|           HOME           |           RECIPES           |           TIPS & TRICKS           |          

Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts

Friday, May 2, 2014

Baklava

If you've never had baklava... I feel sorry for you! It's a Greek dessert made from layers of flaky phyllo dough and a filling made from chopped nuts, sugar, and cinnamon. The final product is then soaked in a simple syrup overnight. Yum! I know you must be sick and tired of phyllo pastries by now, but this is the last one! I promise! It's just that so much dough comes in one box and once you thaw it out, you have to use it. Not that I'm complaining because I love Greek food!

Baklava
Makes: 24 servings

Filling:
16 oz walnuts
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Dough:
30 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Syrup:
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
  • First make the filling. Grind up the walnuts in a food processor until they are very fine, almost a powder.
  • Transfer the ground walnuts to a large mixing bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
  • With a pastry brush, butter the bottom and edges of a 13" x 9" baking pan.
  • Lay down a sheet of phyllo dough in the bottom of the pan. Gently brush the dough with some butter. Continue until you have six sheets of phyllo dough stacked on top of each other, with butter brushed on each one, including the top one. This will make a nice thick bottom layer.
  • Now sprinkle in about 3/4 cup of the nut mixture over the buttered phyllo dough.
  • Place another three sheets of phyllo dough over the nuts, again buttering each layer, ending with butter on top. Continue this step until you have used all of the nuts. You'll probably get around five or six layers of nuts.
  • For the top layer, you will again use six sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each one, ending with butter on the top.
  • With a very sharp knife, cut the baklava into squares, then cut each square on the diagonal like so:



  • Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes.
  • While the baklava is baking, make the syrup. Combine the water, sugar, and honey in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts bubbling. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes until it gets a little bit thick and syrupy. Be cautious not to overcook this or you'll burn the sugar. If you notice the color of the syrup turning darker at all, remove it from the heat immediately to prevent burning. Also, make sure you're using a wooden spoon to stir this. Anything else will melt from the heat of the syrup.
  • Once the syrup is cooked, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. Be very careful as this syrup is extremely hot and can cause very bad burns.
  • Once the baklava is finished cooking, remove it from the oven. Immediately pour the cooled syrup over the entire pan of baklava. At first it will look like the pastry is floating in a pool of syrup. But don't worry, it will all be absorbed.
  • Allow the baklava to cool. Cover it and allow it to sit at room temperature overnight. The next day, most of the syrup will be absorbed and the baklava will be delicate, flaky, and slightly sticky. At this point, you may find that you need to re-cut it. Just go over the same lines you made previously using a sharp knife.
  • Enjoy!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Spanakopita is a traditional Greek snack. The name translates to spinach pie in English. It's made out of layers of delicate flaky phyllo dough and a filling made out of spinach, feta, onions, and egg. Sometimes it is made as one large pie and then individual servings are cut. It can also be made into little individual servings by folding the phyllo dough into little triangles. I prefer the latter preparation. It looks really nice and it makes for great little finger food when you're hosting a special occasion.


Spanakopita
Makes: 30 triangles

10 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
4 scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
18 oz (2 boxes) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt
1 tbsp butter, melted
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, scallions, and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 - 6 minutes until the onions are soft but not brown.
  • Transfer the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
  • Take the thawed spinach and grab a small handful. Squeeze most of the moisture out of the spinach and then place it in the mixing bowl with the onion mixture. Repeat with the remaining spinach. This step sounds a little gross but it's very necessary. You'll be surprised how much liquid comes out and that liquid will make the spanakopita soggy if you skip this step.
  • Add the feta and Parmesan cheese to the spinach and onion mixture. Mix it all together. Taste the mixture to make sure it doesn't need any salt. Add some if necessary.
  • Once the seasoning has been adjusted, add the beaten egg to the spinach mixture.
  • Now that the filling is done, you can start assembling the triangles. This is the most time consuming part of making these. First, open your package of phyllo dough. Wet a paper towel then wring it out as much as you possibly can. You want it just barely wet. Use the damp paper towel to cover the rest of the phyllo dough while you're working with a sheet. This will prevent the dough from drying out and cracking.
  • Brush a baking sheet with the melted butter. Set aside.
  • Take one sheet of phyllo dough and cut it into thirds length-wise with a pizza cutter.
  • Place a small spoonful of filling at the top and off to the right of one of the strips.
  • Now you'll need to start folding. You fold these like you would a flag. I'll explain. Grab the upper left corner and fold it down to the right so that you form a triangle at the top.



  • Now take the top right corner and fold it straight down.



  • Take the top right corner again and fold it down and over to the left.
  • Take the top left corner and fold it straight down.


  • Repeat until you get to the end and have a perfect triangle. Place it on the buttered baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and filling.
  • If you're making these a day ahead, you can stop at this step, cover it up with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it. Then place it in the oven the next day about an hour before you're ready to serve.
  • Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes. The tops will start to brown pretty quickly. But don't worry, they won't burn, I promise.
  • These are great served hot out of the oven or cooled to room temperature.