# Baklava



## PapaDave (Mar 14, 2012)

So, there's a small local restaurant (we're in a very small community....think one blinker) that serves Baklava.
I love Baklava. Therefore, being the DIYer that I am, decided to look for recipes. Found way too many, bought all the stuff and plan to make some. Recipe is on the back of the phyllo dough box....go figure.
Does anyone have a baklava recipe that they really like?
Pics to ensue sometime soon, if anyone's interested. Let's see a show of hands.


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## thewoodlands (Mar 14, 2012)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> So, there's a small local restaurant (we're in a very small community....think one blinker) that serves Baklava.
> I love Baklava. Therefore, being the DIYer that I am, decided to look for recipes. Found way too many, bought all the stuff and plan to make some. Recipe is on the back of the phyllo dough box....go figure.
> Does anyone have a baklava recipe that they really like?
> Pics to ensue sometime soon, if anyone's interested. Let's see a show of hands.



It's good stuff, a very nice Armenian lady makes it for me around christmas ( it rocks) I'll see what I can do for a recipe.


Swampy


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## PapaDave (Mar 14, 2012)

U da man, zap.


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## Thistle (Mar 14, 2012)

Thank you,I just gained 2 pounds reading this.  ;-)


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## PapaDave (Mar 14, 2012)

Yep, that's the only bad part about it.
Oh, you're welcome. :cheese:


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## GAMMA RAY (Mar 14, 2012)

I don't make mine Papa, I have a patient that makes it and brings it in for me every time he comes in for an office visit....
he always says in his accent.....
"Here you are Me shell....for you sweet e"....  

Phylo dough can be tricky to work with. You need to keep a damp rag over it to keep it moist.


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## Highbeam (Mar 14, 2012)

I don't even know what it is. Sounds like something that would spew out of a volcano.

Phyllo dough? Is that for pedophyles?

If it includes dough and makes you gain weight it is probably pretty good. Post up the pics and recipe, maybe I can introduce this alien food to the NW.


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## GAMMA RAY (Mar 14, 2012)

I wonder if Papa is attempting to make it right now....betcha he is speaking in some foreign tongues...... :lol:


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## fossil (Mar 14, 2012)

Highbeam said:
			
		

> ...If it includes dough and makes you gain weight it is probably pretty good. Post up the pics and recipe, maybe I can introduce this alien food to the NW.



Back in about 1990 or so, I was stationed at Supervisor of Shipbuilding, San Diego.  While I was in the position of Repair Officer, we had a sizable project to contract out all the work to refit 3 old guided missle destroyers (DDG's) that we were decommissioning and selling to Greece.  At some point in that project, the Greek Navy crews showed up to began to learn the ships and get ready to assume ownership.  I got to know the Greek Captains-to-be of these ships pretty well.  In one of our regular progress meetings when we were approaching the end of the project, and they were getting very close to steaming away in their new (used) ships, the Greeks brought snacks/refreshments for all the participants.  The highlight of the menu was Baklava.  These folks had lived in San Diego for months, and had found local authentic ethnic Greek sources for their favorite foods.  This stuff was authentic, delicious, and totally fattening...I absolutely loved it.  Don't believe I'd had any since.  Rick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baklava


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## PapaDave (Mar 14, 2012)

Well, foreign tongues aside, it is done.
Despite all the dire warnings (youtube vids) about the dough, not so much. Well, except for having to use about a bazillion layers.
Ok, that's a mild exaggeration.....1/2 bazillion.
Highbeam, dessert-o-phylls. :coolsmile: 
Taste test tells me just a wee bit too much lemon juice and I shoulda' used more dough,....but man oh man, this stuff is GOOOOOOOD! 
Even Bev likes it, and she's got a cold.


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## GAMMA RAY (Mar 14, 2012)

Looks great Papa....good for you that you accomplished that......
High five my man! ;-)


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## PapaDave (Mar 14, 2012)

Next batch will be better, but we have to eat this one first. ;-P


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## thewoodlands (Mar 15, 2012)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> Next batch will be better, but we have to eat this one first. ;-P




Looks great PapaDave, looks like that recipe book is in storage so if you can give me the weekend I'll see if I can find it.


zap


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## gfreek (Mar 15, 2012)

Grew up with my mother making Baklava.  I used to just give it away & still do, I got so sick of it.  Still have no appetite for it, too rich.  Congrats looks good.  A lot there !!


