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.
