I figured this is as good a place as any for this.  Post your favorite recipes or ask for any recipe advice here.

I'll start by putting my hummus recipe here.  I'll put in more later.

• 1 788 g can chick peas drained & rinsed, can juices reserved
• 4-6 cloves garlic¹ crushed with the flat of a knife and tossed into the food processor
• 2/3 cups tahini
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• About a tsp of coarse sea salt, give or take (to taste)

Put the garlic, beans, tahini, lemon juice and oil into the food processor and beat it up a bit.  I then added in splashes of the bean juice water until the desired consistency was reached (about 1/2 cup) and the salt last to flavor it.  I then sample-tasted it heavily before putting it into a pyrex dish in the fridge with a thin layer of olive oil covering it.  Sooooo goooooood.

_{1 - there were some tiny ones in there, not sure how to count them}

Well, the recipe I was using didn't mention cumin and I didn't have any lying around.  I just wanted to make a flat one to start with.  I'm considering making either a roasted jalepeno or roasted red pepper one tonight. 

We've got a baby shower tomorrow and I'm bringing hummus for it.  Anyone know what I should bring with it?  I was thinking pita, celery, carrots, grape tomatoes and kalamata olives.

Right.  Bell peppers.  That's the one I was forgetting.  Thanks.

I'd love to do red bell peppers... but they generally sell for a premium and I live on a grad student stipend so that'll likely be a "no."  I'm not even sure I'll do the celery (why the hell is that expensive?).

"Homemade" Foccacia

• 1 frozen bread loaf
• Olive oil
• 4-6 Cloves of garlic (depending on your preference)
• 1 tsp rosemary
• More olive oil
• Salt to taste
• A bit more oil

So you start out by thawing the bread either overnight in a closed container in the fridge or by leaving it out for a few hours at room temp while draped with a damp cloth.  I find the fridge method works best so they bread doesn't develop a dry "crust" on the outside before you work it... but it's probably a matter of personal preference.  Once the bread has thawed, liberally coat with olive oil, knead a bit and flatten it out into roughly a foccacia shape.  Place it on an oiled cookie sheet on top of the oven and start preheating the oven to about 375 F.  Allow foccacia to rise for about 2 hours.

While the foccacia is rising take the garlic, rosemary, salt and about 1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil and mix them together in the method of your preference.  I prefer to beat the hell out of the garlic and spices in a mortar & pestle then add the oil in after.  If you want you can use a food processor to blend it all together.  One thing is certain, though: be sure to smash the garlic before adding it to the recipe so it releases its full flavor.  Allow the mixture to steep while the foccacia is rising.

After two hours is up lightly beat the foccacia back down into the proper shape (but don't overwork it, you want air in there) and leave finger pock-marks on the surface.  Spoon the oil and spices onto the loaf being sure to cover the entire surface more or less evenly with oil and being sure the garlic is spread around as well.  Put into the over for about 16-20 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown.  Don't let it go too long or you risk burning the garlic.  Allow the loaf to rest a few minutes, cut and serve warm.

I'd take a picture of it, but it seems to have a habit of disappearing almost instantaneously after coming out of the oven.  This one is really impressive if you have company over.

Sinic, I have a dumb question...what's tahini, and where will it be in the grocery store? And do you think the recipe will work with a blender? We don't have a food processor....

Awesome! Thanks, Aer. I have a certain boy I may make some for the next time he visits, he loves the stuff. 

Allegedly you can replace tahini with peanut butter, but I don't think they'd taste the same.  Maybe if you had some heavily flavored hummus that might work.

I was kicked back this evening cooking dinner and thought I would share a REALLY easy recipe.  I like to use this one with steaks when I am feeling lazy.   You can make this on the grill, in the oven or even set gently in an open fire and takes almost no kitchen skill whatsoever.  To serve about 2-3 people, you will need:

3-4 Large potatoes (I like gold, but any kind will do)
1 large onion
Garlic to taste
Margarine

1.  Cut up potatoes (peel if you like, but not required.  Skin-on potatoes are yummers)
2.  Peel and cut up onion
3.  Cut up enough garlic to get a tablespoon full or so (I use the pre-chopped in the jar for this one because it's so convenient)
4.  Tear off a couple of long pieces of Aluminum Foil and lay them on the counter side by side so they overlap about an inch.
5.  Place everything in on the center of the foil and add 3-4 tablespoons of margarine on the top
6.  If you want, add some salt and pepper or whatever spices you like.  I like a little grilling spice or Cajun spice, depending on what it's served with.
7.  Fold up the sides and fold the ends over to form a little pouch.  If you misjudged the foil, just pull off some more and add it.  Just make sure it is relatively sealed to hold in some steam.
8.  Toss on the grill or in the oven for 30 - 45 minutes

That's really it.  This is about 10 minutes of prep and that's it.  If I do it in the oven, I put it on a cookie sheet just in case some margarine leaks out the bottom.   

Another incredibly easy to make recipe, and one that DOESN'T involve the WEEeeeeeed.

Simple to bake, Butter Biscuits.

• 1 cp Flour
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 3/4 cp milk
• 2 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mix dry ingredients - add butter until it's nice and crumbly (where is dry enough to pick up a handful and squish it in your hand and it retains shape) add milk slowly till you get a firm, slightly moisty mixutre, then roll out thickly and cut it into circles using a tea cup.  Place them on a baking sheet (grease it if you like, though, mine just slide right off) and then bake in a heated oven at 350 or 375, whatever tempertaure you prefer.  And take them out in about 10 minutes.  Sometimes less then that, sometimes a little more.  It all depends on the hot spots of your oven, and how thick you roll them.

This recipe is really interchangeable.  I once added about 1/2 cup of Brown sugar + a couple've handfuls of oats (adding a little more milk to the mixture to compensate) and made them that way.  I also doubled the recipe (this kinda recipe is great for increasing exponentially, and easy to accomodate) and added roasted garlic, parsley, and chopped fried ham with a small brick of white cheddar and made them that way . . . experiment with it.  It's VERY versatile.

That's for you Gimli!  I said I'd get it to you one way or another!

Wait.  So you don't mix the flour with anything before baking it?  If you're not incorporating the baking powder throughout the mixture how's it supposed to rise?  I've never heard of that kind of a baking recipe before so I'm rather curious.

Homemade Granola (modified from this)

3 Cups rolled oats
1 Cup slivered almonds
1 Cup halved cashews
3/4 Cup sweetened coconut
1/3 Cup light brown sugar
1/4 Cup canola oil
1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup (3 fl oz)
Approx 1 tbsp Molasses
Big pinch of salt
Raisins (I used 3 individual sized boxes)

Heat oven to 250 F.  Mix together the oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, syrup, salt and molasses (I just used one big squeeze).  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread mixture evenly across the parchment.  Cook for 1 hr 15 min being sure to stir the mixture every 15 minutes to insure even cooking/browning.  Once done cooking remove from the oven and sprinkle with raisins while still warm then mix to evenly distribute.  Allow granola to cool then put into airtight containers.

So far it looks really good (and tastes good), but I'm going to bring some into the lab today to see what other people think.