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## fishingpol (Mar 15, 2012)

Looks great! The best one I had was dripping with honey.


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## piejam (Apr 28, 2012)

PapaDave...

Your baklava looks wonderful. job well done. I grew up in the "Lil Athens" of Queens NY..some shops took single filo sheets and made a walnut nut roll and coiled them..then they stuffed the center with pistachios after baking..think that is more Syrian/Lebanese..Since you like to cook, and if you like Middle Eastern cuisine, check out Middle Eastern Cooking by Rose Dosti..Greek, Arabic, Iranian, No.African, Israeli , Near Eastern etc...deserts and entrees will make you swoon....

My DH was Greek and anything I made from that book he adored..I bought it in 1987 for 9.99..Just went on Amazon and almost fell down at the price now! But it is one fantastic cook book for that region...I consider it the jewel of my cook book collection and won't loan it out!!-soft cover lots of photos...Happy Cooking....cover is yellow with shrimp kabob and chicken


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## PapaDave (Apr 28, 2012)

pj, I think I better pass on the cookbook. With all the recipes I can find online, plus all the cookbooks we have already, I think I'm set.
I appreciate the suggestion though.
I'll make a smaller batch next time, and share.


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## piejam (Apr 28, 2012)

Tackling Baklava again!! Good man..not easy..labor intense..worth the effort!..maybe someday you will try Galaktoboureko.. Greek filo pastry stuffed with custard yummmm...bye now...


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## PapaDave (Apr 28, 2012)

Well, now you've gone and done it. Off to youtube I go.
Preliminary search tells me it's similar to custard pie. I've done that.


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## begreen (Apr 29, 2012)

My wife makes a pretty mean baklava. She uses way less oil on the layers for a lighter version that still tastes great. Love galaktoboureko too, but rarely find it done right just right. It is a custard pie, but the citrus topping is what makes it taste special. I may have to go back to Greece to get a good one.


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## PapaDave (Apr 29, 2012)

You could drive the new van, and camp along the way. N/M, I forgot about the water crossing. 
BG, the oil is actually butter. Every layer of the dough gets a butter coating and there are 30-40 layers! My arteries are clogging just talking about it.
I'm going to try the Bougatsa.!!
http://whippedtheblog.com/2008/09/23/bougatsa-heavenly-greek-custard-pie/


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## piejam (Apr 29, 2012)

Hey BG-Just go to a good greek neighborhood and you will probably find one..Growing up in one was great..When most kids ate hotdogs from push carts I was eating souvlaki..not the gyro stuff either..real bbq'd shish-kebabs...God I miss that smell...outside cafe's before it was vogue...

Papa-there is another desert thats easy to make using chopped almonds...you fold a filo sheet to overlapped so you can create a triangle..stuff it with the almond paste and chopped almonds..bake and sprinkle powdered sugar...you would make these just like little personal spinach pies...not in my cookbook..but a hand written one from our Greek church...don't know where I put that thing..used to help DH's yiayia(grandmother) hand toss and pull homemade filo over a kitchen table..pheeeew now that was work!

Sorry I don't remember the name of the almond pastry..phonetically thinks is tri-ga-na..but nothing I see on the net...this just might be a village recipe..Just saw your last post..do you clarify the butter?


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## PapaDave (Apr 29, 2012)

Off to you-know-where again. Been on there 1/2 the day looking at this stuff, then found more on gardening and just kept going.I did manage to move some firewood.
I haven't clarified the butter. Should I, and if so, why?


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## piejam (Apr 29, 2012)

Papa
Some recipes actually call for it.....mine does..separates the milk solids and water from the butterfat..clarified has a higher smoke point so the product will not burn as much..In Indian culture it is called ghee..will not go rancid as quickly either..more expensive to do..use unsalted..you probably loose about 25% in the reduction..

This may be over the top for some..but there is a difference..with the price of butter I fully respect why ppl don't!! You can cook with the clarified stuff at a higher temperature too...to be honest there are times when I do and when I don't...Still drooling over your photo's..with DH's passing last year, too much trouble just for me..That's how I got into making"nut rolls"..or small triangles of spinach pie...Happy Cooking...

PS..use unsalted only when clarifying..if you don't , and with a reduction it will be too salty!


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## PapaDave (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks for the info.....same as I found after a search. Doh!
Hadn't thought of the result being too salty with salted butter. The salted is all we buy......hmmm.
There's a vid on youtube showing a woman making baklava the "easy" way by doing the roll things.
Next batch will be smaller. The first batch never did spoil, just got a little dry, but I ended up tossing a bit of it. I just couldn't eat it the whole 15x11 dish.


