Sunday Roast Pork
My blog theme has changed three times over the weekend and for that I’m sorry. I’m a little fickle and get bored easily but I think I have found one that suits me.
Some things, however, never change and that is the pure joy I get from eating roast pork for lunch on a Sunday. It’s even better when someone else makes it for you. I must admit I am not great at making crackling so I’m quite happy to let someone who knows take over and all I need to do is pour the wine and enjoy.
The recipes today are for the Greek sweets we had after lunch. I seriously do not know how we fit it all in. I didn’t have any dinner and probably won’t be hungry again until sometime next week.
For dessert we had ‘Baklava’ and ‘Galaktoboureko’. They are extremely sweet and sticky with syrup but if you have the time you should give them a go as they are not that difficult to make and taste wonderful!
Baklava
Preparation Time
20 – 25 minutes
Cooking Time
70 minutes
Makes
20 pieces
Ingredients
- 375g (1 packet) filo pastry
- 180g butter, melted & cooled
- 2 tsp water
Filling
- 150g walnut pieces
- 150g unsalted pistachios
- 55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
Honey Syrup
- 1 375g jar honey
- 165g (3/4 cup) sugar
- 250mls (1 cup) water
- 1 lemon, rind finely grated and juiced
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C To make the filling, spread the walnuts on a baking tray and lightly toast in the preheated oven for 5-8 minutes or until aromatic. Cool.
Combine walnuts, pistachios, sugar and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor and process using the pulse button until they are finely chopped.
Remove the filo pastry from its packet and lie flat on the work bench. Cover with a dry tea towel and then a damp tea towel. (This will keep the filo from drying out while making the baklava.)
Brush a shallow 18 x 28cm cake tin with some of the butter. Take 1/3 of the sheets of filo. Brush the top sheet generously with butter and fold into thirds to make a rectangle the size of the tin. Place in the base of the buttered tin and brush surface with butter.
Continue layering with the left over 1/3 of pastry. Spread 1/2 of the nut filling over the filo to cover. Layer 1/2 of the remaining filo sheets as before. Spread left over nut filling over filo and top with the remaining layered buttered filo sheets. Lightly brush top with remaining butter.
Using a sharp knife, cut a diamond pattern into the top layer of filo and sprinkle with the water. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes longer or until the filo layers are cooked through.
Meanwhile, to make the honey syrup, combine honey, sugar, water, lemon rind and juice in a saucepan and stir over high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and maintain over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the syrup has thickened slightly.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cooked, remove baklava from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup evenly over the surface. Stand to cool completely. Cover with foil and store at room temperature in the tin for up to 2 weeks.
Cut into diamond shapes to serve with espresso coffee.
Galaktoboureko (sweet milk custard dessert)
Preparation time
35 minutes
Cooking time
55 minutes
Ingredients
- 1L (4 cups) milk
- 110g (1/2 cup) white sugar
- 185g (1 cup) semolina
- 4 eggs
- 2 x 20g pkts vanilla sugar
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
- 12 sheets filo pastry, halved crossways
- 75g butter, melted
Sugar Syrup
- 450g (2 cups) white sugar
- 500ml (2 cups) water
- 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
- 1 x 7cm cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 strip orange peel
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Bring milk and white sugar just to the boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add the semolina in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring, for 3-5 minutes or until mixture is smooth and thickens slightly. Remove from heat and set aside for 15-20 minutes to cool slightly. Gradually add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until well combined. Add the vanilla sugar and lemon rind and stir until well combined.
Place the filo on a clean work surface. Cover with a clean tea towel, then a damp tea towel (this will prevent it drying out). Place 1 filo sheet in the base of a 24 x 30cm (base measurement) ovenproof dish and brush with a little melted butter. Top with another filo sheet and lightly brush with melted butter. Repeat with another 10 filo sheets and melted butter to make a 12-sheet stack.
Pour semolina mixture over the filo in dish. Continue layering with remaining filo sheets and half the remaining melted butter to make another 12-sheet stack on top of the semolina mixture. Use a small sharp knife to score top of galaktoboureko into 16 squares. Brush with the remaining melted butter. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until golden.
Meanwhile, to make sugar syrup, place the sugar, water, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, without stirring, for 10 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Strain syrup and discard cinnamon, cloves and peel.
Cut through marked lines on top of galaktoboureko. Pour over the hot syrup and set aside for 30 minutes to stand. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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