35. Recipe: Baklava 3
Description
This article is from the Lebanon FAQ, by Alaa Dakroub dakroub@leb.net with numerous contributions by others.
35. Recipe: Baklava 3
here's my recipe. i'm doing this off the top of my head, so bear with me. :)
1 pkg philo dough
1 bag (the larger of the 2 kinds of bags, i think 8 oz) walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
almonds (optional, if i add them, i do 2 parts walnuts to 1 part almonds)
3 sticks butter (not margarine!)
3/4 cups sugar
syrup:
1/2 water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups honey
3 or 4 lemon slices
1 cinnamon stick
make syrup:
dissolve sugar in water, bring to boil. add honey, cinn. stick and lemon
slices, reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes. strain and leave to
cool.
assemble baklava:
preheat oven to 325-350 (depends on how hot your oven is)
in a food processor, grind nuts, mix with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. set
aside. melt butter. in a large pan (i use a roasting pan that is about the
size of a sheet of philo) place 2 layers philo, butter them lightly, then 2
more sheets, repeating this until you have about 8 or 10 layers. add 1/3 of
the nut mixture. cover with 2 more layers, lightly butter, repeat until you
have about 6 layers, add another third of the nut mixture. repeat this until
you have used all the nut mixture, then layer the remaining philo and butter on
top.
take a sharp knife and cut diagonal through the top layers of philo (not past
the top nut layer, and about 1 1/2 - 2 inches wide). turn and do the same on
the opposite diagonal, to form diamond shapes. bake for 1 hour, or until
golden. turn oven off and let baklava sit in oven for 1 more hour.
remove, pour cooled syrup over hot baklava. take knife and slice all the way
through the cuts you made previously. let cool, and enjoy!
p.s. until you get very fast at assembling the baklava, you might want to cover
the sheets with a damp towel while you are putting it together.
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