Baklava by Tina Kashian

Lucy Burdette: We're so happy to have Tina Kashian back to guest cook for us, this time with my dessert fave, baklava! Read all the way through to enter the giveaway for a signed copy of Stabbed in the Baklava!

Tina Kashian: Thank you for inviting me as a guest in your kitchen! I love to cook all types of cuisine. I grew up in a family-owned restaurant in New Jersey. My Kebab Kitchen Mystery Series is set in a Mediterranean restaurant at the Jersey shore. 

In my upcoming February 26, 2019 release, One Feta in the Grave, Lucy Berberian is a recovering lawyer who returns to Ocean Crest, NJ and her family’s restaurant, Kebab Kitchen. To celebrate a successful summer season, the town plans a beach festival. But things soon take a turn for the worse when an arrogant businessman gets in a screaming match with Lucy’s best friend, Katie, over a sand castle contest. And when the same businessman is found shot dead under the boardwalk, things don’t look good for Katie. It’s up to Lucy to investigate before the wrong person gets skewered.
As for me, one of our favorite family desserts in baklava. Working with phyllo dough can be tricky. Each piece is as thin as a sheet of newspaper. But the recipe is simple and it is well worth the effort.
I hope you’ll stop by to learn more about my Kebab Kitchen Mystery Series at www.tinakashian.com

This Mediterranean dessert is a favorite and often served at holidays and weddings.
Prep Time: 20 minutes 
Cook Time: 40 minutes 
Ingredients:

1 ½ cups sugar
1cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups clarified butter
1 pound phyllo dough (9 x 14 inch sheets)

Combine walnuts, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl and set aside. This is the walnut filling.

Melt butter and coat a 14x10 inch baking pan. Clarify butter by removing the foamy layer off the top.

Layer seven sheets of phyllo dough in the pan, buttering each sheet with a pastry brush. 

Spread half of the walnut filling evenly over top. Layer another seven sheets of phyllo dough in the pan, buttering each sheet. Spread the remaining walnut filling evenly over top. 



Cover with the remaining sheets of dough, buttering each sheet. Cut baklava in diamond shape pattern. 


Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for forty minutes. 

Simple sugar syrup: boil together 1 ¼ cups sugar and 1 cup water for ten minutes. Stir often until sugar dissolves in water. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Turn off flame and set syrup aside to cool. Pour cooled syrup on your baklava.

Enjoy your baklava!

Here’s a picture of baklava served as dessert at my cousin’s wedding.

Tina Kashian is an attorney and a former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two daughters. Please visit her website at www.tinakashian.com to join her newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!
You can also connect with Tina at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinaKashianAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaKashian1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinakashian/

GIVEAWAY! Please share! What’s your favorite dessert? To celebrate the upcoming February 26, 2019 release of ONE FETA IN THE GRAVE, I’m offering a signed, print (U.S. only) copy of STABBED IN THE BAKLAVA to one commenter. Thank you!

      

One Feta in the Grave (2/26/19 release)
A Kebab Kitchen Mystery

As summer comes to an end in her Jersey Shore town, Lucy Berberian continues to manage her family’s Mediterranean restaurant. The Kebab Kitchen also has a food tent at this year’s beach festival. But now a local businessman is under the boardwalk—dead by the sea . . .

With a sand castle contest and live music, Ocean Crest bids a bittersweet farewell to tourist season. Summer will return next year . . . but Archie Kincaid won’t. The full-of-himself store owner has been fatally shot, soon after a screaming match with Lucy’s best friend. Katie’s far from the only suspect, though, since Archie had some bitter rivals—as well as some relationships no one knew about. It’s up to Lucy to look into some seedy characters and solve the case before the wrong person gets skewered . . .

Recipes Included!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UxFd8q
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Google Books: https://bit.ly/2RTDl8r