baking essentials: fun with phyllo

How To Make baking essentials: fun with phyllo

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  PREP/PREPARE
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  First the Name You can spell it phyllo, or filo, but it is pronounced the same way (fee·low). FYI: Phyllo means “leaf” in Greek.
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  What is phyllo dough? Phyllo dough is not puff pastry. Puff pastry (pâte feuilletée), is a combination of dough layered with butter, or other fat. So, you have dough, fat, dough, fat, dough, fat… on-and-on, until you have hundreds of layers. When placed into a hot oven, the water in the dough and the butter turns to steam and puffs up into light, flaky layers… hence the name “puff” pastry. Phyllo dough, on the other hand, is paper-thin unleavened dough used for making many Middle Eastern and Balkan foods. It does not puff when it bakes; rather it crisps. When working with phyllo you take the thin sheets of dough and stack them on top of one another, separating each one with a bit of butter or fat. When placed into a hot oven, they do not rise as much as puff pastry; however, they create light, airy layers that melt in your mouth. FYI: Phyllo dough contains no saturated or trans fats. That is a good thing.
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  Can you make your own phyllo? The simple answer is yes… The simple ingredients are flour, water, vinegar, and a bit of oil; however, I would not encourage anyone to make it at home. Attempting to make those paper-thin layers would be next to impossible without the right equipment. Once at school we spent a day making puff pastry. A tedious operation of rolling out dough, brushing with butter, folding, rolling, putting it the fridge to cool, then taking it out and rolling, buttering, folding. By midafternoon I had a block of puff pastry that had over 350 layers (I lost count). Our instructor came over and said: Okay, you now know how to make puff pastry… Now, buy it at the store like the rest of us. My advice to you about phyllo dough would be the same… Buy it at the store like the rest of us.
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  Working with phyllo You will find phyllo dough in the frozen section at your grocers, and will come in two forms: cups, or sheets.
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  Cups Typically, the cups are prebaked, so all they require is to be filled with some sweet or savory items. They can be filled with cold, or room temperature items, or warmed up in the oven before serving. But remember one thing, the prebaked shells are extremely fragile, so be very careful when adding the filling.
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  Sheets The sheets come in sealed rolls; usually two rolls to a box. To use, take one of the rolls, move it from the freezer to the refrigerator, and allow it to thaw overnight. This is the method most recommended by chefs who work with phyllo. The other method is placing the sealed roll on your countertop; however, this presents two problems: 1. Allowing the phyllo to thaw on the counter causes the sheets to stick together, making is difficult to work with them without tearing. 2. Or, you might think they are thawed out, but the center of the roll is still frozen, so when you open it up, and begin to roll them out, they crumble and fall apart. I HATE it when that happens. To use phyllo dough, carefully unroll the thawed sheets, lay them out flat, and cover with a piece of cling wrap, topped with damp tea towel. This will keep them from drying out, make them easier to work with.
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  Folding a phyllo triangle If you have ever “properly” folded the American flag, then you know how to fold a phyllo triangle. Start by laying out a single sheet, and then brushing it with a bit of butter, or olive oil. Lay another sheet on top, and brush with a bit more fat. Repeat until you have about 4 layers. Remember to keep the unused sheets covered until needed. Use a knife or pizza cutter to divide the layered dough into strips. FYI: Phyllo dough comes in different sizes, but the most common size is 14 by 9 inches (35 by 23cm).
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  As you can see from the illustration, I have cut the phyllo sheet into 5 equal strips. The size does not really matter, but you want them long enough to get 3 or 4 folds. Now, following along with the illustration. Add some filling (the red circle) to the center, and close to where the first fold is to take place. 1. Fold the upper-right corner to the left at a 45-degree angle, to cover the filling, and form the first fold. 2. Take that section and fold it straight down. 3. Fold that section to the right at a 45-degree angle. 4. Fold again straight down. 5. Finally fold to the left at a 45-degree angle, to finish the triangle. Brush with some fat and finish up the remaining triangles. The number of folds will be determined by the starting dimensions of your phyllo strips.
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  You can fill this basic shape with any number of ingredients. It is a perfect handheld pie for savory or sweet. Stuff with spanakopita mix or cherry pie filling or cheese Danish filling. The variations are endless.
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  Making these for a crowd? FYI: You can freeze these (before baking), then store in an air-tight container, for up to 1-month. Do not defrost before baking. Leftover phyllo dough can be tightly wrapped and stored in the fridge for several weeks, or it can be refrozen, and kept for several months, or until its expiry date.
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  * RECIPE #1 WORKING WITH PHYLLO CUPS *
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  Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
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  Working with phyllo cups is much easier because they are prebaked.
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  Place a rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 200f (95c).
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  Add the oil to a pan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic, and cook until they begin to soften, about3 – 5 minutes. Then, reduce the heat, and add the spinach.
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  Cook until most of the moisture from the spinach has evaporated, then remove from the heat, and stir in the feta.
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  Place into the preheated oven and allow to warm up for 10 – 15 minutes.
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  PLATE/PRESENT
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  Serve while nice and warm to your waiting guests. Enjoy.
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  * RECIPE #2 WORKING WITH PHYLO SHEETS *
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  Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
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  Place a rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350f (175c).
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  Add the three cheeses to a bowl, along with the beaten egg.
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  Combine with a few spices of choice and leave a bit chunky.
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  Using the illustration and instructions in steps 8 and 9, make your phyllo triangles.
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  Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake until brown and crispy, about 15 – 18 minutes.
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  PLATE/PRESENT
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  Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy.
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  Well there you go. Have fun and come up with your own unique recipes.
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  Keep the faith, and keep cooking.
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