Citrus Baklava Food

MOM'S BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the honey-citrus simple syrup: Whisk together the sugar, honey, water and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the orange peel and continue to boil without stirring, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat to cool while you assemble the baklava. The syrup will thicken as it cools.
• For the nut filling: Add the pistachios and walnuts to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl along with the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and salt and mix until combined. Set aside.
• To assemble: Brush a 9-by-13-inch pan with some of the melted butter. Unroll the whole package of phyllo and cut it in half to fit the pan or trim to fit flat. (As you work, cover the unused phyllo sheets with wax paper underneath a damp clean kitchen towel.) Lay 1 sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the pan. Brush with butter, covering the entire surface, then lay another sheet of phyllo on top. Repeat this process until you have 10 layers of phyllo, with butter brushed on top. Add half of the nut mixture, spreading it evenly over the buttered surface, then gently press in with your hands. Begin layering the phyllo and melted butter until you have 10 more layers of phyllo, with butter brushed on top. Add the remaining nut mixture, then layer 10 more sheets of phyllo, brushing with butter in between layers. Brush the top with melted butter, then score the phyllo dough into diamonds, cutting about 1/4-inch deep. (Cut 4 strips lengthwise, then diagonal cuts for a diamond shape).
• Bake until puffed and golden brown on top, about 1 hour. Ladle the cooled syrup over the top, allowing it to absorb in between pours. Allow the baklava to sit until the syrup is completely absorbed, at least 30 minutes. Separate into bars and serve. The baklava freezes very well.

MIXED NUT & HONEY BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Place all the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan with 300ml of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it bubble away, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by a third. Leave to cool. (The syrup must be cool when it is poured over the pastry otherwise the pastry will go soggy.)
• Blitz the nuts in a food processor until coarse, then tip into a bowl and stir through the cinnamon and cloves.
• Melt the butter, using a little of it to lightly grease a 40 x 25cm shallow tin with a pastry brush. Gently unfold the filo and cover with a damp tea towel to stop it cracking.
• Layer sheets of filo in the tin and brush each layer with melted butter. After 4 layers, scatter over half the nut mixture; repeat with 4 layers of filo, then the rest of the nuts. Top with the last 4 layers of filo, then generously butter the top. Cut into diamonds with a sharp knife - ensure the blade goes right to the bottom.
• Bake on the middle shelf of the oven on a hot baking sheet for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp, reducing the temperature to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3 if the baklava looks as though it is browning too quickly.
• Remove the baklava from the oven and spoon half the cooled syrup over the top. Leave for 5 minutes, then spoon over the remaining syrup. Allow the baklava to cool before removing the individual pieces from the dish with a palette knife.

BAKLAVA TARTS

Steps:

• To make pastry: Dump everything into a bowl, roll up your sleeves and get your hands right into it. Work the dough well and knead for a couple of minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or more) before proceeding with recipe.
• Make 12 balls of equal size out of the dough and tamp a pastry ball down into each of 12 non-stick muffin cups, making sure pastry covers bottom and comes 3/4s of the way up sides.
• To make filling: Mix all filling ingredients together well. Carefully distribute filling mixture into pastry-lined muffin cups.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. The pastry should be a light golden colour (loosely tent with aluminium foil if walnuts are browning too quickly, but the mixture will be dark - like a pecan or walnut pie). Wait 2 minutes after removing from oven and very carefully, using the tip of a thin, pointed knife, gently knudge each tart out of its cup and transfer to a rack to cool. Some tarts may be a little stuck, just run the tip of the knife around then knudge gently.

