Clarified Butter For Baklava Recipes

Steps:

• Place the butter in a 2-quart saucepan and set over medium heat. Once the butter has liquefied, decrease the heat to lowest setting then adjust to maintain a low boil. Cook for approximately 45 minutes or until the butter reaches 260 degrees F, is clear, and the foam on top is slightly browned. Strain the clarified butter through 4 layers of cheesecloth set into a hand strainer into a heatproof vessel. Cool completely before refrigerating in an airtight container for up to six months. Can be frozen for up to a year.

Steps:

• Cut butter into tablespoon-size pieces. Place in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until the solids sink to the bottom of the pan, skimming any foam off the top. Pour the clear yellow liquid into a glass jar, discard the solids, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Steps:

• Place the butter in a heavy saucepan and melt slowly over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Skim the foam from the top, and slowly pour into a container, discarding the milky solids in the bottom of pan.
• What makes clarified butter so great is its higher smoke point. This means you can cook meats and fish at a higher temperature than you can with regular butter, making it ideal for pan-frying. By clarifying the butter during a slow cooking process, you're able to strain out the milk solids that burn quickly as well as the water and salt. You'll lose about 1/4 of your original butter amount during the process, and the clarified butter will keep, tightly covered in the refrigerator for about 1 month.

Steps:

• For the honey syrup: Combine the honey, granulated sugar, lemon juice, salt, sliced ginger, anise and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, for the baklava: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Brush 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter evenly all over a 9-by-9-inch baking pan.
• Melt the 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the panko and granulated sugar. Toast, stirring often, for a few minutes until slightly golden. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl.
• Add the dates, raisins, brown sugar, orange blossom water, cinnamon, ground ginger and salt to a food processor and pulse until the dried fruit is finely chopped. Add the almonds and process again until just combined. Transfer to a clean work surface and roll into eight thin 10-inch-long logs.
• Lay one sheet of phyllo onto a clean surface and lightly brush with some of the remaining melted clarified butter. Lay a second sheet of phyllo directly on top of the first, brush with more clarified butter and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of the panko mixture. Fold the phyllo sheets in half crosswise; place one of the date logs at the short end of the sheets and begin to roll the dough over the date log, continuing until the entire phyllo sheet has been rolled. You will end up with a phyllo cigar.
• Transfer the cigar to the prepared baking pan and lay horizontally. Brush the top lengthwise with some of the remaining melted clarified butter and repeat the process with the remaining phyllo and date logs. You will need 8 cigars to fill the pan. Brush the baklava with some of the remaining clarified butter once again. Using a sharp knife, slice vertically down in three equal sections, creating twenty-four 3-inch pieces. Bake until the baklava are golden brown, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Baste the baklava with the remaining clarified butter at 30 and 45 minutes into the baking time. Rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking.
• Strain the solids from the honey syrup and discard. Pour the syrup over the hot baklava immediately after removing from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes to soak up all the syrup.

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until coarsely ground (or you can chop them by hand until very finely chopped). Don't overprocess the nuts. You want to maintain some texture.
• Clarify the butter by melting it over low heat, then letting it cook until the foam rises to the top and the milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan. This will take about 5 to 15 minutes depending upon how high your heat is, but don't rush it or the butter could burn.
• Skim foam off the top of the melted butter. Line a fine-mesh sieve with a piece of cheesecloth, place it over a bowl and pour the melted butter through.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees and brush the inside of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with a little of the clarified butter.
• Prepare the phyllo dough by trimming the stack of it with scissors to fit the bottom of your baking dish. Packages of phyllo come in different sizes; some won't need any trimming, some may need an inch or two cut off a side, and some may need to be cut in half crosswise. Cover phyllo layers with a lightly damp kitchen towel, and keep covered.
• Place 1 piece of phyllo on the bottom of the baking pan; brush lightly with clarified butter. Layer phyllo sheets on top, brushing each sheet with butter as you go, until half the phyllo is used.
• Spread pistachios on phyllo in an even layer, then layer with remaining phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter as you go (rewarm butter if necessary).
• Cut the pastry into 36 pieces, using clean up-and-down strokes and rotating the pan if necessary. Make sure to cut all the way through to bottom of pan. Pour any remaining butter evenly over pan.
• Bake baklava until the top is golden brown, and the lower phyllo layers beneath the pistachios are thoroughly baked through. To test this, use a knife to lift up a corner of one of the pastry rectangles from the center of the pan so you can peek at the bottom layers. Start checking after 40 minutes, but it could take an hour or even 1 hour 10 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown before the pastry is cooked through, lay a piece of foil over the top.
• Meanwhile, prepare sugar syrup: In a medium pot, combine sugar with 1 2/3 cups/400 milliliters water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in lemon juice.
• When the baklava is baked through, reheat the syrup until it comes to a simmer. Remove pan from oven and place in the sink or on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips of syrup. Slowly pour hot sugar syrup over the pastry; it will bubble up and some may overflow. When the syrup stops bubbling, move pan to wire rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Steps:

• Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Remove from heat and allow milk solids to sink to bottom. Skim any foam from surface, then carefully pour off clarified butter, leaving solids behind.