Steve's Hummus Recipe

Ingredients:

1lb dried garbanzo beans

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 medium onion, peeled & halved

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

4 bay leaves

1 bulb of garlic

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

300g tahini (about 10 ozs or 1 1/4 cups)

1. Soak the beans overnight in water with the salt and the baking soda. Drain and rinse
2. Add the beans, onion, carrots celery and bay leaves with around 4 quarts of water, enough to cover the beans and then some
3. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. You may need to skim the foam from the top as the water comes to a boil so that the bay leaves are actually in the water, not sitting on top
4. Simmer until the beans are very soft, about two hours. I take a couple of spoonfuls of beans out after about 30 minutes to use as garnish. Check the water level occasionally and top up if the beans are getting dry.
5. While the beans are cooking, make the garlic tahini sauce as follows:
1. Separate the garlic into individual cloves and remove as much of the papery skin as will come off as you do so. You can peel the garlic cloves completely, but I don't usually bother as everything ends up in the blender anyway. 
2. In a blender (preferably) or food processor, add the garlic cloves, lemon juice, cumin and tahini and process, adding enough water as you go to keep the mixture loose. You're looking for a texture that will make ribbons when you dip a spoon into it. The exact amount of water will vary with the kind of tahini you are using, so there's no exact quantity. Blend until very smooth, as smooth as you can get it.
6. When the beans are ready, discard the onion, celery and bay leaves, but keep the carrot. Drain, reserving the cooking water.
7. Add the beans/carrot mix to the blender/food processor and process until smooth, adding a little of the cooking water to make a creamy texture. If your processor can't hold all the beans in one go, just make two batches and mix together at the end. The mixture will firm up a little as it cools, so bear that in mind when you're mixing
8. Salt to taste, and set aside to cool. 
9. Serve in a bowl with some of the reserved garbanzos sprinkled on top and a splash of olive oil. I peel the garbanzos by rubbing them between my fingers, but it's not essential, I just think it looks better.
10. Garnish with whatever spice takes your fancy, ras al hanout, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, coriander all work well but any flavor that you like will work just great.