The Fuzzy Chef & Friends

I make a lot of middle eastern food, especially lately.  Turkish, Israeli, Syrian, Bulgarian, Greek, Persian, you name it.  Partly it's because I find middle eastern food is adaptable to many dietary requirements, especially non-meat.  Partly it's because it's healthful.  Partly it's because I own a lot of really good middle eastern cookbooks.

However, a lot of those recipes require special ingredients.  And in the Bay Area, the absolute best place to get those is Alhana in San Mateo.  More ... 

I just got a request for this again on the bulletin board, so I thought I'd post it to make it easy to find. This is a non-traditional hummus, but very tasty and popular. I created the recipe by improving one I got out of The 30-Minute Vegetarian Gourmet in 1991, and have refined it over the 80 or so times I've made it over the last 17 years. In fact, this version is slightly different from the one I posted on CooksIllustrated 3 years ago.

This recipe makes about a quart of hummus. It keeps in the fridge for 7-10 days and freezes reasonably well, though, so there's no reason not to make a bunch and save some for later.

This is a classic (and healthful) Turkish side dish, and even people who normally eschew whole grains will find it irresistable.  Combined with Daughter-in-Law Soup and salad, or some kebabs, it becomes a whole meal.  I made it for the annual CooksIllustrated gathering in June -- CI people will see a couple corrections to the recipe.

For the non-Americans reading this, Thanksgiving is the food bonanza of US holidays. There's really nothing to the holiday except a big meal with family, and I love it, because it gives me a chance to cook things which would be far too much effort for just about any other meal.

Now, most people know Thanksgiving as "Turkey Day" and the whole meal centers around 15 pounds of roasted or deep-fried bird. However, I don't like meat, and my in-laws have never cared much for turkey. So for the last 5 years I've been preparing very non-standard Thanksgiving dinners. Since my wife gave me a couple of Paula Wolfert cookbooks this year, my theme was "near eastern cooking" and I plunged in with my mother-in-law as sous chef and my wife on dessert.