Oh, yes. I’m not saying 12 for exaggeration’s sake- this monstrosity of a dessert is twelve moist, crunchy, and amazing layers of beauty. Baklava is traditionally relatively thin- 4-6 layers as a max- and fairly bite-sized. These ones are diamond-esque shaped (hey, I tried) and can happily feed two people as an entire dessert in and of itself. They may be a caloric nightmare, but they’re a tasty dream, so why not treat yourself to one as a special occasion? :)

12-Layer Baklava

Recipe Adapted from Baklava by LolFoodie

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 package (1 lb) organic filo dough
• 2 cups walnuts, whole
• 1.5 heaping cup pistachios, shelled (be liberal on the pistachios, they’re meant to be the star here)
• 1 cup almonds, whole, dry roasted
• 2 sticks of soy butter (sadly you really can’t cut this out, but at least it’s for a whole pan of baklava)
• 2 tsp cinnamon (I put in 3)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• pinch of nutmeg, cloves, and ginger

Syrup Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup clover honey (or wildflower, if you’ve got it)
• 2/4 cup room-temperature filtered water
• 1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice (if you’re Italian, that means 2-3 tbl instead)
• 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, coriander
• a tiny pinch of lemon zest (again, if you’re Italian, go over on that amount (which you would do, anyway))

Process:

1. Syrup first – and it’s going to boggle you as it did I, but it’s okay, trust that this works. Take a medium saucepot and place all the syrup ingredients in it on low heat. Cook this down for 15-20 minutes- the longer you reduce it, the stickier and thicker your syrup will be. I left mine on for a good 20 minutes. Let this sit at room temperature to cool while you prepare the filling – it’ll coagulate and thicken and become glorious.
2. Place walnuts, pistachios, almonds, filling spices and salt in a food processor until appropriately broken down (I liked mine to be on the chunkier side, but yours can be as powder-y as you like) and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and thoroughly butter all sides (up to the very top) of a baking dish (I used a 9 x 9 pyrex to get the super thickness going- if you’d rather thinner, use a larger rectangular dish)
4. You’re going to have to work quickly here- first, place the remaining butter minus what you used to coat the dish into a microwaveable bowl and mirowave until liquid. Prepare a pastry brush.
5. Take one layer of filo and place it into the bottom of the dish. It’s going to be too big, and that’s all right – just fold the sides. Brush it with butter, and repeat with two more sheets, buttering each time.
6. Spoon on about 3-4 tbl of the nut mixture evenly onto the filo. Then take 3 more filo sheets and add them one at a time, brushing with butter and folding over to fit- or you can cut and trim and just treat them as two sheets each, it’s up to you. Keep repeating this process of filo layering, buttering, and placing the nut mixture, until you place your last 2-3 sheets of filo right on top. Butter the top generously (of course).
7. Place in the oven for 35-45 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven) or until the top is golden brown (see below picture). You can cut them prior to baking if you like, but my father (whom I made these for) suggested cutting after so that they’d be more moist inside. That’s your choice!
8. Remove from oven once golden brown and let sit 5 minutes. Then, using a sharp knife, patience, and gritted teeth, cut them (roughly) into large diamonds. Get your now-thick syrup out and douse the whole thing with all the syrup, making sure to get into all the cracks.
9. Let sit another 15-20 minutes until the syrup is well absorbed. It’ll actually be better the next day once it’s been fully saturated with honeyed goodness, but if you must serve it now, wait a half hour after syruping to ensure moistness all over.

Baklava is my father’s favourite dessert, and I owed him some since months ago :) so this was for him. I think next time I’ll try thinner ones with all pistachio or almost all, at any rate…. but these were delicious and so gargantuan that they made for a fun picture. As a note- the syrup for me was very watery for a long time- hence my cooking it down lengthily- but the second I took it off the heat, it began to thicken- so don’t be alarmed if it takes its time becoming a syrup! Just trust in it.

It’s always lonely to be by yourself at home and when my mother left for Paris with my grandmother, that left my father doing just that- being home alone! Remedy: have him over for dinner! (NOT Silence of the Lambs kind of “have you over for dinner”, though…) I figured that my father would perhaps be a bit unsettled by some of my more experimental foods… and his standards are quite exceptionally high, as the gifted chefs in the family are all on his side (minus my mother, of course), so… traditional-ish it was!

I decided to do something very familiar and comforting: confit some tomatoes in the oven, bake some chicken so that it’s juicy and tender, and toss it in some whole wheat pasta shells and housemade pesto, with some shaved parmiggiano on top. What can go wrong there?

