Baklava - Recipe
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- Category: Food & Drink
- Created on Saturday, 18 July 2015 09:10
- Written by Northern Living
Almost all the peoples of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians introduce baklava as their national dessert. When we consider that all of these regions once belonged to the Ottoman Empire, it is possible to think of Baklava as an Ottoman dessert. But because Ottoman is mostly equivalent with ‘Turks’, the modern day Greeks and Arabs don’t like this suggestion.
Greeks claim that Turks had borrowed Baklava from Byzantine . It has been suggested that Baklava is very like the dessert kopte or kopton (koptoplakous) very much liked during the Byzantine period.
Ingredients:-
30 sheets of phyllo pastry
500g (17 oz.) chopped mix of walnuts, pistachios and almonds
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp grounded clove
1 tsp sugar
300g butter, melted (10 oz.)
For the syrup:-
650g sugar (23 oz.)
400g water (14 oz.)
80g glucose or honey (2.8 oz.)
zest of 1 lemon or orange
1 cinnamon stick
Method:-
1. To prepare this baklava recipe, start by melting the butter in a saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn it. Using a cooking brush butter the bottom and sides of a baking pan. (For this baklava recipe you will need a large baking pan approx. 40*30cm). Begin by layering the sheets of phyllo on the bottom of the baking dish to form the base of the baklava. Layer the sheets one at a time, making sure to sprinkle each one with melted butter.
2. In a large bowl, mix the chopped nuts, the sugar, the cinnamon and grounded clove. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the phyllo base and continue forming the top of the baklava. Top the nuts with the rest phyllo sheets, sprinkling each one with melted butter and brush the top of the baklava with enough butter.
3. Place the baklava in the fridge for 15 minutes to make it easier to cut into pieces. Remove the baklava from the fridge and using a sharp knife cut the cut the pastry all the way down into pieces. If you fancy the taste of clove, place one whole clove berry into the middle of each baklava piece and sprinkle the top with some cold water.
4. Place the baklava in preheated oven at 150C on the lower rack (both top and bottom heating elements on) and bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes, until all the phyllo layers are crisp and golden.
5. Prepare the syrup for the baklava. Into a small pot mix all the ingredients for the syrup and bring to the boil. Boil fro about 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. As soon as the baklava is ready, ladle slowly the hot syrup over the hot baklava, enabling it to be absorbed.
6. Let the baklava cool down completely and serve after the syrup is absorbed. Enjoy!
Pelmeni Recipe - пельме́ни
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- Category: Food & Drink
- Created on Tuesday, 14 July 2015 16:14
- Written by Northern Living
These are meat dumplings, a bit like Italian ravioli, but not quite. The rule of a thumb is to freeze Pelmeni at least for 24 hours before boiling and serving them. They are great served melted butter, chopped dill, mustard, sour cream or vinegar
Ingredients:-
For the dough:
3 eggs
700 ml all-purpose flour
200 ml water
1 tsp salt
For the filling:
1 kg minced meat (a 50/50 mixture of pork and beef works well)
1 onion
salt
black pepper
2 tbs vegetable oil
Serve with melted butter, mustard, sour cream or vinegar.
Method:-
(1) Sieve flour into a heap with a small well on the top. Gradually beat in the eggs, salt and add water little by little to form a dough. Mix and kneed it well for a few minutes, so that it is quite tight. Leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
(2) Mix the mince with finely chopped onion, salt and pepper. Stir in vegetable oil and mix well.
(3) Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into medium flat discs, about 2 mm thick. Cut out small round discs, about 6-7 cm in diameter, using a glass. Spoon a 1 tsp of mince into a dough disc, and pinch the edges together, so that the dumpling forms a half-moon shape. Make sure the edges are well pinched together. Place the dumplings on a plastic tray, leaving the space between them, and freeze for at least 24 hours.
(4) Boil a good amount of water, adding a little salt. Boil the frozen pelmeni, until they float on the surface - that's when they are ready. Drain them with a spoon and serve with melted butter, chopped dill, mustard, sour cream or vinegar.
Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
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- Category: Food & Drink
- Created on Tuesday, 14 July 2015 06:04
- Written by Northern Living
A delightful pasta salad with the great taste of bacon and a creamy sauce made with DIY ranch dressing.
Ingredients:-
1 pack uncooked tri-color pasta
10 slices bacon
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix (Dried parsley, ground black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme)
1/2 cup milk, or as needed
12 cherry tomatoes halved
1 can black olives, sliced
Method:-
(1) Boil the pasta until cooked, but not cooked to death!
(2) Drain and set aside to cool.
(3) Grill the bacon until it is crispy.
(4) lay on kitchen paper to cool.
(5) Chop the tomatoes
(6) Once the pasta and bacon are both cool, break the bacon up and mix all the ingredients.
(7) If the end result looks a little dry, all milk and mix thoroughly until you are happy with the consistency
Selby Food Festival Celebrates Yorkshire Day!
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- Category: Food & Drink
- Created on Thursday, 09 July 2015 11:09
- Written by Northern Living
The 4th annual Selby Food Festival will take place on Saturday 1st August in Market Place, Finkle Street and Micklegate from 9am to 4pm.
This is a family friendly free event with over 30 stallholders from around the region displaying a wide variety of products including: burgers with exotic meats, artisan pork pies, savoury pies and pasties, award-winning handmade fudge, preserves, a wide range of fine berry liqueurs and real Yorkshire ales and craft beers.
The local cafes and restaurants will also join in the festivities by offering special Festival menus and there will also be cookery demonstrations, street entertainment and at Selby Abby family fun activities.
David Gluck, Festival Organiser, working with the Selby Town Enterprise Partnership said it was fantastic that Selby was now on the regional food map. He added: “We are working towards making Selby a destination and this Festival is part of the regeneration of the town. We are keen to build on success of the Tour de Yorkshire held back in May and also early in the year the Taiwanese wedding of pop star Jay Chou at Selby Minster, which attracted world-wide media attention and 100’s of visitors to the town.”
“Selby is also one of just 50 communities throughout the UK now taking part in a brand new Community Economic Development initiative to encourage more local food and drink producers and outlets across Selby district. Events like the Selby Food Festival really help to re-enforce that message that locally produced foods are available and are good for health and well-being as well as for the local economy.”
There are still a few stalls available for this year’s festival and if there are any local food or drink companies interested in taking part in this event, please get in touch with Alexandra Porozova at info{at}selbyfoodfestival.co.uk.
You can also download the application form on the website at www.selbyfoodfestival.co.uk
This year’s Festival has been organised by the Selby Town Enterprise Partnership working in association with Selby Town Council, Mollie Sharp’s Cheese and Deli Shop and AMEY.
More information about this year’s Selby Food Festival is available at www.facebook.com/selbyfoodfestival and www.selbyfoodfestival.co.uk. The Festival is also on Twitter @selbyfoodfest
Specialist Hospitality Web Design Service
- Details
- Category: Food & Drink
- Created on Saturday, 13 June 2015 14:55
- Written by Northern Living
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