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2005-03-23 Baklava
Jessica and I made baklava for the Maundy Thursday dinner tomorrow. We assembled it at her apartment; that's the hard part. It's much easier to do with two people. I took it home and baked it. Looks good to me.
Here's the recipe:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Finely chop or grind 3 cups toasted nuts. We used pecans; walnuts, pistachios, and almonds also work, or a mix of them.
In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Melt 1/2 pound unsalted butter.
Set out the baklava pan, phyllo dough, nuts, and butter. The phyllo is tricky to work with. It dries and crumbles when exposed to air, and it disintegrates if it gets wet. It's paper thin, sticky, and easily tears. No sane person would ever cook with it, if it didn't make such divine treats.
It’s easiest to assemble the baklava with two people. One wrangles the phyllo, the other does everything else.
Butter the pan. Then begin with 2 phyllo sheets. Brush the top with butter, and add 2 more sheets. Repeat again for a total of 6 sheets. Sprinkle half the nuts, and half the sugar mix. Cover and add 2 more phyllo sheets, butter, 2 sheets, butter, 2 sheets, butter again. Cover with the remaining nuts, and the remaining sugar mix. Top with all of the remaining phyllo, buttering every second sheet.
Very briefly, place the baklava in the oven. Leave it only long enough to dry the top layers. This will keep the phyllo from sticking to the knife.
Cut the phyllo into whatever shapes you desire, with a sharp serrated knife. The baklava must be cut before it is cooked; it crumbles if cut afterward.
Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 300 degrees and continue baking until it’s golden brown, another 45 to 60 minutes.
As baking is underway, get a saucepan and combine 1 1/3 cup sugar, 1 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup honey, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, and the zest of one orange in large strips. Bring it to a gentle boil then reduce the heat, simmering it uncovered for 15 minutes. Strain the syrup.
When the baklava is done, pour the syrup evenly over it. Let it cool at least 4 hours before serving.
Alan Bryant 2005-Mar-23