CITRUS BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preparation:.
• Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Unroll the first roll of phyllo pastry sheets. Lay two sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the pan. Lightly brush the top layer with melted butter. Add two more sheets and brush the top with butter. Continue adding sheets two at a time until you've laid down a total of 18. (You may want to keep the pastry covered with a damp paper towel prevent them from drying out.).
• Distribute with a spoon half the nut mixture evenly across the top layer of phyllo. Add four more sheets, two at a time as before on top of the nut mixture. Spoon the remainder of the nut mixture on top of that.
• Continue building the baklava with the remaining phyllo sheets, two at a time, brushing the top of each pair with melted butter. Drizzle any remaining butter over the top.
• With a sharp knife, make five lengthwise cuts, cutting through only the top layers. Do not cut through the nut mixture. Make a series of diagonal cuts to form diamonds, again cutting only through the top layers. Bake at 400*F. for 15 minutes, then at 300*F. for 40 minutes until golden.
• While the baklava is baking, make the syrup:.
• Combine the syrup ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to boil gently for about 10 minutes, then reduce the heat, and let simmer until syrup begins to thicken. Set aside to cool. Remove the cinnamon stick.
• Pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava. With a sharp knife, cut the baklava along the scoring marks, slicing through to the bottom. This dish is best if made the day before you serve it. Enjoy!

HONEY BAKLAVA CUPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°.
• In the work bowl of a food processor, combine walnuts, pecans, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.
• Pulse until nuts are almost ground.
• Place phyllo cups on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Brush inside of shells with melted butter.
• Spoon nut mixture evenly into phyllo cups.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes or until nuts are golden brown.
• Let cool for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make syrup--in a small saucepan, combine water, sugar, orange slices, lemon slices, and cinnamon stick.
• Bring to a boil over med-high heat.
• Decrease heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Strain mixture, discarding solids.
• Stir honey into sugar mixture.
• Let cool for 10 minutes.
• Place cooled baklava cups in paper liners.
• Spoon Honey Citrus Syrup evenly over each baklava cup.
• Let stand for 2 hours.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Make syrup:
• Combine sugar and water in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart saucepan. Squeeze juice from lemon and orange into sugar mixture. Add fruit halves and cinnamon sticks. Bring mixture to a boil over moderate heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, then simmer 10 minutes. Stir in honey and return to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Pour through a sieve into a large measuring cup or bowl, pressing hard on, then discarding, solids. Chill, uncovered, until cold, about 1 hour.
• Assemble and bake baklava:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Whisk together almonds, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until combined well.
• Generously brush a 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass baking dish with melted butter. Halve phyllo sheets crosswise and stack sheets. Keep stack covered with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and then a dampened clean kitchen towel. Lay 2 sheets of phyllo in bottom of baking dish and brush top sheet generously with butter. Continue to layer 2 sheets at a time, staggering sheets in each double layer slightly to cover bottom of dish, then brushing every second sheet generously with butter, until you have used 10 sheets of phyllo total. After brushing top layer of phyllo with butter, spread a rounded 1 1/2 cups of nut mixture over it. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons butter.
• Repeat layering 3 more times. Top with 10 more sheets of phyllo. (You will use 50 sheets of phyllo total.) Butter top and let baklava stand at room temperature to harden slightly (to facilitate cutting), 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using a sharp knife, cut baklava into 16 equal rectangles, then cut each piece in half diagonally. (Be sure to cut all the way through.)
• Bake baklava until golden, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer dish to a rack to cool, then slowly pour cold syrup around edges of hot baklava, in between all cuts, and over top. Let stand at room temperature at least 8 hours. (Cover once baklava is at room temperature.) Do not chill.

PISTACHIO WALNUT BAKLAVA

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Pulse until it has a coarse but ground texture. Place a sheet of phyllo dough in your pan and lightly dab with melted butter using a basting brush. Add another layer of phyllo dough. Once you have about 4 layers, sprinkle over a small amount of the nut mixture, play another two layers of dough with butter in between.
• Continue adding a few layer of dough, nut mixture, and light butter in between, saving about 4 layer of dough for the top.
• Once finished assembling, place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or freezer for 15 until cold (this allows you to cut through layers without messing up the dough). Now use a sharp knife to cut horizontal and then oblique parallel lines halfway through the dough, creating parallelogram shapes.
• Place baklava in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare simple syrup by bringing all ingredients to a boil in a pot, stirring frequently, and then taking off the heat and letting it cool to room temp while the baklava cooks.
• When baklava is done, bring it out of the oven and immediately drizzle over simple syrup (you should hear it crackle when it hits the baklava). When cooled, cut through the rest of the way, top with some roughly-chopped pistachios, and serve room temp.