Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2009

Chef's Corner: Schedule time to prepare hummus

Sylvia Saad prides herself in her cooking. The owner and chef of Mario’s Restaurant & Pub on Broadway says she’d never serve customers anything she wouldn’t feed her family.

Saad, who was born in Jerusalem, knows her customers. She cooks, waits on tables and talks to everyone who walks in the restaurant. She and her husband, George, moved to Columbus 30 years ago. The restaurant is named for their second-born son, Mario, who renovated the space above his father’s clothing store.

Saad demonstrates how to make hummus in an online video at www.ledger-enquirer.com.

She says that making hummus is easy but takes a long time to prepare.

Here is the recipe:

HUMMUS

1 package dried garbanzo beans (available in most grocery stores)

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon tahini (ground sesame seed paste, available in most grocery stores)

1/4 cup lemon juice

Quarter of a bunch of parsley, chopped fine

Dash of salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Paprika

Mediterranean pickles

Greek olives

Pita bread

Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl (the beans will swell, so make sure the bowl is a big one).

Rinse the beans and put in a saucepan and refill with water. Add one tablespoon of baking soda.

Cook the beans for at least an hour over medium heat. Make sure the beans are tender.

Drain the cooked beans and put it in a food processor.

Add the garlic, tahini, lemon juice and salt and process until it turns into a paste-like consistency.

Scrape the hummus on a plate or in a bowl.

Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika (mainly for color, Saad says), Mediterranean (or American dill) pickle wedges, chopped parsley, Greek olives and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Serve with wedges of pita bread, available in most grocery stores.