Walnut butter ... tomato... curried... hummus????

Today was one of those days where I create a complete kerfuffle in the kitchen.  A day where I start with a recipe in mind, and then snowball in to something completely different.

I decided I was going to make something with a homemade walnut butter, still inspired by this months Daring Cook challenge.  I didn't have a lot of walnuts though.  So I started making the butter and decided that it was not enough.  I see sage and walnut butter go well together so I put in sage.  In my hurry it turned out that I put in thyme, which was next to the sage.   So then I put in some sage also.   My blender is working so hard, but the butter is just not forming because it is a grandmother of a blender with the torque of a cooked noodle.  So, as the snowball continues,  I threw in the last of my table cream.  I thought, walnut sage butter.. thyme.. cream sauce?

I tasted it.  It wasn't terrible by any means, but it didn't have a wow.  Or even a "let me lick the spoon again."   So, I think to myself, maybe I should add more vegetables.  Before I know it i've dumped in the remaining pint of grape tomatoes I desperately need to use up.   I blend that down and it tastes just TOO tomato-ey.    Over powering tomato.  Gross!  So I think to myself, what goes well with tomatoes?

Salt.... Pepper....  Basil... Those go in..  Then? Curry powder??  Seemed like a good idea at the time so I put in the curry powder and blended down.   Still, way too tomato-ey.   So, I add some spice.   I put in some of my spicy fajita seasoning.   Obviously, this doesn't counter the tomato taste.  Then it comes to me.  What do I always use to cut through an overpowering taste that I don't like? GINGER!  So I throw in a teaspoon of minced ginger and voila! Fixed!

Not exactly.  Though if finally did taste a lot better, I couldn't stop myself from continuing in my snowball.   I open my pantry doors and what do I espy? Chick peas!   So I dump in a can of chick peas, but what do you always need if you're going to blend down chick peas? Garlic.  So in goes two cloves of garlic.

I cross my fingers thinking, this is kind of like a hummus with all the chickpeas.   I dip in my spoon and taste, and what do I find?  Deliciousness!  How wonderful!  So here is my approximate recipe!  Yes, don't mind the massive amount of ingredients, its as I said.  Just one of those snowball days.

Walnut curried tomato hummus

• 1 cup walnuts


• 2 tbsp olive oil


• 1/4 tsp thyme


• 1/4 tsp sage


• splash of balsamic vinegar


• 1 tsp spicy fajita seasoning


• 1 pint grape tomatoes


• 2-3 tbsp table cream


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1/4 tsp basil


• 1 tsp curry powder


• 1 tsp minced ginger


• 1 can chick peas


• 2 cloves garlic

Blend all.  Or read my incessant ramblings above.  I'm quite sure as long as you grind down the walnuts first, you should be in the clear.

Now, before I sound too biased, being a self made recipe that I myself enjoy, I did test it on my family.  Their verdict was,  it was good!  It could use more garlic in my opinion, but the reason I didn't put in that much is because the longer something sits with garlic in it, the more the garlic starts to take over the flavour.  I figured this might be in the fridge for a week, imagine the garlic taste by then!  The problem with their verdict is though , that no one in this family is quite used to hummus.  So I tested it on my father, and he said "yea it doesn't taste bad. I just have to get used to this type of food".  Which means, hummus isn't traditional old Czech, therefore out of his food-comfort range.  Obviously.  I need to find someone with hummus experience to taste it.