Thursday, September 10, 2009

Jean's making me hungry!


So I tried my hand at baklava ... can you smell it???

I'm so enjoying the blogs this week Jean. I hope to scope out some restaurants for lunch downtown soon and let you all know about them.

3 comments:

  1. And delivery time is?
    And where is the recipe?
    And why aren't I eating any right now?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Come on kathie, that baklava looks incredible --you can't post a gorgeous picture like that without the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry Bugs and 007. Got so excited at remembering how to post, and THEN how to add a picture ... I forgot the recipe. sigh. Rather unorthodox method, but I am here to tell you this has been 'blessed' by my mom and by my sister, and it works.

    Baklava
    1 lb walnuts or pecans finely chopped (I used half and half)
    1/3 cup sugar
    1 tsp ground cinnamon
    1/2 tsp ground cloves
    1/2 tsp nutmeg
    1 lb phyllo (Note, I used the box w/two rolls of phyllo in it, you only use ONE roll, and it's already trimmed to size) 20 sheets per roll.
    1 lb unsalted butter, clarified, melted and warm - divided into thirds

    Combine nuts, sugar and spices (a job for the food processor). Place 7 phyllo sheets in a buttered 13X9X2" pan. Add half the nuts. Ladle 1/3 of the melted butter over nuts. (note you are NOT buttering each sheet of phyllo). Add 6 sheets of phyllo (not buttered). Add remaining nuts. Pour another 1/3 of the butter over. Add top crust of 7 sheets of phyllo. Score into diamonds or squares. Pour remaining butter over.

    Bake in 350 oven for 50 minutes. While baklava is baking, make syrup.

    Syrup:
    1 cup sugar
    1 cup water
    2 sticks cinnamon
    1/2 cup honey
    1 whole lemon, cut in half
    1 tsp pure vanilla extract

    Combine all ingredients and gently boil for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

    Pour warm syrup over hot baklava. Let stand minimum of 4 hours or overnight. Store in air-tight containers in a cool plce; it will keep for several weeks if you hide it from the family. Freezes well (like up until wedding time); thaw to room temperature and serve. Serves 24 (I like the pieces smaller, so I get more yield .. I cut and serve in cupcake liners). Opa!

    ReplyDelete