SC - Soup Kitchen at Estrella (and other wars)

[LrdRas@aol.com]

Marian Deborah Rosenberg wrote:
> 
> As for fruit fillings, I was thinking canned peach sections sprinkled with a
> little chopped walnut then wrapped up in the dough and sprinkling a little
> brown sugar in between the layers when buttering.  But, I have *never* made
> Filo dessert pastries and I definitely *need* some guidance on that.

The canned peach sections might work, or they might be too moist...

I used to make a simple dessert in restaurant I worked in, which
consisted of several sheets (5 or 6) of phyllo dough layered slightly
askew from a central point, so the final mass was more or less circular.

Let's see if I can illustrate this: (1) |  (2) / (3) -- (4) \ etc., all
laid on top of each other... .  

Melted butter and praline powder went in between the layers, the praline
near the center. I put some sugar, maybe three or four tablespoons,
tops, in a dry saute pan, and heated the sugar to caramelize it (not too
dark!!!). I would then add 2 Tbs butter and around 1 1/2 pounds of
Granny Smith or other firm, tart cooking apples, peeled, sliced and
cored, and a handful of raisins, and sautee it all until the apples were
slightly soft and coated with caramel. I'd put the apples (rather
sticky) in a deep glass bowl and chill until cold.

(Of course I would make several of these a day, usually a dozen or so,
so the steps may seem out of sequence...)

I would then lay out my phyllo as described above, and sprinkle a bit
more praline powder onto the center of the top layer, then invert one of
my glass bowls onto it, then remove the bowl to reveal a domed mass of
apple filling. I could then raise the edges of my phyllo dough up around
the filling, and pull it all together like a drawstring bag, with the
ends of the phyllo sticking up in the air (anybody remember the tall
food craze in the early 90's?), giving the ends a slight twist to seal
everything up.

The final tart (for lack of a better term) was a hemisphere 8" across by
4' high, with another another 5 or 6" of phyllo sticking up. I found
that spraying the top (the edges without filling) with PAM or other
cooking spray worked well to get the edges brown without burning them.

They were baked in a 375 degree F. oven, for about 15-20 minutes, or
until brown. We served them, as I recall, with cinnamon ice cream,
cutting each tart into four servings with a long serrated steak knife
(one of those jobs for which a serrated knife is actually better!).

Adamantius
Østgardr, East  
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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