For as long as I can remember, I have loved reading. I think a lot of the credit for that should go to my dad. When my brothers and I were little, my dad would read books to us out loud. Some of my fondest memories growing up involve hanging around the living, listening to my dad read Harry Potter. As I got older, I would take the books with me to bed to read ahead. Those nights would often end with my parents lecturing me to put the book down and turn off the lights.
Those early introductions to reading taught me how incredible books are. They allow us to live in another person’s shoes. They let you travel the world and experience different cultures and time periods. They can inspire us, encourage us, teach us empathy, or a new skill. They can be an escape or break from our own lives and they can show us how fortunate we are and help us to appreciate all that we have.
This past year I got the chance to combine my love of books, good food, and company all into one neat little package, a book club! At the time, a new acquaintance asked if I was interested in joining her and a couple of friends in a book club. Their idea was read a book (obviously) and take turns hosting dinner at each others houses. Dinner would be inspired by something in the book! I loved the idea. I had always wanted to be in a book club and the opportunity to expand my circle of friends was too good to pass up.
Over the past nine months, we’ve read some good books and we’ve read some bad books but the get togethers have gotten better and better (it’s amazing what spending time with people will do for your comfort level and enjoyment!) and the meals are always amazing. We have made everything from Thai noodle bowls to German goulash to falafel. More often than not it feels like the food is more important than the book. Two books ago, we read “Love in the Time of Cholera.” Within in five minutes of picking out the book we had the whole meal planned, chips and homemade salsa, hibiscus margaritas, queso arepas, and Colombian sugar cookies.
The last book we read is what leads us to this recipe. We read “Feel Free” by Zadie Smith. It is a series of essays arranged in five sections – In the World, In the Audience, In the Gallery, On the Bookshelf, and Feel Free. Some of my favorite essays talked about her neighborhood library, climate change, and Jay-Z. When we started planning the menu for our meeting, I looked up Northwest London food specialties and found links to Turkish, Mediterranean, Israeli, Thai, Indian and so much more. None of it was particularly British but all sounded delicious. We ended up settling on Mediterranean/ Israeli which I was thrilled about. I had been wanting to try this recipe for ages but didn’t the right occasion to do it.
I really liked this recipe (and so did my husband, who scarfed down about a quarter of this but himself!). The orange zest gives it just a hint of orange and lets the pecans and honey shine. Be sure to have plenty of people to share it with because it is very rich and sweet. While this recipe is time consuming, it can be made up to three days ahead of time, left at room temperature and be ready to serve when you are.
Orange Pecan Baklava
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yields: 1 9" pastry, 16-20 servings
Ingredients
2/3 cup honey
2 (3″) cinnamon sticks
1 1 /2 cups sugar, divided
3 tablespoons bourbon
3 cups raw pecans (about 12 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest, plus 1 teaspoon orange curls
20 (17×12″) sheets fresh phyllo pastry or frozen, thawed
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring honey, cinnamon sticks, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup water to a boil in medium heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil until syrup is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, 15–18 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl, stir in bourbon, and let cool.
Meanwhile, spread pecans on large rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown, 13–15 minutes. Let cool. Transfer nuts to a food processor. Add ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. orange zest, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Place stack of phyllo sheets on a work surface. Keep any phyllo you’re not currently working with covered under a layer of plastic wrap topped with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Using base of springform pan as a guide, and starting at edge of phyllo, carefully cut out 20 (9″) circles, leaving as much phyllo remaining as possible. Cover phyllo circles. Using base of pan as a guide, cut remaining phyllo into 20 (4 1/2″) half-circles.
Insert base into pan and secure the latch. Brush base with butter. Place 1 phyllo circle in pan and brush generously with butter. Top with 2 half-circles to create a full circle, brush with butter. Top with full circle, brush again. Top with 2 more half-circles at a 90° angle from the first half-circle layer, brush with butter. Top with a full circle, and brush again. You should have 5 layers of pastry (full circle – half-circles – full circle – half circles – full circle), with butter spread between each layer. Spread one-fifth of nut mixture over phyllo. Repeat layering 4 more times. Top with the 5 remaining phyllo circles; brush top with butter.
Using a sharp knife, score the top layer (do not cut through to bottom of pan) to divide into 4 quadrants. Working with 1 quadrant at a time, make 1 straight cut to divide the quadrant into 2 even wedges. Make 4 more straight cuts (2 each on either side of, and parallel to the quadrant division line), spacing evenly apart. Now working within each wedge, make 2 evenly-spaced cuts parallel to the outside edge of the quadrant, connecting at points with the previous cuts to form a diamond pattern. Repeat with the remaining quadrants to create a starburst pattern. Transfer pan to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until phyllo is golden brown, about 45 minutes.
Spoon cooled syrup over hot baklava in 4 additions. Place orange curls on top. Let cool completely in pan. Remove springform ring and cut baklava along the scored lines.
Notes
Syrup can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Baklava can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.
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