Ramadan 101: Day 3

Yesterday's iftaar was great. Our hostess, Nazly, and her husband Kareem made us a delicious meal of yellow lentil soup, Egyptian eggplant and meat moussaka (m'saa'a), Egyptian rice infused with cardamom, meat stew, chicken breast stuffed with cheese and herbs, stewed peas, and salad. For dessert....a delicious cheese filled k'nafeh (shredded phyllo pastry)- the crowning glory of the meal.

Today, I'd like to share some of my recipes for different kinds of k'nafehs with you.

Enjoy the video for nut filled K'nafeh along with a different recipe from Nile Style: Egyptian Cuisine and Culture

Date K’nafeh K’nafeh Bil Tamr Makes 15 Servings My husband remembers his mother making this version of K’nafeh during his childhood. We added a few more ingredients to the original version and came up with the sweet, moist, and delicious recipe for this version of K’nafeh Serves 10 Ingredients: For the syrup: 1 ½ cups sugar 2 large strips of orange peel Juice of 1 small orange For the filling: 1 cup soft pitted dates, chopped ¼ cup raisins ¼ cup shelled pistachios, chopped ¼ cup shredded coconut 1 teaspoon rose water 1 teaspoon orange blossom water For the K’nafeh: 1 (1 pound) package kataifi*, thawed 4 sticks unsalted butter, melted Preparation: Make the syrup by putting sugar, 1 cup water, orange peel, and orange juice into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, reduce heat to low, and let simmer approximately 10 to 15 minutes, until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and cool. Remove orange peel from syrup. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Make the filling by dates, raisins, pistachios, coconut, rose water, and orange blossom water in a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is coarsely ground. To assemble the K’nafeh, place melted butter in a large, deep bowl. Holding the kataifi strands over the butter, pull them apart, and toss them with the butter. Use your fingers to combine and continue breaking the strands up until they are 1 to 2-inches each. Press half of strands into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan. Spread the filling evenly over the top. Press the remaining kataifi strands over the filling to cover. Cover the surface of the K’nafeh with tin foil. Place 2 (5 pound) weights on top (bags of sugar or cans work fine). Refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight. Take weights off and uncover k’nafeh. With a sharp, long serrated knife, carefully make 30 squares inside the pan (only cut three-quarters of the way down). Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, rotating pan every 20 minutes to ensure even baking. K’nafeh is finished when it is golden in color. Carefully pour the syrup over the k’nafeh after removing from the oven. Let cool completely and use a spatula to serve. * Sold as “shredded phyllo strands”.