If there is one cookbook you need in your kitchen, it is Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking by @mikesolomonov and Steven Cook. From beginning to end, it is a visual journey of mouthwatering deliciousness that will make you want to run out to the store and buy the ingredients to make ALL of the recipes. Next on my list to make from this volume of food porn is the hummus tehina.
INGREDIENTS
1 head of garlic
¾ cup lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
1 ½ tsps kosher salt
1 11oz container of Soom Premium Tahini
½ tsp ground cumin
Small bowl of ice water
Makes about 4 cups
DIRECTIONS
Break up the head of garlic with your hands, letting the unpeeled cloves fall into a blender. Add the lemon juice and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Blend on high for a few seconds until you have a coarse purée. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to let the garlic mellow.
Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large mixing bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Add the tehina to the strained lemon juice in the bowl, along with the cumin and 1 teaspoon of the salt.
Whisk the mixture together until smooth (or use a food processor), adding ice water, a few tablespoons at a time, to thin it out. The sauce will lighten in color as you whisk. When the tehina seizes up or tightens, keep adding ice water, bit by bit (about 1 ½ cups in total), whisking energetically until you have a perfectly smooth, creamy, thick sauce.
Taste and add up to 1 ½ teaspoons more salt and cumin if you like. If you’re not using the sauce immediately, whisk in a few tablespoons of ice water to loosen it before refrigerating. The tehina sauce will keep a week refrigerated, or it can be frozen up to a month.
