High’s Café is located in Comfort, Texas (about twenty-three miles south of Fredericksburg). In addition to their tasty sandwiches and homemade soups, friends Brent and Denise make the best hummus ever. A wonderful informal party appetizer, hummus is easy to make, healthy, and a favorite for kids and adults alike. I serve it with toasted pita wedges and either carrot or celery sticks (or both) for dipping.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 3 cups

　　

Hummus

2 (16-ounce) cans chickpeas (about 4 cups), rinsed and drained

　　1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (about 3 medium cloves)

　　1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

　　1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

　　2 teaspoons kosher salt

　　1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

　　2 tablespoons tahini

　　6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

　　2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, for garnish

　　Greek olives, for garnish

　　Chopped fresh tomatoes, for garnish

　　

Pita Crisps

8 white or whole wheat pita pockets

　　About 1/4 cup olive oil, for brushing

　　Kosher salt, for sprinkling

　　

Step 1

TO MAKE THE HUMMUS: Combine the chickpeas, garlic, cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika, salt, lemon juice, and tahini in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add just enough olive oil through the feed tube to get the mixture turning, usually about 2 tablespoons. (Too much oil at the beginning will prevent the finer pieces of chickpea from grinding smoothly, creating a coarse blend.) Scrape down the sides. Run the processor until the chickpeas are ground completely. Once the mixture is smooth, slowly add up to 4 tablespoons more olive oil to achieve a silky consistency. The folks at High’s say, “Run your machine a long time. We almost whip it.” I let the machine run for another 3 minutes or so. Spoon the hummus into a serving bowl; set aside.

　　

Step 2

TO MAKE THE PITA CRISPS: Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a knife, slit open the pitas along their edges and pull each apart into 2 rounds. With a pastry brush, lightly paint both sides of each pita half with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with salt and cut each round into 8 wedges. Lay the pita wedges in a single layer on baking sheets. Bake until light golden brown and crisp, about 10 minutes.

　　

Step 3

To serve, drizzle olive oil over the hummus and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Accompany with pita crisps, Greek olives, and chopped fresh tomatoes.

　　

tip

Step 4

Tahini is made by pulverizing sesame seeds into a paste with a consistency similar to peanut butter. Many regular grocery stores stock tahini, so ask for help if you can’t easily find it yourself, or try stores that specialize in Middle Eastern food.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.