Recipe: Hummus

In our house, hummus is an absolute staple. Obe’s father was Lebanese so he grew up eating a lot of Middle Eastern dishes, and I have always been a bit of a bean freak (especially after being a vegetarian throughout my teenage years). Now, I typically make a batch every week, never really using a recipe but always using the same basic formula and a couple of neat tricks that make it extra-delicious. Our two-year-old daughter gobbles it up, it’s a great source of protein and healthy fat, and it truly has a ton of uses!

When Chris from the Denver Public Library reached out to us to see if we wanted to do a cooking video, hummus was the first thing that came to mind. Not only do I love sharing recipes with people, but I love teaching lesser-known techniques that help make cooking easier, so I’m thrilled to be able to share this simple recipe as well as the video tutorial with everybody!

So, if you’ve ever made hummus before you might be wondering - why is there baking soda in this recipe? This is a trick I learned a few years back (from the great and wonderful Yotam Ottolenghi) that has actually been rather life-changing. When you add baking soda, it makes the water more alkaline which in turn breaks down the pectic bond in the skins of the chickpeas. Cook them long enough and they will start to fall apart, which makes them absolutely perfect for yielding the creamiest, dreamiest hummus you will ever make.

Hummus

Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas (yields about 3 cups, cooked)
1 tsp (or so) baking soda
3/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
the zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Place dried chickpeas in a medium pot and cover with water. Agitate the beans to loosen any dirt/debris. Tilt the pan so all the chickpeas nestle into the bottom corner, then pour the water off. Rinse the beans in this way one or two times more, then cover with water again, at least 1/2 an inch or so above the beans. Place pot on stove over high heat and bring water and chickpeas to a boil. Add baking soda. Let water boil for a couple minutes and use a slotted spoon to skim off any grayish or white foam that may appear on the water’s surface.

Reduce heat to lowest setting and cover pot. Allow beans to cook until they have visibly broken down (the water will turn a dark, toasty brown color and the beans will begin to split into pieces). Cooking time can vary a bit depending on the chickpeas and how fresh they are, but I find 2 1/2 hours is usually perfect.

Reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid and set aside. Drain chickpeas and place in food processor. Add remaining ingredients and puree together in the food processor. Once mixture is uniform, leave the food processor on and slowly drizzle in a little of the reserved cooking liquid, until the hummus reaches the consistency desired. I like mine a little on the thin side (remember that it firms up a bit once you cool it down in the fridge) so it’s very creamy and spreadable, so typically I end up using about 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then continue to blend for two or three minutes, until the hummus is luxuriously smooth and creamy. Transfer to a container with a lid and store, sealed, in the fridge. Hummus will last upwards of a week.

Order in Chaos

Safety first!

We are cleaning and sanitizing like

your Grandma’s life depended on it…

because it might.

If you’ve ever worked in food service before, you may have been surprised by all the recent infographics and articles circulating about how, specifically, to wash your hands in order to prevent the spread of disease. Like, people don’t know how to wash their hands?! Personally, I have been singing the ABCs while scrubbing under my always-very-short fingernails since long before anybody had heard anything about COVID-19. It’s pretty much second nature to anybody working in a restaurant (or a bar, or a coffee shop, or a hospital or doctor’s office, for that matter). After very nearly two decades working in this industry, I’ve been through countless health department inspections, my training has included ServSafe certification, Food Handler’s certification, and I’ve gone through the rigorous training programs of many different food markets, restaurants and coffee shops. So, in short, we definitely got this!

In addition to being well-versed in proper safety and sanitation practices, I also happen to have an auto-immune disorder which places me in the ominous category of “high-risk.” So, it is very personal to me to ensure that our business is a clean, safe and healthy environment for our team and our guests. Frankly, it always has been, because despite this new viral threat there are the ever-present threats of food-borne illnesses to combat, which is why hand washing technique and other safety and sanitation practices are taught and practiced at every restaurant in America. Interestingly, Shigellosis (an acute infection of the intestine) alone causes about 600,000 deaths annually worldwide, 60,000 of which are attributed to food borne transmission. People’s lives have always been at stake and we have always known and respected that fact. Knowing that, I feel perfectly confident, even as an immunocompromised individual, in ordering take-out from any restaurant right now.

It is also worth mentioning that experts believe transmission of the coronavirus through food is unlikely. The risk is with person to person contact more than anything else. Even the Wall Street Journal has stated in a recent article, “Doctors say ordering food is generally safer than going to a grocery store or a restaurant, because you come into contact with fewer people. “Ordering at home may be the best way to get food,” says Andrew Janowski, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “Simply because there [are fewer] people.””

