Hummus By Numbers

Lisa says her favorite stand at our local farmers market is the guy who hawks hummus, pita and sauces. And our buddy Lisa is onto something: The jalapeno hummus is sweet, the black bean & cilantro stuff’s a little bastardized. But the chipotle-garlic hummus is fucked-up good.
Still, we couldn’t help but chime in that buying hummus is a bit of a rip-off when you can make the stuff much cheaper. That got us thinking two things a) man, we wish we had some chipotle-garlic hummus that we didn’t have to share, and b) would making hummus really save us that much dough? The hummus by numbers was on… Hummus man charges $3 for a smallish 12-ounce dish. We squeezed out 2 cups of the potent stuff for, well, about $7 thanks to the high-caliber cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, but if we re-sold it at a farmers market, well…
Chipotle Hummus

2 cans chickpeas
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1/8 cup tahini sauce
5 chipotle peppers (in adobo sauce)
1 lemon
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup water
1 tsp. red chile powder
1. Open cans of chickpeas, drain, rinse and let sit.
2. Place a small saucepan on medium heat, add half of the olive oil and four of the six whole cloves of peeled garlic to the pan (save the rest of the oil and garlic for the end). Roast for 10 minutes until cloves are slightly brown, but not burnt. Remove from heat.
3. Combine chickpeas, tahini, garlic oil, chipotle peppers, juice of 1 lemon and vinegar. Using a processor or handheld mixer, pulse mixture thoroughly for several minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining two cloves of fresh garlic cloves, another 1/8 cup olive oil (you should have 1/8 cup left for garnish) and finally 1/8 cup of water to help the mixing along.
4. Pour hummus into a serving dish and use a spatula to create a smooth surface. Top with remaining oil and a dusting of red chil powder. Serve with hot pita chips.
Beverage: Rogue’s Chipotle Ale
Soundtrack: Mercury Rev’s “I Collect Coins”