You can impress without the stress, and use holiday leftovers with this recipe for Kadiaf Dough.
Kadiaf dough is like a think angel hair pasta dough.
Elif Ekin, owner of Bohemian Baklava, says it lends itself to many quick and easy treats.
She says butter, dough, and an assortment of potential fillings both sweet and savory will make it look like you worked longer than you actually did.
1 package of Kadiaf dough, defrosted (you can find this dough with the filo dough in Mediterranean markets Like Black cherry as well as Rancho market.)
1 lb butter, melted
Turkey baster for butter
Simple Syrup:
3 cups sugar
1.5 cups water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Bring to boil, simmer 12 min..let cool completely
Variations:
Birds nests: extra ingredient- nuts
1. Nuts of your choice to put inside nests ( Elif used whole raw pistachios)
2. Take package of dough and cut it in half to make the threads easier to work with
3. Take one half of dough out of plastic bag, but keep other half in bag so it doesn't dry out
4. Unfold and open the dough
5. Get out a mini muffin pan
6. Take a small bunch of the dough strands and wrap them around 2 fingers and slide the "nest" into the muffin pan. Continue until you have enough nests.
7. Sprinkle some nuts ( I use about 6-8 whole pistachios) and place them in the center of the nest on top of the dough
8. Take your turkey baster and suck up some butter and drizzle over the top of each of the nests
9. Bake in 350 oven until toasty brown
10. When they come out of the oven, drizzle over about 2 tblsp of syrup over each nest..let cool.
11. Once cool and serving, use a fork to slide into the side of pan and nest and scoop it out to plate
Sweet and Savory kunefe: extra ingredient- mozzarella cheese
1. Take the kadiaf dough and pulse in the food processor until it is broken up into small pieces
2. Place in a bowl and pour melted butter on top.
3. Take a metal pie or cake pan, cover the bottom of the pan with buttered dough and press it down using the bottom of a glass to make it all compress into plass
4. Layer cheese in the middle
5. Add a layer of dough on top and press down evenly with the glass
6. Cook in 350 oven until browned
7. Drizzled syrup over the top and chopped nuts ( I use raw pistachios with some cinnamon and sugar
8. Serve warm and gooey so you can get the cheese pull at the end with the crunchy syrupy dough
9. This can be modified to be individual sizes with smaller pans or muffin tins.
Tarts: extra ingredients -lemon curd or specialty jams
1. Follow steps 2-6 from birds nest above
2. Once the nests are in the muffin pans and buttered, place in over to cook-these will become the tart shell
3. Cook 350 until brown, let cool
4. Remove them from pan and spoon in lemon curd or specialty jam
Savory:
1. Follow steps 2-6 from Birds Nest above
2. Once nests are in the muffin pans and buttered, add your savory fillings:
a. Feta cheese and parsley
b. Ground lamb and sautéed onions
c. Baked potato with green onions and cheddar
d. Anything else you can think of!
3. Bake at 350 until browned
If you don't want to try this at home, just order it online at bohemianbaklava.com and pick it up or have it delivered.
And stay tuned, Elif is transitioning to a Turkish restaurant called Kava Cafe, where you'll be able to order sandwiches and other delicious dishes.
