Week 4-Bakalva

This recipe is from Michael Symon 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-symon/baklava-recipe.html

This recipe will surely impress your friends, family, co-workers.  I always thought that baklava was hard to make, but not the case! Just read through the recipe before you begin.  I have some tips at the end, so be sure to read them if you are going to make this.

Total Time:

7 hr 30 min

Prep:

30 min

Inactive:

6 hr

Cook:

1 hr

Yield:about 40 pieces

Level:Easy

Ingredients

For the Baklava:

1 pound pistachios and/or walnuts, coarsely ground, plus more for garnish

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

1 cup ground zwieback crackers or breadcrumbs

4 sticks unsalted butter, melted

16 sheets phyllo dough (thawed, if frozen), cut in half

For the Syrup:

3 cups sugar

1 6 -to-8-ounce jar honey

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Combine the nuts, cinnamon and ground crackers in a bowl.

Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with some of the butter. Layer 10 pieces of phyllo in the dish, brushing each piece with butter before adding the next (keep the remaining dough covered with a damp towel). Sprinkle a quarter of the nut mixture over the dough. Layer 4 pieces of phyllo on top, brushing each with butter before adding the next; sprinkle with another quarter of the nut mixture. Add 4 more phyllo pieces on top, brushing each with butter, then add another quarter of the nut mixture, 4 more pieces of phyllo with butter, and the remaining nuts.

Layer the remaining 10 pieces of phyllo on top of the nuts, brushing each with butter; brush the top piece with extra butter. Cut into the baklava to make strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Then make diagonal slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, to create a diamond pattern. Bake until golden, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the syrup: Bring the sugar, honey and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and boil 2 more minutes, then let cool slightly.

Pour the syrup over the warm baklava; let soak, uncovered, at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish with nuts.

There are a few things that I would do differently than the original recipe.  First, you only need two sticks of margarine, not four. Throw in another half just to be safe.  Next, you really only need about 1/2 -2/3 of the syrup at the end, so I recommend scaling back on those ingredients, as well, unless you like your baklava swimming in syrup.  I bought pre-chopped nuts and put them in a mini food processor in an attempt to make them a little smaller.  The result was some powder, some chopped to the correct size, and some too big. Next time, I will chop them by hand to get more consistency.  Lastly, I threw a dash or so of ground cinnamon into the syrup. Some reviewers of the recipe put a cinnamon stick in, and also added vanilla. I did not try the vanilla in my syrup.