It was really quite delicious, and the leftovers were super convenient for bringing in to work the next week. This is a great keep-in-the-fridge-for-a-few-days dish, and a rather simple one as well. The sweetness of the tomato cuts into the nuttiness of the pesto, while the cheese on top adds some hints of earthiness that makes the whole thing come together quite nicely.

Whole Wheat Chicken ‘n Pesto Shells with Tomates Confites

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (1 box) whole wheat pasta shells
• 1 box (usually 8-12 oz) cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 generous cup house-made pesto
• 3-4 medium-sized chicken breasts
• extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly-cracked black pepper
• parmiggiano reggiano (or reggianito) to shave

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place a Silpat or other silicone mat on a baking sheet (large enough to fit all your chicken on)
2. Set a pot of water to boil for pasta; salt generously and drop in 1-2 tsp olive oil into the water
3. Measure out pesto and leave on the counter so it can warm while you prepare the rest of the dish
4. Lightly coat a second baking sheet with olive oil (just brush on a very thin coat)
5. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half (whichever way you like) and arrange (fairly haphazardly, really) on the baking sheet. Salt lightly and sprinkle with herbs or spices if desired (my mother uses Herbes de Provence; I’m a fan of a pinch of paprika/cumin/coriander). Drizzle with more olive oil on top.
6. Clean the chicken breasts and arrange on the baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip and repeat so that both sides are coated and seasoned.
7. Once the oven is sufficiently hot, place the tomatoes on the bottom rack and the chicken on the top rack (if you have two racks, that is) of the oven
8. Once the water is boiling, place pasta in water and cook as directed; I like mine just a bit al dente (it’s what the Italians do)
9. Bake the chicken for about 10 minutes, then flip the oven using kitchen tongs, a glove, and patience/care. Don’t burn yourself with that oven door open! You can always take the sheet out, flip, and return to the oven if you’re not too lethargic. While you’re at it, rotate the tomato pan.
10. After another 10 minutes, take your tongs and press upon the chicken. If there’s a lot of give, leave it in for another few minutes- you’re looking for the outside to be golden brown and for the inside to have only a bit of give. The squishier it is, the less cooked- and unfortunately, sashimi chicken isn’t a good dish to try :)
11. Once the tomatoes are drying out a bit and are blistering, you can remove them from the oven. The amount of time they spend in there is totally up to you- if you have the time, roasting them at a lower temp (360 or so) for longer yields even better results; this is the ‘quick version’
12. Remove the tomatoes and chicken from the oven and let cook for a moment.
13. Once pasta is cooked, drain (but not excessively, a little water in this is fine) and place in a large mixing bowl. Using kitchen tongs, cut the chicken into large, wide (but fairly thin) strips. Add to bowl. Scrape tomatoes as-is into bowl as well. Scoop in the pesto, and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle in a bit of olive oil. Shave the cheese on top and…. voila!

It’s one of those go-to standbys for me because I don’t need to consult a recipe and it has infinite variations. Sometimes I also confit some bell peppers (red/yellow/orange)… sometimes with herbs, sometimes with spices… carrots work nicely, too, when baked with cheese. You get the idea- pick the brightly-coloured vegetable(s) of your choice! And then dig in :)

Ah, an excellent appetizer- what’s not to like about puff pastry, pesto, and saltiness? I saw Ina Garten make a variation of these about two months ago and knew I had to try it! I was graced with the lovely company of my oh-so-talented friend- let’s call her Z- that evening and was looking to do a menu of finger foods- this was perfect! These are savoury and definitely have a zing to them from the onions. I used my own housemade pesto (I’ll be a snob and say I haven’t found better outside of Italy) and with premade puff pastry dough (making your own is just asking for trouble), these are quick and relatively simple. And calling your name. Crispy, puffy, golden, and spicy.

