at NW 145th St. http://www.saintgeorgeokc.org/ http://greekfestokc.com/ http://www.goarch.org 405-751-1885 For great Mediterranean food like you get at the festival, eat at Nunu's Mediterranean Cafe and Market on westbound Memorial, 1/4 mile west of the May intersection. Nunu is a member of St. Elijah's as are most of the employees and I used to cook there - tell them I sent you. Warning - if you go during peak hours you'll have a good wait because the place is very popular. Saturdays are always busy and they are closed on Sunday. Hours: Mon-Sat: 11am-8pm, closed Sunday.