By Graham Bremner 
I’m on a budget, okay. Who’s not these days?
I’m not letting that get in the way of eating well. Sure, I’m going for beans as a low priced source of protein, but I’ve put it on a beautiful hunk of bread with nice goat cheese. And voila, it epitomizes what the French know about food. Care, not money, makes food taste good.
So, as a lot of study (Julia Child, Mark Bittman’s story about no-knead bread in New York) I make a great baguette. And forget it, you’ll have to do the work yourself. My recipe’s a secret.
And the beans I’m using are chick peas (garbanzo beans). After buying a pound of them for $1.65 and using about 1/8 of a pound in this recipe, I can’t believe anyone hands over $4.5 for a tiny plastic tub of hummus.
Here’s a recipe that I’m happy not to keep secret because it’s so easy and inexpensive. Now if I only own a goat …
Garlic Hummus
1 1/2 cup chick peas dried
3 cloves of garlic, warmed in the oven
2 tablespoons of tahini
3 pinches of salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
olive oil, enough to make it smooth about 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Soak chickpeas over night in warm water with a big pinch of salt.
Next day, make sure they are covered by at least an inch water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 to 8 minute (that’s all!). You might want to give them a little more time if you’re mashing them by hand.
First, mash or blend together the tahini, salt, vinegar and warmed garlic, it should be soft and easy to mash. Slowly add in chick peas, water and oil in equal parts in order to keep everything mixing, more oil than water if possible.
The Hummus Goat-cheese Sandwich:
Split a chunk of baguette and pan toast the halves in olive-oil in a pan.
Spread hummus and goat cheese each on it’s own half. Cover and turn off the heat, let the cheese melt and put it together.
Serve with your favorite spinach salad or chips and salsa, if you’re not into the whole low-carb thing.