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## piejam (Apr 30, 2012)

Anytime Papa..when you said too much lemon I was wondering what kind of butter you were using..
Never had any pieces get dry..Ole DH would attack the pan..didn't last long in my house..I was just as bad..
Yeah ya could made a small batch but sometimes if you halve a recipe not quite the same...you'll have to "play with it"...lol

Maybe adding just a touch of walnut oil may help...I wonder if Mrs. BG uses peanut oil for the fat instead of butter...just curious..
Think the next time I make it, going to dry roast the walnuts until fragrant(frying pan) it will enhance the flavor..hmmmmm
OMG Tossing some of that masterpiece...you're breakin my heart........


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## PapaDave (Apr 30, 2012)

Walnuts.....sounds good. I used pecans. I've heard of pistachio being used too.
The recipe called for lemon zest, I think, but I had no lemons so I used lemon juice.
I hadn't even considered an alternative to butter.!!


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## piejam (May 1, 2012)

Just remember when using bottled lemon juice it is concentrated..could be why the citrus favor was strong.
Pistachios are very expensive buddy....I've seen the top of the pastry dusted with it or part of a nut blend..
Usually pastry recipes call for unsalted butter...at least mine do...don't forget cooking=food chemistry..
Health wise Mrs. BG is right..but we don't know what kind of oil she used..that's why I was thinking peanut, but different flavor...may not matter...
Walnut oil is expensive too..but used as a flavoring. I believe it has a lower smoke point , perishable too.Try it in carrot cake..fabulous..

It's up to you regarding fat substitutes. I've seen margarine used, but it has that after(chemical)taste...rather use oil..pure..
To make your life easier when working with the filo you can spray oil on..it applies evenly and is quicker...
I have a misto can, but it's hard to clean...would only put the clarified stuff in it or a high quality oil ie extra virgin..
Do make it with butter because its rich, but think Mrs Bg is health smart...


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## begreen (May 1, 2012)

piejam said:


> Hey BG-Just go to a good greek neighborhood and you will probably find one..Growing up in one was great..When most kids ate hotdogs from push carts I was eating souvlaki..not the gyro stuff either..real bbq'd shish-kebabs...God I miss that smell...outside cafe's before it was vogue...
> 
> Papa-there is another desert thats easy to make using chopped almonds...you fold a filo sheet to overlapped so you can create a triangle..stuff it with the almond paste and chopped almonds..bake and sprinkle powdered sugar...you would make these just like little personal spinach pies...not in my cookbook..but a hand written one from our Greek church...don't know where I put that thing..used to help DH's yiayia(grandmother) hand toss and pull homemade filo over a kitchen table..pheeeew now that was work!
> 
> Sorry I don't remember the name of the almond pastry..phonetically thinks is tri-ga-na..but nothing I see on the net...this just might be a village recipe..Just saw your last post..do you clarify the butter?


 
We don't really have a strong Greek neighborhood that I know of. If I go up to Vancouver, I can find some good Greek food, but it is hit or miss in Seattle. The best I have had here is made by locals at the annual Greek festivals. I love them and usually end up stuffed. Galaktoboureko is subtle. The best will use hand squeezed orange and lemon juice. This is a case where the quality of ingredients really affect the final results. This is often the case with Greek food. They are usually made with simple ingredients. Another example is spanikopita. There's a big difference in different fetas, fresh vs frozen spinach, etc..


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## piejam (May 1, 2012)

Most ppl(americans) don't use the imported feta for pita..better to eat it alone or with olives..adore the green with lemon peel,garlic, greek oregano good olive oil..yum-Yiayia ate it with watermelon..I do use both fresh or frozen spinach for the pita..depends what I have on hand..I grew up in Astoria, NY...we even have Greek supermarkets..Had to bring DH so he could interpret the labels for me  his passion was greek sausage(lamb) with orange peel...loukaniko 

What kind of oil does Mrs BG use for her Baklava?...this way Papa or I can check it out!!..


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## begreen (May 2, 2012)

She mixes a light oil like canola oil with melted butter to coat the filo for her baklava. For spanikopita she mixes a good greek olive oil with butter.


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## PapaDave (May 2, 2012)

Thanks for the tip BG.
As long as there's SOME butter in there, I think I'll survive.


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