Ramadan 101: Day 13

Baklava is one of the most anticipated sweets of Ramadan. One of my favorites is Chocolate Baklava which Chef Nassir Saiyd taught me how to make in Egypt in 2006. When my friend Sheilah Kaufman and I visited the US Botanic Garden's "New Age of Chocolate" exhibit yesterday, I couldn't get it out of mind.

The exhibit, which runs until November 15, addresses botanical, environmental, and gastronomical issues about our beloved cocoa plants. Children and adults alike will be fascinated to see how many of their favorite foods grow. The museum curators have gone so far as to group foods together in ways that they're eaten (for example the spices which make up particular spice mixes are labeled and identified as such in the smelling stations.)

Today, I taught a group of friends how to make other favorite Middle Eastern sweets...which I will share tomorrow.

RECIPE: From Nile Style: Egyptian Cuisine and Culture

Double Chocolate Baklava Ba’lawa bil Chokolata 24 Servings This decadent recipe combines both milk and dark chocolate with buttery phyllo dough. Ingredients: 1 (1 pound) box Phyllo dough, thawed according to package directions 1 cup clarified butter (ghee)* ½ pound milk chocolate (chips or small pieces ½ pound dark chocolate (60% or higher) 1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar Preparation: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Butter a 13x9-inch baking pan. To assemble the baklava, remove phyllo dough from package. Trim it with a sharp knife to fit the pan you are using. Wrap excess dough in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Cover bottom of baking pan with 1 sheet of phyllo dough. Brush clarified butter evenly over the top. Stack another sheet over the top. Brush with more clarified butter. Continue stacking and brushing with butter until half of the phyllo dough is used. Sprinkle milk and dark chocolate evenly across the top. Continue layering remaining phyllo dough and brushing with clarified butter. Brush top layer with clarified butter. Position the pan as if it were a rectangle. With a long, sharp knife, cut phyllo into 6 strips vertical strips across the wide side of the pan(three-quarters of the way down). Cut 4 equally spaced vertical lines over the strips (three quarters of the way down) to create 24 squares. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes total, or until golden. Rotate pan every 20 minutes to ensure even browning. Remove pan from oven and cool to room temperature. Top with confectioners sugar before serving.