Thomas Josephs Baklava Recipes

YIA YIA'S BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Stir together water, 2 cups sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick, and 1/2 the lemon juice together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until flavor blends and syrup consistency is reached, about 15 minutes. Stir remaining 1/2 the lemon juice into syrup. Strain and refrigerate until cool, at least 30 minutes.
• Stir walnuts, 1 cup sugar, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Brush butter on the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch glass baking dish.
• Lay the phyllo dough out on a clean, dry surface and cover it with plastic wrap. Cover the plastic wrap with a damp towel.
• Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking dish and lightly brush with butter. Lay another 1 sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with butter. Repeat layering and brushing with butter with 4 more sheets of phyllo dough.
• Gently spread 1/3 the walnut mixture in an even layer over the phyllo dough in the baking dish. Place a sheet of phyllo dough over the walnut mixture and brush it with butter. Repeat layering and buttering with 3 more sheets of dough.
• Spread another 1/3 the walnut mixture in an even layer over the phyllo dough in the baking dish. Place a sheet of phyllo dough over the walnut mixture and brush it with butter. Repeat layering and buttering with 3 more sheets of dough.
• Spread the remaining 1/3 walnut mixture in an even layer over the phyllo dough in the baking dish. Place a sheet of phyllo dough over the walnut mixture and brush it with butter. Repeat layering and buttering with the remaining 5 sheets of dough. Cut baklava into 1-inch diamonds.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Pour cooled syrup over baked baklava and cool for 1 day to absorb syrup.

CHEF JOHN'S BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Place walnuts, pistachios, and cinnamon in bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is chopped but not too fine.
• Brush bottom of 9-inch round baking pan with melted butter. Place one round of phyllo dough in the pan; add a second round of dough. Drip about 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the top. Add 2 more sheets and drizzle with butter. Add 2 more sheets and drip with butter creating 6 layers for the bottom. (While you work keep the phyllo sheets covered with a damp, nearly dry, cotton towel to keep dough from drying out.)
• Sprinkle with 1/3 of the nut mixture. Top with a sheet of phyllo and drip with melted butter; repeat with 1 more sheet of filo. Add another 1/3 of the nut mixture.
• Place another sheet of phyllo on the nuts; drip with butter. Top with another sheet and drip with butter. Add the remaining nut mixture.
• Top with 2 sheets of phyllo; drip with butter. Add 2 more sheets; drip with butter. Top with the last 2 sheets and drizzle generously with the remaining butter. Cover pan with plastic and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cut baklava into about 12 diamond-shaped pieces approximately the same size.
• Bake in preheated oven until browned and crisp, about an hour.
• Place sugar, honey, and cloves in a saucepan. Pour in water. Place pan over medium-high heat and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and orange blossom water.
• After baklava has rested 5 minutes, ladle syrup over the top. Cool down to room temperature before serving.

THOMAS JOSEPH'S BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, mix together nuts, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon rose water, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon; set aside.
• Place remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/4 cups water, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; immediately reduce to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining tablespoon rose water and return to a boil; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let syrup cool completely.
• Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with clarified butter. Carefully layer half of the phyllo dough in the baking dish, brushing between each layer with clarified butter. Sprinkle nut mixture over top and continue layering remaining phyllo dough over nut mixture, brushing between each layer with clarified butter.
• Brush top layer generously with butter. Using a sharp knife with a very thin blade (such as a boning knife), score baklava into 1 1/2-inch-wide diamond-shaped pieces, cutting through all of the phyllo layers.
• Transfer to oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking until golden brown, about 50 minutes more. Remove from oven and pour syrup over baklava; let cool completely before serving.

TOPANGA HONEY ROLLED BAKLAVA

Steps:

• For the honey syrup: Combine the honey, granulated sugar, lemon juice, salt, sliced ginger, anise and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, for the baklava: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Brush 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter evenly all over a 9-by-9-inch baking pan.
• Melt the 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the panko and granulated sugar. Toast, stirring often, for a few minutes until slightly golden. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl.
• Add the dates, raisins, brown sugar, orange blossom water, cinnamon, ground ginger and salt to a food processor and pulse until the dried fruit is finely chopped. Add the almonds and process again until just combined. Transfer to a clean work surface and roll into eight thin 10-inch-long logs.
• Lay one sheet of phyllo onto a clean surface and lightly brush with some of the remaining melted clarified butter. Lay a second sheet of phyllo directly on top of the first, brush with more clarified butter and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of the panko mixture. Fold the phyllo sheets in half crosswise; place one of the date logs at the short end of the sheets and begin to roll the dough over the date log, continuing until the entire phyllo sheet has been rolled. You will end up with a phyllo cigar.
• Transfer the cigar to the prepared baking pan and lay horizontally. Brush the top lengthwise with some of the remaining melted clarified butter and repeat the process with the remaining phyllo and date logs. You will need 8 cigars to fill the pan. Brush the baklava with some of the remaining clarified butter once again. Using a sharp knife, slice vertically down in three equal sections, creating twenty-four 3-inch pieces. Bake until the baklava are golden brown, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Baste the baklava with the remaining clarified butter at 30 and 45 minutes into the baking time. Rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking.
• Strain the solids from the honey syrup and discard. Pour the syrup over the hot baklava immediately after removing from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes to soak up all the syrup.

MOM'S BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the honey-citrus simple syrup: Whisk together the sugar, honey, water and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the orange peel and continue to boil without stirring, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat to cool while you assemble the baklava. The syrup will thicken as it cools.
• For the nut filling: Add the pistachios and walnuts to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl along with the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and salt and mix until combined. Set aside.
• To assemble: Brush a 9-by-13-inch pan with some of the melted butter. Unroll the whole package of phyllo and cut it in half to fit the pan or trim to fit flat. (As you work, cover the unused phyllo sheets with wax paper underneath a damp clean kitchen towel.) Lay 1 sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the pan. Brush with butter, covering the entire surface, then lay another sheet of phyllo on top. Repeat this process until you have 10 layers of phyllo, with butter brushed on top. Add half of the nut mixture, spreading it evenly over the buttered surface, then gently press in with your hands. Begin layering the phyllo and melted butter until you have 10 more layers of phyllo, with butter brushed on top. Add the remaining nut mixture, then layer 10 more sheets of phyllo, brushing with butter in between layers. Brush the top with melted butter, then score the phyllo dough into diamonds, cutting about 1/4-inch deep. (Cut 4 strips lengthwise, then diagonal cuts for a diamond shape).
• Bake until puffed and golden brown on top, about 1 hour. Ladle the cooled syrup over the top, allowing it to absorb in between pours. Allow the baklava to sit until the syrup is completely absorbed, at least 30 minutes. Separate into bars and serve. The baklava freezes very well.

THOMAS JOSEPH'S CLARIFIED BUTTER

Steps:

• Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Remove from heat and allow milk solids to sink to bottom. Skim any foam from surface, then carefully pour off clarified butter, leaving solids behind.