So, I wanted to make sure that anybody who was worried, scared, or at the very least curious could find some reassuring information here. WE ARE TAKING EVERY MEASURE POSSIBLE TO ENSURE YOUR (AND OUR!) SAFETY. Here’s how:
- Only completely asymptomatic team members are allowed to work.
- We now only staff two people MAX in the kitchen at once
- We also only staff two people MAX in the front of house at once
- All high-traffic surfaces such as countertops, door handles, and POS tablets are being disinfected at least every 30 minutes
- Every hand washing station also has hand sanitizer to ensure optimized cleanliness
- Every single one of our team members has their Food Handler’s certification, and our last team-wide training mandate was this past February, so the information is fresh in all our minds.
- All food and package handling is done with washed AND gloved hands (even in areas where gloves are not typically mandated such as mixing drinks)
- As long as the weather is warm enough, we will offer walk-up window service (from the patio bar window) so that those ordering carry-out can do so without actually coming on premise.
- We consulted with a physician on all our sanitation practices to ensure we were taking every measure possible to create an environment that is inhospitable for any virus, Corona or otherwise.

We are all in this together and it is a trying time for us all. The restaurant industry has been hit incredibly hard by the mandated closures, despite still being able to offer delivery and carry-out services, and many of us feel scared of what the future may hold. It’s a bit eery working in a big restaurant full of tables and chairs and not being able to welcome anybody to sit and stay awhile. It goes against our very nature as hospitality workers to not be able to serve our guests. However, we find that creating some order amidst all this chaos helps us all cope and makes us feel safe in these troubling times. Hopefully, if you visit us for carry-out or call us for delivery you can feel confident knowing that our team is working tirelessly to not only keep the people of Denver well-fed, but safe, too. Because our lives, and our livelihoods, depend on it!

Whitney Ariss, Co-Owner, The Preservery

We will Carry On and Carry Out!

Empty.

Like a purpose, unfulfilled…

To not be able to host our guests in this big, beautiful room has left me feeling deeply sad. But, not only sad. Also grateful, for all the folks who have stopped by to get a meal and show support. And in awe of the team for showing up full of good energy and also, pissed off that all of us, in the industry and beyond, are pretty much on our own with this unprecedented crisis. That is, those who have strong support systems will be alright and those who are not privileged will suffer the most.

We all feel like underdogs in the restaurant world. Whether you graduated from an esteemed culinary school or you’ve just been cooking since you were a toddler, those who have been doing it forever and those who are new to this world - we are one. We all had that close relative who was like, “When are you getting a real job?” and maybe some of us even tried to get out, to get a real job, only to find that we were unable to do anything else - for the love, for the obsession, for the creativity, for the access to ample food and beverage. We can’t stay away because we are the ones who need to be of service. And suddenly our very livelihood has been ripped away.

The choices we make now are critical. It’s time to prove we are made of strong enough stuff to withstand more than we thought we could take. Truly, we are all in this together and it’s time to show that we care about each other. So, for the love of my business, and all my beautiful fellow industry folks, I humbly ask you, who have read or skimmed at least this far, to consider these two things: That first, if you are able, find out which of your favorite restaurants are offering delivery or take-out services and go get yourself well-fed! And if you have more to give, buy gift cards! Second, if you are struggling right now, know that help can sometimes come from unexpected places, so don’t be afraid to seek it out. We’re not meant to go at it alone, we’re meant to work together. Here’s to showing each other hospitality and the relentless pursuit of nourishment and pleasure through food.

Whitney Ariss, Co-Owner, The Preservery

Winter Whiskeyfest is Here!

Come on in from the cold and get cozy
with Winter Whiskeyfest at The Preservery!

Whiskey flights, menu pairings, whiskey cocktails and more! From now until March 18th (the last day of winter)!

A Taste of Pumpkin at Berry Patch Farms

Restaurant life keeps us pretty busy most of the time, but now and then we get the chance to go out and visit the fine folks who grow some of our amazing local ingredients. One such chance came in late October for Berry Patch Farm's annual Assaggi di Zucca (Taste of Pumpkins). We were so thrilled to participate in the family-friendly fall event, featuring local chefs, bakers, authors, restaurants and more who were dishing out samples of All Foods Pumpkin. There were pumpkin cinnamon rolls, there was pumpkin and black bean soup, pumpkin polenta, and we brought two of our favorite pumpkin preserves - smoked pumpkin pickles and pumpkin butter. The kids were treated to hay rides and a candy-filled pumpkin piñata and lots of folks went home with pumpkins of their own, as well as recipes for all the tasty treats they tried because these gourds aren't just for decoration!

Come in and see us this fall and you will find our Berry Patch Farms pumpkin butter on the market board (it tastes like pumpkin pie filling and is truly magical paired with creamy cheese) or you can purchase some of our pumpkin pickles from the deli. And make sure you make the short drive out to Brighton and visit Berry Patch Farms when they have their farm market open, every Saturday from 10am to 2pm, where they sell nothing but beautiful local produce and other local ingredients like honey and popping corn. You might even get to say hello to the friendly chickens!