Tea and baklava

I never cease to be floored by my mom's talent in the kitchen. She uses a combination of creativity and culinary experience to make incredible food from an endless variety of cuisines; there are always so many new and interesting dishes to sample.

I love being her sous-chef for this reason; it's always an amazing learning experience, and I get to experiment with ingredients and spices that M and I don't have in our own tiny maritime kitchen. It also gives me the chance to step back and work on documenting part of the cooking process, which is infinitely helpful when trying to re-create dishes that use tricky techniques.

The baklava we made this afternoon is a perfect example of this. Baklava comes in countless forms, and the version that we made was a combination of a number of recipes patched together by my mother. One of the keys to success is rendering the butter, or melting it until the milk solids just begin to separate from the fat (similar to clarifying butter to make ghee); only the clear fat should be used to brush the layers of phyllo pastry. This baklava is to die for; flaky and crispy, nutty and rich without being overly sweet, and accented with subtle notes of rose water and cinnamon.  The perfect accompaniment to a crossword puzzle and cup of earl grey.

Walnut and rose baklava

Ingredients

For the Baklava:

- 1 pound of walnuts, coarsely ground

- 1 tbsp good-quality cinnamon

- 1 tbsp rose water (make sure that you are not using rose essence or rose oil)

- 1 cup of ground zwieback crackers or breadcrumbs

- 4 sticks (2 cups) butter, melted and rendered

- 16 sheets (1 lb) phyllo dough, thawed (if frozen) and cut in half.

For the syrup:

- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

- 1 tsp freshly squeeze lemon juice

- 1 1/4 cups water

- 1 tbsp rose water

Prep time: 1 hour

Bake time: 1 hour

Rest time: 2 hours

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 400F.

2. Combine the nuts, cinnamon, rose water and ground crackers and/or breadcrumbs (we used a combination) in a large bowl. Mix well.

3. Brush a 9 x 13" baking dish with some of the butter. Layer 10 pieces of phyllo dough in the dish, brushing each sheet liberally with butter. The butter ensures that each sheet fries nicely, allowing the baklava to maintain its crispy texture over a few days. Keep remaining phyllo covered in a damp cloth to prevent drying.

4. Sprinkle the layered phyllo dough with 1/4 of the walnut mixture.

5. Carefully ayer 4 more sheets of phyllo pastry, brushing each sheet with butter, and sprinkle another 1/4 of the walnut mixture.

6. Repeat step 5 twice more until all of the walnut mixture has been used.

7. Layer 10 more sheets of phyllo pastry and brush the top layer with extra butter. Using a sharp, unserrated knife brushed lightly with butter, slice baklava into strips about 1 1/2" wide. Then, make diagonal slices, 1 1/2" wide, to create a diamond pattern.

8. Transfer to the preheated oven, and bake for 10 minutes at 400F. Reduce the heat to 300F and bake until golden, about 50 minutes more.

9. While the baklava bakes, make the syrup. Combine water, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; reduce immediately to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Add remaining tbsp rose water and return to a boil. Cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

10. When baklava has finished baking, remove from the oven and pour the syrup over the baklava; let cool completely before serving.