| Baklava Irene Georgakoudi | |
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| prep time: overnight cook time: 00:45 serves: 30 cost: $9.40 vegetarian | |
Irene is from Greece, and makes a damn good baklava. People eat this baklava and then say things like "I can never figure out how to make it so honey-soaked without making it soggy" or "The [high-class] restaurant where I work should have this recipe -- their baklava isn't half this good." Even so, it's hard to use it all up, because it serves a small army, and it's so heartbreakingly sweet that no one ever takes seconds. The last batch was almost finished when we gave it to nine of our friends, most of whom hadn't eaten or slept in over a day, as they climbed into the back of a padded, wildly painted pickup truck and drove to a Grateful Dead show. The container came back with one piece left, unfortunately, and I suspect one of us will break down in a few hours and eat it. For elegant presentation, serve only the diamond-shaped pieces. You can eat the ugly pieces on the sides, if you are not adverse to gaining a pound or two (or three, or four...) This takes two days to make. Make the syrup in the morning after letting the pastry part cool overnight and then let that soak in all day. | |
| 2 packages phyllo dough (2 lbs) 3/4 lb butter, melted filling: 4 c chopped walnuts 1 c sugar 1 t ground cloves 1 T cinnamon | Defrost dough, following directions on package. This takes about 5 hours. Melt butter. In a bowl, mix together filling ingredients. Unfold dough. Using a basting brush, brush butter into a 15x10 pan. Place two layers of dough in pan, smooth it out with your hands, and spoon 2 t of butter over the dough. Brush butter evenly over dough with basting brush. Put 5 more sets of two layers of dough in pan in the same way, brushing butter over each. After the sixth set, spread the walnut mixture in a thin layer on top of the buttered dough and add two more layers of dough on top of that. Repeat with the walnuts until they are all used up. Put six more sets of two layers of dough separated by butter on top of the walnut layers and brush butter on the very top.
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| syrup: 2 c water 4 c sugar 1/4 c honey juice from half a lemon | Tear off corners of dough sticking beyond sides of pan and roll excess dough in on sides. Brush butter on these rolled edges. Cut baklava into diamond shapes by cutting diagonally in both directions. The traditional size is about 2" across, but you can make them any size you want. Use a very sharp knife and cut carefully so as to not disturb the layers. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Let baklava cool completely (overnight). Mix together syrup ingredients and bring to a boil. Let simmer 10 minutes. Let syrup sit a few seconds to get rid of bubbles and pour over cold baklava. Let sit a few hours before serving. |
| "This is Greek to me." Archimedes | |