Salty Pesto Palmiers

Adapted from Savory Palmiers by Ina Garten

Ingredients:

• 1/2 heaping cup pesto (for best results, use perfect pesto recipe)
• 1/3 cup chunkily-diced sweet yellow onion
• freshly-cracked black pepper and large-grain sea salt
• 1 sheet/package frozen puff pastry dough from your local grocery store, defrosted

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Flour a countertop surface and rolling pin and place puff pastry on counter. Roll out to where you have a large rectangle (size of you choosing) and to where the folds of the pastry are well blended in (one homogenous rectangle shape)
3. Spread on the pesto evenly, leaving about 1/2-inch on all sides, and sprinkle on the onion, salt, and pepper
4. Take one of the long sides of the rectangle and fold it halfway towards the center. Do the same thing with the other long side. Then fold this in half (“hambuger-style” each time).
5. You should now have a log-like roll of dough. Lightly butter/spray a baking sheet. Cut slides of the log, about 1/2-inch thick, and place on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart (see photos below).
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown, and serve warm by themselves or with extra pesto as a dipping sauce (the taste of this one will intensify and spice up during baking)

See? Easy! And delicious! These are a perfect appetizer or brnuch item because they’re finger-friendly and have a short lead time, especially if you’ve got readily-available pesto hanging out in the fridge (which I highly suggest. One always needs emergency pesto for unexpected hosting). You could do a number of variations here as well: substitute in sun-dried tomatoes or bell peppers (make sure they’re dry), cheeses (of various types), herbs… you name it! And, of course, there’s the far more traditional sweet counterpart…

So it’s now been nearly a month and a half since I last posted and a) I feel guilty about it, b) I’ve certainly been baking and cooking a ton, so there’s a bunch of catching up to do, and c) I may be a bit lethargic concerning the backlog. That said, I’m going to try my best to go in order and hope to catch up and be up-to-date soon. The boyfriend moving in, our re-organizing the place, and having some busy times at work have made for less posting time, but… here’s to finally documenting some of these.

When I asked the boyfriend what the one thing he’d like me to make for him was, he asked for cream cheese danishes. They’re his favourite pastry, and knew I had threatened to make them once before, so…. worth a shot, right? A quick investigate online yielded the following results: these things tend to be tricky to make when doing so completely from scratch, and quite unhealthy. Most cheat by using crescent rolls for the dough, and I wasn’t going to have any of that! Thus, I decided to make them up completely on the spot. Luckily, they turned out quite yummy! While the dough is on the drier side, the filling is incredibly moist and makes it a fabulous combination. Mmmmh. I’m actually considering making some after having looked at this…

Cream Cheese Danishes

Ingredients (yields 12 medium-sized danishes):

Dough:

• 1/4 cup sour cream (full-fat for best results, I’m afraid)
• 1/2 cup neufchatel cheese (low-fat cream cheese)
• 1/2 cup organic half ‘n half
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tblspn organic soy butter
• 1 tblspn organic vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 & 1/2 cups organic AP flour
• 1.5 tblspn baking powder

Filling:

• 8 oz. neufchatel cheese (1 package)
• 1/3 + 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp organic AP flour

Glaze:

• 1 tblspn condensed milk
• 1 tblspn organic skim milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly butter a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 tsp organic AP flour and set aside.
2. Place wet dough ingredients (sour cream, neufchatel, 1/2 & 1/2, vanilla, soy butter, shortening, and sugar) in food processor and process for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth.
3. Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and mix together. Add to mixture in the food processor and and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (be sure not to overprocess- this will toughen the dough).
4. Emtpy the dough onto a flour countertop and knead gently into a ball (kneading process should only take about 20-30 seconds) .
5. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle (about 1/2 cm thick). Using a pastry cutter, cut the rectangle into long strands, about 1-inch thick.
6. Take two strands at a time and intertwine them into small nest-like shapes. You can make these as thin as you like or use only one strand per nest if you’d like smaller danishes.
7. Place the nests on the baking sheet, about 2 inches at least apart- they will puff and expand!
8. Prepare the filling: place all filling ingredients in food processor and pulse until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Spoon the mixture in to the middle of the nests, about 1 tblspn of filling per nest, or until the hollowed-area is filled but not overflowing (it will run out a bit if it becomes thicker than the crust)
9. Place the baking sheet with the nests into the oven for approx 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are becoming a light golden brown.
10. While the danishes are baking, prepare the glaze: place the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. You may need more or less powdered sugar, add this bit by bit until the glaze has some body to it.
11. Place the baked danishes on a wire rack to cool. Place the baking sheet under the wire rack and spoon on the glaze – cover as thoroughly as you like. You can also glaze once, let it dry a bit, and then glaze a second time. The sugar content is up to you! :)

These were realllllllllllly good. They’re relatively simple, are sure to impress (turns out most people don’t make their own danish dough. or fake danish dough, at any rate) – and can be a delicious tea time snack or breakfast-food. Plus, check out that texture. You know you want to bite into it and feel the creamy, gooey goodness of cheese.