Assalamo alykum. In a day or two insha allah , we will be celebrating Eid. Today we have Areej from Jordan. Her blog “OnMyTable”  captivates us with beautiful pictures of middle eastern delights.Welcome to second last chapter of Ramadan An event to share with a Jordanian ramadan and eid celebrations.

Ramadan Mubarak, my name is Areej Alsmadi and I blog at “OnMyTable” . I am originally from Jordan and  currently I live in  the USA. A housewife and a mom of amazing 4 kids, and I have a passion of cooking food, styling it, and shooting it:). I wanna thank my dear Huma for inviting me to participate in her Ramadan event, may Allah SWT makes it a very blessing holy month upon all of us. Ramadan in Jordan has its special taste , so much warm memories are flashing on my mind right know,  a nostalgic feeling to the home and family. Ramadan back home always sticks in my mind with family gathering at Iftar (the sun set meal), and visiting extended family throughout the month. It has its unique spiritual flavor,as it is considered the  month of Ibadan (worship) and Qur’an. Ramadan’s kitchen has it is unique features too, the table of Ramadan in Jordan is very unique and has so much varieties of food, soups,beverages, side dishes, main course and I will never forget my best part 🙂 the desserts. my mom used to prepare a very unique delicious meals and desserts  during Ramadan that I still copy them so I may feel a little like my back home taste of Ramadan.

My recipe for this blessed event will be about middle eastern dessert recipe,  Baklava or Baklawa as it is pronounced in Arabic, it is a traditional delicious rich dessert that is very popular around the Mediterranean,it is consist of layers of phyllo filled with nuts and drenched in a syrup. Baklawa mostly enjoyed at Ramadan and the celebrations of Eid and any other celebrations throughout the year. There are numerous variations of baklawa filling ,A walnut filling , pistachios filling, almond filling, cashew filling or simply mixed nuts filling. The most coveted baklava of them all is pistachio baklava made with bright green, raw pistachio nuts.

Also Baklava comes on various shapes and sizes you’d never dream of. Squares, diamonds, rolls, nests, spirals and many more other shapes.

I made Baklava with three different fillings, diamond shape pistachios filling, cashew filled nests topped with pistachios, and the round shape you see in pictures up. Preparing Baklava is not difficult at all but it needs time especially at the first time you try to prepare it but then when you start using to prepare it you will start being very fast.

To prepare this recipe just follow the steps bellow,

Ingredients

Prepare the syrup:

• 4 cups sugar
• 2cup water
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1cup honey

1. On medium high heat mix the sugar with water until boiling then add the lemon juice and let the syrup simmer for about 10 minutes
2. When baklava done the syrup should be cooled down, mix 1 cup of syrup with one cup of honey and use it for baklava

For the layers :

• 1 package phyllo dough (I used 1 B, 454g package, 40 sheets )(I used 3 packages to make 3 different fillings, but you can use one and make many shapes using it)
• 1\2 cup pure ghee (you can use butter but Ghee give you the strong authenticated flavor)(I used 1 1\2 cup with the 3 phyllo packages)

For fillings (Mix all the below)

1- Pistachios filling:

• 400g raw pistachios finely grounded using food processor
• 1 Tbsp Ghee
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)

2- Cashew filling:(you can use roasted peanuts instead )

• 2 cups finely grounded raw cashew
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon powder
• mix ’em together.
• 3- Walnut filling:
• 400 g grounded walnuts
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon powder
• 3 Tbsp coconuts flakes(optional

Method

• to prepare the diamond shape pistachios or walnut baklava,

1. set your oven on 400 f , grease your pan with 2 Tbsp of Ghee , prepare your phyllo sheets near you and keep them covered inside a damp cloth to save them from being dry.
2. start with putting the first phyllo sheet in the bottom of the greased pan, using a brush start to spread Ghee all around the sheet,put another sheet above the first sheet and brush it with Ghee then keep layering until you finish 13 layer, now spread your filling (either the pistachios or walnut) then finish layering the sheets until you finish all the 40 sheets you have and be sure to brush Ghee in-between layers. When you are done layering brush the surface of baklava with Ghee and using a sharp knife cut the baklava into diamond shapes, then bake it for about 10 minutes on 400 f, then reduce the temperature to 320 degrees and bake it for other 30 to 40 minutes, when it is buff and golden then it is done, take it out and drench with syrup, let it to cool down in room temperature then enjoy it.

• to prepare cashew baklava

1. As you can see above, firstly you take a sheet of phyllo then add the cashew filling (do not brush the sheet with any fat) then roll it using a long pin. now using your both hands try pressing on both edges to inside to make the shape looks like the picture above. then take the pin out and shape it either as a nest or as the shape I made up. arrange your baklava pieces on a good greased pan, when you are done with your baklava brush all pieces with Ghee then bake it in oven on 350 degree for about 20 minutes until golden from up and down sides. add syrup and let them to cool down then enjoy them.

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