Keftedes & hummus

The other day (Saturday?) Chris decided to try his hand at making keftedes, those delicious little fried Greek meatballs which are equally good served hot or cold. He's always liked them but having them at Greek Easter at my aunt's house reminded him just how much he liked them, and he decided that he wanted my mother's recipe. One phone call and a trip to Victory market later, we were set. I was surprised to note that my mother's recipe calls for crushed saltines rather than milk-soaked bread, but I won't argue because they taste great.

(recipe to follow)

*****

Last night, knowing that I'd be taking the last few keftedes to work with me for lunch, I decided that I wanted some hummus to dip them in. Ingredients? A can of chickpeas (water reserved), three or four teaspoons of tahini, some salt, lemon juice, 3-4 cloves of garlic, tabasco sauce, ground cumin, ground corriander, paprika, parsley, and a dash of olive oil. Whipping the tahini at the beginning with some reserved chickpea water and lemon juice gives the end result an amazingly fluffy texture, which allows you to cut down the amount of oil used in the dip - I poured a thin stream in at one point, but mostly saved it for a drizzled garnish at the end. I don't normally add any parsley, but I had some on hand thanks to Chris' craving for keftedes, although I have to admit that it didn't really do much for the flavour of the dish. My first experiences with hummus included a "sixty pepper" hummus, so the tabasco is a nod to that preference (I don't think I go overboard in this deparment since it's not nearly as noticable as the garlic or lemon, or even the tahini).

The results? Chris claims he "doesn't really like hummus" and said that he didn't want any, but pretty soon he was taking my mini tostitos away from me and dunking them in the hummus, and ate enough for me to say that yes, he does indeed like hummus! I'd post some pics, but I've already finished it off along with the keftedes. This, combined with a delicious lemony pilaf Chris made the other night, made for a very satisfying lunch!