DWT2012 Presents: Williams-Sonoma Chef Tara Weaver

Chef Tara Weaver was born in England, but moved to Texas in 1992 and has lived in Austin for over 15 years.  She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and has worked in a variety of culinary fields ranging from personal catering in the local film industry to executive chef on a private train.

Tara enjoys teaching and talking about food, techniques, and kitchen necessities at Williams-Sonoma, where she has worked for over 13 years.  She enjoys cooking Mediterranean style food and classic comfort food.  She also enjoys traveling and spends lots of time outdoors.

Chef Tara will present the Williams-Sonoma cooking demo at DWT2012 from 1:00pm – 2:30pm, and will have a  hands-on demo area for DWT2012 guests to “test drive” various W-S fruit and veggie tools! For her cooking demonstration, she will prepare:

Risotto with Peas and Prosciutto in a Pressure Cooker 

Fresh Hummus with Veggie Crudites

Chef Tara generously shares her hummus recipe below for DWT fans in advance of the event, and says it uses two very popular Williams-Sonoma items – the Pressure Cooker and the Vitamix:

1 cup dried garbonzo beans (chickpeas), soaked or unsoaked

3 cups water

2 tsp oil

3 tbs raw sesame seeds (or 2 tbs tahini)

1/4  cup olive oil

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Place beans, water, and 2 tsp oil into the pressure cooker.  Do not add salt or it will cause the beans to split.  Set the pressure cooker to high pressure.  If the beans were soaked overnight, set the timer  for 35-40minutes.  If the beans were not soaked, set the timer to 55 minutes.  Cook beans for alloted time.  Use the natural pressure release on the cooker, which takes about 10 minutes.  Drain beans and allow to cool for 15-30 minutes

Place the beans, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt/pepper, and sesame seeds (tahini) into the Vitamix.  Blend till smooth, using the tamper as necessary.  Serve with fresh crudites or pita.

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