It’s Not Technology but It’s Good!

By popular request (from my lovely daughter, Vali) I am slaving in the kitchen on Thanksgiving eve, making a very untraditional Thanksgiving dish.  When I Tweeted what I was doing, several mouths started to water and my recipe was requested!

Being a dedicated blogger I decided the best thing to do was to share not just my recipe but the actual process of making this delicious treat.  There are a few nuances in preparation that have come to me over the years as I goofed up.  So on this eve of Thanksgiving I will share with the world my treasured family recipe.  (OK that’s a joke, the original recipe came off the side of the box. Really.)  Of course I’ve tweaked it to perfection.

Here’s what you need:

• A bowl
• a pan
• measuring cups
• a pastry brush (to brush melted butter)
• a 9×13” shallow baking dish
• a nut chopper (mine’s a Cuisinart)
• a range and an oven of course!

Ingredients:

• Filo dough (premade dough is found in the frozen foods section of your grocery store.  At my store, it’s located by the frozen pie crust
• 2 cups blanched almonds or walnuts.  I use almonds as my son, Zack is allergic to walnuts
• 1.25 cup of melted sweet butter
• 2 1/2 cup sugar
• cinnamon and clove powder
• cinnamon stick
• 1 cup honey
• orange or lemon rinds (I leave this out because my kids don’t like it.  I love it – such a sacrifices I make for the offspring!)

Before you start:

Fillo dough is a very, very fine pastry.  When you purchase the frozen kind it needs to thaw out at room temperature for an hour or so.  I never open the package until it is thawed. The dough dries out extremely fast, so leaving it encased in the packaging is the best way to thaw it.

When you open the package gently unfold the dough, laying it completely flat on a cutting board or some other flat surface.  IMMEDIATELY cover it with a dish towel.  As you are working each time you remove a piece of dough, IMMEDIATELY cover up the remaining dough.  If you don’t, by the time you get to the last piece it will be dry and brittle.

I use a Cuisinart to nearly pulverize the nuts.  They are reduced to a fine texture much like the texture of the sugar.  It can be done chunky too, guess that’s a matter of taste.  My style baklava melts in the mouth, no teeth are necessary to chew.

Let’s begin:

Mix these dry ingredients together in a bowl:

• 2 cups nuts (almonds or walnuts)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• cinnamon and clove powder to taste

Brush melted butter along the bottom and sides of baking dish.  Place two Filo dough sheets in dish, brush with butter.  Lightly spread dry ingredients on top of the dough.

Repeat using one sheet of dough, spread melted butter then dry ingredients.  Continue until you run out of dry ingredients.

Finish by placing Fillo dough and butter until all the dough is used up.  Typically this is 4-6 more layers.

The final sheet of filo should be brushed with melted butter.

Use a very sharp knife (I like my paring knife) to slice through the dough, cut diamond shape bars.  Yes, this is done prior to baking!

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking until top is a golden brown.

Remove from oven. Cool.

Time to make the syrup, in a sauce pan combine:

• 1 cup honey
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• a few lemon or orange rinds, 1 cinnamon stick

Boil for 10 minutes, allow to cool slightly.  Pour  syrup over the light flaky Baklava.  At first it will seem like a lot, but the dough will soak up the syrup until there is just a small amount in the bottom of the dish. You will have to use your judgment here.  Depending upon the amount of Filo dough you use, you may or may not need all the syrup!

I’ve been told you must wait for the Baklava and the syrup to be completely cool before you combine the two.  But I’ve never done it that way.  Typically I poor the syrup on after the pastry has been out of the oven for about 30 minutes.  The syrup is cooled but still hot.

Now for some tips and tricks

Cutting a rectangular dish into diamond shapes leaves four pieces of baklava that don’t match the rest of the dish.  This a a serious problem when trying to present a perfectly aligned, impressive dessert. So it is necessary to immediately consume those four pieces.  Don’t worry they won’t be missed.

I do suggest you ask for help in consumption as this creation is extremely rich.  Once I didn’t have help and I ended up sick.  Well I thought I was sick, but I was actually pregnant.  His name is Rich. Really. I kid you not!

Happy Holidays to All!

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