A Birthday and Baklava

We have a multi-cultural family. My husband and his family are from Uzbekistan, an Asian country north of Afghanistan and west of China. We married just shortly after the September 11th attacks that were so devastating to so many, and I have seen first hand the stigma attached now to any country that ends in "istan" even when most of Americans have never heard of Uzbekistan and they automatically judge. Did you know "istan" stands for "land of?" So my husband and his loving, warm, caring family are from the Land of Uzbeks. What a colorful, happy culture they have brought into my home. There is so much history in every building and road and house in this wonderful country. The music and art has filled my house for the last 8 years that my husband and I have lived together, and even more so now that his mom has been staying with us for the past 10 months. The music specifically has filled my little peanut's heart and come out of her with, at times, some hilarious dance moves!
Yesterday was my mother-in-laws birthday. To celebrate, we dusted off the grill for the first time this spring and made some bbq chicken and potatoes. Wow...was that delicious! And, to share some art of my own for her to bring home to her country...I cross stitched some beautiful kitchen towels, hot pads, an apron and a table cloth for her. She has shared so much of herself with my family I thought the this would be the perfect time to share something that I worked on so hard with her.


We ended the celebration with a special request from the birthday girl herself...Baklava! Baklava is a rich honey and nut pastry that is best served with a nice cup of hot tea if you ask me! Many cultures have a version of Baklava and it is not exactly know where its orgins come from, but it is found in Greek, Turkish, Arab, Uzbek and Chinese cultures to name a few. It has been found to be a special treat served during Ramadan (a special religious time in the Islamic religion) in some countries. This is a favorite dessert of my mother-in-law, but it is very expensive to make in Uzbekistan, so the first time I pulled it out of the oven while she was here she was very excited! And I was excited that I made a dessert that she recognized without even knowing it!

Baklava

1 lb Walnuts, finely chopped

1 c butter, melted

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cloves

1 lb phyllo pastry (I use Athens brand)

a little lemon juice

2 c sugar

1 c honey

2 tsp vanilla

1 ½ c water

Make sure to follow directions on the phyllo package to properly thaw out your dough...or it will break when you unroll it and you will become easily frustrated!

If you buy the whole walnuts (its a lot cheaper), throw them in the food processor and pulse a few times until you get a fine chop. Mix the Walnuts, cinnamon and cloves and set aside.

Melt butter.

Butter a 9" x 13" pan and place 4 sheets of phyllo, using a pastry brush to brush melted butter on each individual sheet.

Add about 2/3 cups of walnut mixture on top and add 2 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet.

Repeat until you either have only 4 sheets left (which you use for the top layer) or are out of walnut mix. I usually come pretty close to using one pack of phyllo (the Athens brand comes with 2 sealed bags).

Cut the baklava in a diamond pattern, making sure to get all the way to the bottom of the pan.

Top with the remaining butter and bake at 350 for 40 minutes (or until top is nicely golden brown.)

During the last 10 minutes of baking time, mix the sugar, honey, vanilla, lemon juice and 1 ½ cups of water in a pot and boil for 5 minutes.

Remove any froth off the top and pour over the baklava. I don't end up using all the honey mixture...usually about 2/3 of it.

Serve cold.