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I have been making hummus for quite awhile now, and I've learned a few things that result in a better-than-Sabra (or at least as good) product.

Most important:

1. Used dried beans/peas. Soak overnight.
2. Cook beans until fairly soft. Reserve a bit of the cooking water.
3. PEEL the beans. Tedious, yes, but the texture can't be beat.

Everything else:

1. Homemade tahini is great, but any commercial tahini works perfectly as long as it's fresh. Tahini goes rancid pretty quickly. Make sure it's fresh.
2. You always need more lemon juice than the recipe calls for.
3. You probably also need more olive oil than the recipe calls for.
4. If you can't get it to a smooth enough texture in the food processor, push it through a fine-mesh strainer. Again, a bit tedious, but it's all about that smooooth texture.
5. If the hummus is too thick for your taste, thin it with a bit of the cooking water.
6. Adjust seasoning with salt, cumin, lemon juice, paprika, before serving.

That's it. Of course hummus lends itself to endless variations, but I still prefer the classic recipe.

Happy Chickpea Peeling!

Tony

I'm with Lorenzo all the way on this one. I currently live in Oregon, and with few exceptions the ONLY burrito you can get here is the SF style, and it's just not my thing. Unless you're specifically ordering a bean burrito, there should be no rice OR beans in a burrito. Those are side dishes. A real burrito is mean, maybe some guac or salsa, in a tortilla. That's it. It should taste of its protein, not of bland rice and (usually) bland beans. Maybe it's the San Diego in me, but I can't fathom truly enjoying the SF version.

Meatless Mexican? For shame. Fie. A pox on your house.

Boylan's is hands down my favorite.

Tu Lan, off Market St. Cockroaches and all.

My chicken stock always gels. I use mostly wings (you need a lot more than you think you do).

Bayless or Batali for sure. Oh wait, David Chang too! Can I invite them all?

Eat more pork.

Do any San Diego old-timers remember Doodleburger?

I can get an Orange Julius, Clearly Canadian, and Capri sun easily--a five minute walk for any of them.

My 25 year old mass market paperback edition of Marcella Hazan's _Classic Italian Cooking." I've been using it since I was 12!

Hahaha...Buckethead, you beat me to it.

Adam,

That's exactly what I'm talking about. Pietro's (I don't even think there are any Pietro's left, actually), Abby's, Papa's (not Papa John's--Papa's, regional chain with about 7 locations), Tracktown, and several other Eugene/Salem area joints all serve pizza that is more or less the same. As I mentioned before, it's really a crust issue, though most of the chains mentioned keep the toppings pretty standard. Most of the "Oregon" pizza I mention also tends to be a bit heavy on the sauce.