Cumin and Current Hummus with Fresh Pita, Two Ways

Walton Ford, b. 1960
Dirty Dick Burton’s Aide de Camp, 2002
Watercolor, Gauche, Ink and Pencil on Paper, 59 1/2 x 40 in.
American Naturalist + Satirist Painter

I adore hummus. Whenever I’m out to eat and see it offered as an appetizer, I invariably order it because everyone seems to have their own interpretation. Some load theirs to the gills with garlic, leaving you with dragon breath for days, while others are much more subtle in their approach by keeping the ratio of ingredients balanced but adding a flash of spices to kick start your taste buds. I’m definitely much more subtle in my approach, where harmony is king and cumin, cayenne, and plump currents are my rock star additions. Naturally, because everyone has their own opinion about what makes a truly good hummus, all I will ask of you is have you ever tried it with cumin and currents? If not, this unlikely combination will be sure to surprise even the harshest of critics.

My homemade pita, made two ways, was a true labor of love. As you all know, in gluten free baking, when you add yeast to the equation, it creates a completely different set of very difficult challenges. In standard baking, the gluten proteins act like a rubber band. When yeast is added to this band, as the yeast expands, the band expands with it, stretching to incredible limits, resulting in all those gorgeous loaves of bread. Gluten free bread making is the elimination of that rubber band-leaving you with nothing to expand in tandem with the yeast, resulting in a dense, bitter, crumbly mess. So how does one make a yeast bread with no rubber band?

After four non-stop days of development that included mastering the art of proofing yeast, ten prototypes-seven of which had to be thrown out completely, and an unwavering will, I finally came up with two recipes that taste, according to my gluten-eating friends/taste testers, “EXACTLY like the real thing.”

So roll up your sleeves and have a moment of joy in the kitchen! You’ll be blown away with your own success.

Cumin and Current Hummus

1 cup dried organic chickpeas
1/2 cup organic lemon juice
2 cloves organic garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup filtered water
2 tablespoons organic safflower oil
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 teaspoon organic cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon organic cumin, ground
organic olive oil for serving
scant 2/3 cup organic currents

Soak the chickpeas overnight in a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, covered with a tight fitting lid.

The next day, add an additional 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to the water and boil the chickpeas until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the chickpeas.

Add the lemon juice, garlic, and salt to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until smooth. Add the chickpeas and water and again pulse until smooth. Add the safflower oil, tahini, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Mix till smooth. Salt to taste.

Pour the hummus into a large glass bowl and then stir in the currents. Transfer to your serving bowl or plate, bore out a crater in the center of the hummus and fill with olive oil. Garnish with a shake or two of cayenne and additional currents. Serve with fresh pita cut into triangles.

Will keep refrigerated in an airtight glass container for up to a week and a half.

Photos by Knoxy

Pita Bread, Two Ways

The trick to this bread is successfully proofing, or checking the viability of, the yeast. The water temperature is crucial here, so don’t get frustrated if the yeast doesn’t grow on your first try. If the water is just barely too cold, it kills the yeast. If it’s just barely too warm, it will have the same effect. It took me five proofs before I got it down, so don’t loose heart if it’s not a success after your first try. To do this, in a small glass bowl, add 1/2 teaspoon of gluten free active dry yeast to 1 1/2 teaspoons just barely warm water (~94 degrees F), with 1/4 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Whisk to smooth. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. The yeast should more than double in size.

For Way One:

1/2 teaspoon gluten free active dry yeast, proofed
1/4 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/4 cup organic millet flour
1/4 cup gluten free oat flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
2 teaspoons guar gum
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons finely shaved parmesan cheese
scant 3/4 cup lukewarm filtered water

1 organic egg white
2 tablespoons organic olive oil

Combine all the dry ingredients, except the salt, in the bowl of your stand up mixer and whisk to amalgamate. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and add the dough hook attachment. Add the proofed yeast and begin mixing on the lowest setting. Add the lukewarm water, scrapping down the flour into the water and resume mixing on medium low speed. Now add the salt, parmesan cheese and then the egg white. Raise the mixing speed to medium high, add the olive oil and continue to mix on medium high for 5-7 minutes.

The dough will be very soft, but this is exactly what you want. Using a pastry scrapper, transfer the dough to a counter generously dusted with glutinous rice flour.

Dust the top of the dough with additional glutinous rice flour and knead the dough, by pulling the dough from the back to the front, until it is smooth. The dough will be sticky at the fore and will finish as a smooth ball.

Grease a glass bowl with just enough olive oil to slick the surface. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover it with a flour cloth. Place the bowl in a non-draft area of your kitchen and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours and has more than doubled in volume.

Don’t punch the dough down. Instead, using a pastry scrapper, turn the dough onto a counter generously dusted with glutinous rice flour and knead at least 21 times. The dough should again be a smooth disk.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Using a bench knife, quarter the dough. Shape each quarter into a ball. Dust a standard jelly roll pan with glutinous rice flour.

On your dusted counter, using only the heel of your hand, gently shape the dough into a flat disk no more than 7 inches in diameter. The dough is very delicate, so transfer to your prepared pan with a bench knife or pastry scrapper. Repeat with the remaining three balls of dough.

Bake at 500 degrees for eleven minutes exactly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan until you can handle the pita.

For Way Two:

Make in the exact same fashion as Way One, just substitute 1 tablespoon of the glutinous rice flour with flax flour. When you bake Way Two, the pita will puff up into little pillow, making them ideal for filling as a pita sandwich. Both Ways are incredibly delicious with the hummus.

To serve the pita, quarter each round with a very sharp knife.

Will store in parchment paper bags for two days.

Each Way Serves 4

Milton H. Greene, 1922-1985
Richard Burton, New York, 1960
American Fashion & Celebrity Photographer