RECIPE of the Day - 3/05/2007

One pastry I have always loved is Baklava. I would always order it for dessert at a Greek restaurant, but this version is quite easy to make. If you really love Baklava, you can either use the ready made sheets of phyllo, or if you prefer, you can make it yourself - it's not as difficult as you might think.

BAKLAVA

10 to 15 sheets of Phyllo (ready made pastry sheets)
2 cups blanched almonds
1 cup sweet butter

For the syrup:

1 cup honey
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
A few lemon or orange rinds
a few cinnamon sticks

Baklava is an original Greek dessert. If pastry sheets are home made, use half the number of ready made Phyllo given above.

Blanch and chop the almonds. Line a rectangular or square buttered baking pan with a sheet of Phyllo or home made pastry sheet. Sprinkle with melted butter and spread with 2-3 tablespoons chopped almonds. Place 1-2 more Phyllo on top, sprinkle with melted butter and proceed as above, using alternate layers of almonds.

Use 3 sheets of Phyllo on top without a filling. The last sheet of Phyllo or pastry should be whole and not broken. Any broken sheets may be placed in-between with the almonds.Baste with melted butter and with a pointed knife score the top sheets in square or diamond shapes.

At first bake in a moderate oven and then increase heat until pastry becomes golden brown. Bake for one hour. Let cool.

In the meantime, boil syrup ingredients together, removing rinds after boiling a few minutes. Pour hot syrup over the baklava. Let it cool, cut the pieces through and let them absorb the syrup before serving.

PASTRY OR PHYLLO

1 1/2 lbs. flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
A little water

Sift dry ingredients together. Add water and work it to make a stiff dough, as for bread. Cover and set aside for half an hour. Take a piece of the dough the size of an orange and roll it out on a lightly floured board until the pastry is very thin. Place it on a tablecloth.

Take another piece of dough, put again on floured board, and proceed in the same manner as the first sheet, placing each pastry sheet on the tablecloth apart from the other. Repeat until all the dough is used.

Home made pastry sheets cannot be made as thin as the ready made Phyllo; therefore, use half as many sheets as is called for in the recipes.