Ho, Ho, Hummus?

One of the things that has been a revelation to me this year is... hummus.

I went into a Armenian cafe and decided to try a Mezzeh (I'm not sure of the spelling). I asked the guy behind the counter what each dish tasted of and he suggested that he provide a dish of each item so that we (as a family) could try everything. Brilliant, I thought. Well, lots of dishes appeared with spiced lamb, onion bhajis, coated chicken, various salad items, spiced beef... and hummus.

I have never had hummus before and let's face it 'chickpea dip' doesn't sound very appetising but I tried it and it instantly became one of my favourite foods.

Now, you can buy it in pots from the supermarket but I decided to try to make some myself. I am a reasonable cook so I didn't think it would be a problem so I started soaking some chickpeas and assembled all my ingredients for the next day. Bear in mind that I am not familiar with using chickpeas... hence, I ended up with a kilogram of nicely soaked chickpeas.

I thought I'd skin half and leave the rest so that I could try two different textures. After cooking and assembling, I now have two bowls full of hummus. Unfortunately, it doesn't taste like the hummus I had at the cafe but it tastes OK in a 'health food' sort of way. What I will be doing is experimenting with the paste I have created and will be adding different flavours to see if I can zaz it up a bit. It certainly hasn't been a waste of time and I reckon I can freeze some of it for later (there is no WAY I could eat all that before it dies). I have tried mayonnaise with it and it works well... as does yoghurt but I am going to try some Worcester sauce and maybe a little mustard and cream... it really is funny what you do when you are on your own!

Oh, go on then... here is what I have also been working on:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, I have finished another five basic Forgefathers and have painted a test-scheme for the berserker. I am not keen on the lighter shade of armour so the next one will have the same colour as the basic troops. I have painted the skin green to represent the chemicals coursing through his body... and seeing as he looks a bit 'Hulk'-like, I painted his tabard purple. He is armed with a heat-hammer so I painted it to look hot.

I have painted a little bit on the diorama miniatures but not enough to show off... maybe later.

See you from the starting blocks!