Baklava, patience in a pastry.

Baklava is one of those baked good that takes time and patience to make but if you love it like I do, it's worth making yourself at least once or maybe twice... If you don't have the patience then go ahead and buy it at Trader Joe's or better yet from the Greek Food Fair that happens a couple of times a year in downtown Santa Cruz.

I had not made baklava in several years and the filo( or phyllo) dough in my freezer kept calling to me.

Use me !!

I had a recipe I had clipped from some food magazine plus the one from a favorite international cookbook, I decided to take ideas from both.

One recipe used ghee or clarified butter, which is now carried at Trader Joe's.











The same recipe called for saffron, also carried at Trader Joe's.

The last odd ingredient is either rosewater or orange blossom water. I allowed Bob to choose which one he preferred, that may have been a mistake. These flower waters can be found in most full service grocery stores, Cost Plus or ethnic markets.







Don't let these unusual ingredients scare you away. I have made baklava with regular butter, in fact I may prefer it that way. I will have to make it again to tell for sure. The saffron and the flower water are not essential either. Next time I would omit the saffron, the flavor while intriguing was strong, I prefer the flavor of the spices, honey and flower water. I will use rosewater next time so Bob doesn't eat as much ;-)

Baklava

Ingredients

1 pound filo dough
1 to1 1/4 cup ghee or melted butter

filling:
1 cup raw walnuts
2/3 cup raw almonds
1 tsp. cardamom powder
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg

syrup:
1 cup raw sugar or 1 cup honey or half of each
1 cup water
1/8 tsp. saffron ( optional)
1 Tbsp. orange blossom water or rose water ( optional)
2 tsp lemon juice




topping:
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped/ground pistachio nuts

1) Defrost filo dough in your fridge overnight.
2) Preheat oven to 325 F, butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
3) Mix together and bring to a simmer the sugar/honey, water and saffron.

4) Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
5) Allow to cool add the flower water and lemon juice.
6) Strain and set aside. Some recipes want the syrup to be cold when you put it on the baklava. I didn't with the recipe and it came out just fine.


7) In the food processor mix together all the filling ingredients until the nuts are coarsely chopped.

8) Carefully unroll the filo dough, cut into two 9 by 13 sections.

You will want to keep a dish cloth over the sheets of dough you are not using to keep it from drying out while you work. Here comes the part with you need your patience.











9) Carefully place 1-2 sheets of filo dough in your pan, brush with ghee, repeat for 10 layers.
I found that the ghee was too chunky to spread. I heated it up for 20-30 seconds in the microwave which made it perfect for brushing on the dough. Don't worry if the sheets tear a little or are not precisely on top of each other. My big cheat was to do two at once, there is still plenty of ghee/butter between the layers and it makes the whole process slightly quicker.

10) Add one third of the nut mixture sprinkled evenly over the pan.

11) Add more 6-8 more layers of filo, brushing with ghee.
12) Another third of the nuts, another 6-8 layers of filo, another layer of nuts, the remaining filo sheets. Butter the top.
How you do the layering is really up to you. I like the nuts spread through several layers of dough, some recipes call for it in one or two thick layers, your choice.
13) Cut into squares, before you bake it. I like this technique.

14) Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours. I know that sounds like a long time but the temperature is low and it did come out a very lovely golden brown.

15) Pour the syrup over the warm baklava and allow to soak in for at least 3 hours if you can wait that long. Sprinkle each section with the ground pistachio nuts.

Now try not to eat 3 or 4 pieces each time you walk by the pan !!

Cashew Cardamom Fudge

I love cardamom, it's a fairly unusual spice used in most Indian and Middle Eastern cooking, mostly in desserts and a major component of Chai.

Cardamom comes in pods, seeds or powdered.

You may have seen those weird white sticky puddings in Indian lunch buffets. Most people won't try them but if they have cardamom, I usually love them. That's what drew me to this recipe. I found it in my local paper's food section and was intrigued. The Indian name is Soy Paneer Kaju Barfi, yes "barfi", that doesn't bode well does it ??
Turns out that barfi is condensed milk that is cooked with sugar until it forms a solid, who would have know ;-)

I used my recent yoga club potluck as a chance to try this out.

Cashew Cardamom Fudge

Ingredients

8 ounces of super firm tofu
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
1 can ( 14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

1) Line an 8 inch glass baking dish with parchment so that it goes up one side.

2) Press the tofu to remove some of the moisture, then grate it into a bowl, using the smaller holes of your grater.

I was surprised by how easily it grated, extra firm tofu !!

3) Using a small or regular sized food processor, grind the cashews to a fine texture.

4) Add to the tofu and mix together.
5) Use a saute pan to cook your fudge, pour in the can of sweetened condensed milk and your tofu cashew mixture.

6) Stir together over medium heat, cook for 15 minutes. You need to increase your stirring as the mixture heats up to prevent it from burning, don't walk away ;-)

7) The mixture should not really boil, although it will bubble and will eventually hold together and look like very thick cooked oatmeal. It will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, that's how you will know it is done.

8) Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cardamom. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading it if need be with a spatula.

9) Sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and press gently into the fudge. Chill for several hours, the resting time allows the flavor to develop.

10) The flap of parchment with help you to remove the fudge when you are ready to cut it. You can slice it into triangles or diamond shapes which are traditional. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

I guess my yoga club enjoyed it because when I offered to send the leftovers home with them everyone accepted !!

Next time I am going to try adding shredded coconut and maybe some rosewater ( another one of those exotic flavors I love ).