Filo can be fun!

Filo can be fun, the ladies of St. Vincent de Paul's circle group found out as we did a Filo 101 demonstation. Thank you ladies for a wonderful night. Each one of you had great questions and interest in Greek cooking.

The group's general thought was filo is difficult to work with when cooking. Most had purchased filo before, but didn't know what to do with it. The rule is always, if you make a mistake, butter over it. So, last night we made Tiropitas, Easy Baklava Triangles (pictured and recipe below), along with Baklava Baked Brie. A few tried their hand and got dirty rolling Tiropitas, but benefited from eating their work.

With the holidays around the corner, try making these Easy Baklava Triangles. Less work than making a whole pan of baklava and you will love these bite sized baklava treats!

Easy Baklava Triangles

This simple version allows you to get the look and feel of baklava the easy way. You can

impress your guests using only a few ingredients.

Baklava Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 pound filo, thawed

2 pounds walnuts, chopped

2 tablespoons cinnamon

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cloves, ground

¼ cup whiskey

50 whole cloves

50 baking cups

Syrup Ingredients

3 cups water

3 cups sugar

1 strip lemon zest

1 strip orange zest

1 pint of honey

½ fresh lemon, juiced and strained

1 cinnamon stick

Method

1. Mix walnuts, cinnamon, sugar, cloves, and whiskey. Set aside.

2. Keeping filo in a roll, cut into three equal parts. Unroll the first portion and cover

the remainder with a cloth to prevent dryness.

3. Place two sheets of filo on the work surface. Butter one at a time, placing one on

top of the other.

4. Take one teaspoon of walnut mixture and place it in the bottom right hand corner

of the filo sheets.

5. Starting from the corner with the walnut filling, fold the dough in triangles using a

flag-folding technique. Keep the filo sheets tight while folding. You do not need to

go corner to corner. Lightly brush the top edge with butter to seal it.

6. Place each completed triangle on cookie sheet. Place a clove in the center of

triangle. Continue folding the rest.

7. Bake at 360° F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot or room

temperature.

8. To make the syrup: boil water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, orange and

lemon zest for 20 minutes. Add one pint of honey, and then boil another 20

minutes, constantly scraping the foam off the top. Reduce heat and remove zest

and cinnamon stick. Pour warm (not hot) syrup over cooled baklava.

9. Let cool and place each piece in a decorative baking cup.