A&S day in Nordwache; baklava
Well, the A&S day yesterday was a success. 6 of us participated in making Baklava (the secret to good Baklava: Butter and Sugar in huge quantities. This is NOT a SB-friendly menu item). 8 or so of us helped make Apple Pie (a couple of extras arrived late). We made lace cookes and a chocolate torte that reminded me of a chocolate pie some of us couldn't eat a couple of years ago (it was rich. VERY rich. TERRIBLY rich. Now I know how it's made. You're warned. It's rich. The filling is DARK CHOCOLATE, CREAM, BUTTER. The crust had the sugar).
Next month, the plan is to make chairs and some fiber-related topic (dyeing, or knitting, or some such). That way, there's something for the more shop-oriented people and something for the fiber artists also.
Details on the Baklava:
For a 10x13 pan (or so), we used nearly all of a package of Fillo dough. We used 3/4 of a pound of butter. We used 1/2 cup of honey, several cups of sugar, and 2 cups of almonds (blanched and chopped).
Make the nut/flour/sugar/spice mixture. I've got the recipe, but that's the essence. Chop the nuts fine (if you buy them pre-slivered, it's easier than blanching them yourself).
Start the sugar syrup. That's 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup honey, 1 cup orange water or rose water, cloves, and cinnamon sticks, and enough water so it'll boil. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for a long time, until it's more syrupy.
Melt the butter.
You do not need to grease the pan. You'll see why.
Thaw the fillo dough until it's thawed, but not until it's goop. (fillo is flour and water. It's very thin. It will turn to goop if you get it wet. It will dry into shards if you leave it out.) Unroll it on an impervious surface. Take some saran wrap and put it over the fillo dough; weight it with a wet towel.
Take a sheet of fillo and lay it in the pan. You need not be ultra careful, but don't be careless, either. Use a brush (silicone works well) to brush on the melted butter. Don't skimp. You don't want puddles, but if there are small ones, it won't hurt the end product. If the one sheet of fillo doesn't fill the pan bottom, lay another sheet beside it. Overlap is fine. Treat with butter. Add another layer of fillo and butter it.
Sprinkle a layer of the nut mixture. Be a little skimpy, but not too much so.
Add two more layers of fillo, buttering each.
Continue until you're out of nut mixture.
Finish with four or more layers of fillo. Take a spoon and push the edges of the baklava down into the pan. Butter that edge.
Cut the baklava into diamond pattern. Sharp knife, plus fork to hold down the fillo as you cut, should do it.
BAKE.
Once it's baking/baked, your sugar mixture needs to get syrupy. It should not be tremendously thin. Skim off the foamy stuff as it appears. Once the baklava is cool, take the hot sugar syrup and pour it gently all over the baklava. We only used 8 or so cloves in the syrup, and the baklava tasted really good - you could taste the cloves, the cinnamon sticks, and the orange water. We also didn't let the syrup get thick enough, and the result still tasted fantastic. Best baklava I've ever had.
There are a gazillion (okay, maybe just lots) variations on baklava. Some don't use honey at all (an Armenian variation), some don't use sugar syrup. And people have threatened to go to war over the origin of Baklava.
I could cook this by myself if need be, but having someone else there to help would be nice. It took us about five hours to make it, but some of that was explanation, and a good chunk was baking time and cooking time for the syrup. It took a fair while to chop the nuts.
I would not at all recommend that this recipe be de-sugared for South Beach. That would ruin it. One could reduce the amount of sugar and substitute a non-sweet thickener, but arrowroot and cornstarch thickeners are still carb-heavy. Just accept the fact that this is a very sweet desert, and eat small portions (Our cuts were about 1" apart, so the pieces were about 1 square inch each. I had two).
Next month, the plan is to make chairs and some fiber-related topic (dyeing, or knitting, or some such). That way, there's something for the more shop-oriented people and something for the fiber artists also.
Details on the Baklava:
For a 10x13 pan (or so), we used nearly all of a package of Fillo dough. We used 3/4 of a pound of butter. We used 1/2 cup of honey, several cups of sugar, and 2 cups of almonds (blanched and chopped).
Make the nut/flour/sugar/spice mixture. I've got the recipe, but that's the essence. Chop the nuts fine (if you buy them pre-slivered, it's easier than blanching them yourself).
Start the sugar syrup. That's 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup honey, 1 cup orange water or rose water, cloves, and cinnamon sticks, and enough water so it'll boil. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for a long time, until it's more syrupy.
Melt the butter.
You do not need to grease the pan. You'll see why.
Thaw the fillo dough until it's thawed, but not until it's goop. (fillo is flour and water. It's very thin. It will turn to goop if you get it wet. It will dry into shards if you leave it out.) Unroll it on an impervious surface. Take some saran wrap and put it over the fillo dough; weight it with a wet towel.
Take a sheet of fillo and lay it in the pan. You need not be ultra careful, but don't be careless, either. Use a brush (silicone works well) to brush on the melted butter. Don't skimp. You don't want puddles, but if there are small ones, it won't hurt the end product. If the one sheet of fillo doesn't fill the pan bottom, lay another sheet beside it. Overlap is fine. Treat with butter. Add another layer of fillo and butter it.
Sprinkle a layer of the nut mixture. Be a little skimpy, but not too much so.
Add two more layers of fillo, buttering each.
Continue until you're out of nut mixture.
Finish with four or more layers of fillo. Take a spoon and push the edges of the baklava down into the pan. Butter that edge.
Cut the baklava into diamond pattern. Sharp knife, plus fork to hold down the fillo as you cut, should do it.
BAKE.
Once it's baking/baked, your sugar mixture needs to get syrupy. It should not be tremendously thin. Skim off the foamy stuff as it appears. Once the baklava is cool, take the hot sugar syrup and pour it gently all over the baklava. We only used 8 or so cloves in the syrup, and the baklava tasted really good - you could taste the cloves, the cinnamon sticks, and the orange water. We also didn't let the syrup get thick enough, and the result still tasted fantastic. Best baklava I've ever had.
There are a gazillion (okay, maybe just lots) variations on baklava. Some don't use honey at all (an Armenian variation), some don't use sugar syrup. And people have threatened to go to war over the origin of Baklava.
I could cook this by myself if need be, but having someone else there to help would be nice. It took us about five hours to make it, but some of that was explanation, and a good chunk was baking time and cooking time for the syrup. It took a fair while to chop the nuts.
I would not at all recommend that this recipe be de-sugared for South Beach. That would ruin it. One could reduce the amount of sugar and substitute a non-sweet thickener, but arrowroot and cornstarch thickeners are still carb-heavy. Just accept the fact that this is a very sweet desert, and eat small portions (Our cuts were about 1" apart, so the pieces were about 1 square inch each. I had two).