Baklava: Super Easy Nut Pastry, Upstate Style!

Ruthy here, with a family favorite... and a twist!

When I posted this pic on facebook, several folks mentioned that it brought back memories of friends or neighbors or relatives...

I'd never had baklava until I worked as a waitress at a local Greek restaurant... The owner's mother made a lovely baklava and Greek-style rice pudding, and I love learning from cooks who've got their hand in the pot of other cultures... but you know me, I like to play it my way!

My kids weren't big honey-lovers, so here is the famous and popular (well, famous in our house!) New York Style Baklava, an easy peasy recipe from our place to yours:

1 sleeve frozen Phyllo dough
2 sticks butter, melted

Nut mix:
1 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Finely chop almonds and walnuts, mix with sugar and cinnamon.

*RUTHY TIME SAVER TIP: I use my food processor and finely chop a whole big bag of almonds and walnuts that I buy at Sam's Club, add 2 cups sugar and 3 teaspoons cinnamon mix and freeze in plastic container or 1 gallon freezer bag. Then when you make baklava, you just scoop out 2 cups of mix, already prepared and perfectly fresh!

Thaw phyllo (fillo) dough. Double line a 13" x 9" pan with aluminum foil (I use heavy duty)

Drizzle a little butter in pan, lay 3 sheets of phyllo (sometimes it tears, no one will know!) dip pastry brush in butter and gently brush phyllo with butter.

Repeat, then sprinkle about 2/3 cup nut mix over the second layer.

Repeat, ending with phyllo dough on top. Generously butter top fillo dough, and gently "score" the top layer of phyllo with a sharp knife in diamond or squares or triangle shapes.

Bake at 350° for about 30 to 40 minutes until golden.

Remove from oven, allow to cool about ten minutes, then slowly drizzle hot syrup over the top, allowing it to sink into the perforations.

SYRUP:
2 Cups Real Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon or so cinnamon

Heat until hot, but no need to boil. Drizzle over warm baklava.

Allow to sit for about 10-15 minutes, then eat warm or cool.

Baklava stays fresh for days, the syrup seals the pastry-rich freshness in.

Next month we're going to do Isabo's version of baklava... Isabo is helping run the kitchen at the fictional Double S ranch in Gray's Glen, Washington... It's a fictional kitchen, but boy she knows her way around, enough to keep a whole bunch of cowboys happy.

Our moon....

Clouds have prevented me from getting a pic of the four planets in alignment, but I got this lovely moon shot, so I was happy. And the coyotes had two "runs" behind my house that night, one for a hunt and the other just because they wanted to sing to the moon.

We got a dusting of snow... last week was the first time our plow man had to come. THE FIRST TIME!!!! That's crazy talk around here. But this dusting is picturesque, isn't it?

I'm busily finishing my third Grace Haven book, there are three Ruthy books releasing in March, "Back in the Saddle" (3/16), "More Than a Promise", (3/18) and "Toss the Bouquet", a "Year of Weddings" novella collection.

Watch here and other blogs for some delightful recipe and book giveaways through February! I'd love to pull your name out of the cat dish!

Multi-published, best-selling author Ruth Logan Herne pretends to be normal because she knows it makes folks just plain feel better, but she knows the truth... she loves the crazy, fun people in her head, she loves writing sweet, inspirational stories, and she's generally happy if the possums leave the cat food on the porch alone.

Her needs are few! :)

She loves making new friends on facebook, or stop by Ruthy's Website...

Baklava for the win!!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have a fun recipe that I'd never tried before. Mostly, I hadn't tried it because I heard it was hard. But it wasn't!

 So, for a single recipe you'll need:
1 lb butter
1 package phyllo dough
1 lime
1 cup honey
1 cup water
1 cup ground walnuts and about 1/4 to sprinkle on the top
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350F

 There's the sugar. Nothing important but I just LOOOOOVE this pyrex set my friend sent me last year. I use the little cups for everything. They're adorable.
                                                            
Mix the ground walnuts, white sugar and cinnamon together. (Bunny ears on the grater. Makes perfect sense.)
                                                 
Melt the butter and brush some into the bottom of the pan. Layer in the phyllo dough, brush on more butter, layer in more dough. When you have about 5-6 layers (it's very thin but it will puff), spread on the walnut mixture.

After that, layer on some more dough, brushing on the butter inbetween each layer.

 After you've used up all your butter and dough, brush the top with butter and put into the oven at 350F for fifty minutes. Some people cut the baklava before, some after. I decided to cut after sicne I hadn't decided on triangles, diamonds, or squares.

 While the baklava is cooking, boil the sugar and the water. Then add the honey, vanilla, and a squeeze of lime. Some people put in rose water, some put in lime. I've had both and I prefer the lime. Adds a bit of zing.

 So, here is one right out of the oven. SO PUFFY. And my house smelled amazing.

Pour on the honey, sugar, vanilla, lime solution and then sprinkle the leftover chopped nuts on the top. Now chill for about twelve hours. It really makes all the flavors come together.

After it's been chilled, remove from the fridge and let return to room temperature. Cut into decorative pieces and put on pretty plates and ... wait... I can't find those photos. My friend Mindy was with me and my phone had died, so she took pics, sent them to me, and I promptly lost them. :) Just imagine them arranged prettily on a teal cake platter with an adorable little tea set full of coffee.  I would recreate this as I write the blog post but the two pans of baklava are GONE.

Meanwhile, my Cane River Romance, These Sheltering Walls,  is on sale for .99! I have the cover for the fourth book, but I'm going to wait to reveal it because it's not coming out for another month.
  Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you next Friday!