June Daring Bakers: Baklava!

 

Mandatory blog-checking lines:  Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Another month went by?  Really? I guess from looking around the garden I should realize that time's been passing.  A lot has happened in the past month, the good and the bad, births and deaths, unions and breaks, and the three of us are just holding tight to one another and desperately hoping that the quantity of "things happen" will abate. 

But really, STARTING NOW, I'm back!  I really mean it this time!  I'm back!

Erica blew my mind totally out of the water this month with her Daring Bakers Challenge to us.  First I saw "baklava."  Cool!  I can do that!  Been doing that for years!  I get a break this month--woot! Then I saw "make your own phyllo."  Surely she jests?

Nope. 

So, this month I and my other Daring Baker cohorts learned the secrets to rolling out really thin pastry.  Really thin.  Thin enough to read a newspaper through.  Chirp-chirp ran to get a section of paper for that particular test.  Did she bring me a headline? 

Nope.

Tiny print.  However, with a bit of squinting and guesswork, we were indeed able to read the article in the paper.  I will admit to skipping the test on each and every subsequent layer of phyllo I rolled out.  But that first piece?  Oh yeah.  You could read through it.

The baklava was lots of fun.  So much so, that I made two batches.

The first batch was the traditional walnut and almond with honey syrup.  The honey, of course, came from our own little hive out back.  In fact, I was chickening out of the challenge, and mentioned this to the gals in the hive.  They retorted that if they could go through the effort of making honey, surely I could go through the effort of rolling out ridiculously thin pastry. Chagrined, I rose to the challenge.

The second batch was the result of a discussion with the bolting patch of spinach.  "Surely," the spinach plants as tall as my waist said," if we're able to devote the energy to this skyscraper (in spinach terms) height, you can devote the energy to roll out more of that ridiculously thin dough."  So, re-chagrined, I did.  Accompanying the spinach in the second batch, were some onions, pine nuts, and feta. 

Cheesy green baklava might now sound appetizing, but spanakopita does, right?  And, oh yeah baby, it was gooooood.

And see those flakes on the bottom of the pan? You can read through them. Oh yeah!

To learn to make phyllo yourself,  check out these great directions given to us by Erica.  Do it!

FFwD: Chicken B'stille

Yeah, I know.  Two difficult-to-pronounce items in as many days.  What am I thinking? 

I'm thinking I'm really challenging myself, participating in both the Daring Bakers and French Fridays with Dorie.  But to tell the truth, I'm really having a lot of fun!

I've never made Moroccan food before.  Ever.  This recipe is a great introduction to Moroccan cooking, as well as Moroccan eating!  As with all the FFwD challenges, we're not allowed to share the recipe, but you've all gone and bought the book by now, right?  Right?  You should, even if it's just for this one dish.  Oh my goodness--if you could smell my house over the past two days you'd be running to the bookshop right now!

This recipe starts out really simply, unless you're like Mr. Boom and myself.  Essentially, eight chicken thighs are thrown into a dutch oven with onion, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.  This concoction rests for one hour.  Dorie calls it marinating; Mr. Boom says you can't marinate without liquid.  I say an onion by other name...

Anyway, after an hour you stir in some stock and some more seasoning, and boil the mess until the chicken meat falls off its pretty little bones.  And your whole house smells like a warm place in a land far, far, far away...

The bones are removed from the chicken, eggs are added to thicken the sauce, and then the solids are reintroduced to the liquids.  This is a very happy marriage, and will result in many years of bliss (lived out on my hips, of course).

I let the chicken mixture hang out overnight, then continued on with the recipe on day two.  Just because it's day two, doesn't mean the process is any less fragrant. 

Toasted almond slices.  Need I say more?

Filo dough lines a well-greased cake pan and is then sprinkled with the toasted almonds.  The chicken marriage is plopped in next, followed by more toasted almonds.  More filo dough covers all that up, and then a light sprinkle of cinnamon sugar finishes off the pan.

While this is baking, your brain will not be able focus on the snow outside, the chill in the air, or anything else non-tropical.

With luck, which I had (hooray), the b'stille will flip out of the cake pan onto a cutting board, and then will re-flip back over onto a serving platter. 

Now, Dorie says this dish needs no accompaniment, but Mr. Boom would have appreciated a salad or some other greenery on the side.  To me, a little glass of port was the perfect little side dish needed.


And what to do with the left over filo dough?  Chirp chirp made baklava, all by herself.  I love that kid!

P.S. Go check out some of the other folks who made this same dish.  There's real inspiration to be found over at this link!