Joan,

Thanks for hosting. You were right. There definitely were not enough burek and roasted carrots.

Can you share recipes for both?

pairs4life wrote:Joan,

Thanks for hosting. You were right. There definitely were not enough burek and roasted carrots.

Can you share recipes for both?

the carrots were just sprinkled with olive oil, salt, pepper and some vadovan curry powder from the Spice House and roasted at 450 degrees about 15 minutes. then i stirred them, drizzled a tiny bit of honey on them and roasted another 10 minutes. i'll give you the borek recipes another time, soon.

Thank you Joan and all the ladies!

Yes, thank you Joan and everyone for your delicious desserts. I loved the conversation and the eating. And Cathy, I still want to know about the 1st and 2nd place winners from the state fair....

kalamazoogal wrote:And Cathy, I still want to know about the 1st and 2nd place winners from the state fair....

For Minnesota, 2014, this is the list of winners and participants. In addition to the third prize cookies brought yesterday. The honorable mention sugar cookie came to an earlier exchange as well as the Christmas cookie exchange by request.

I recently made the Sour Cherry Upside Down cake for a Greater Midwest Foodways meeting in December, 2016.

There are plenty of recipes to work through over time.

Regards,
CAthy2

Hi,

An interesting evening learning about all the movies I will see once they are available on DVD.

Dinner was great, really loved all those mushroom and feta pies.

Joan, thank you for hosting!

Regards,
Cathy2

Pics or it didn't happen.

Sorry I missed all the movie talk too. Highlights?

Here are a few of the dishes from Sunday.

The rest of the desserts

I was asked for the coffee cake recipe - it is from Jan/Feb2017 Bake from Scratch Magazine
Maple Date Walnut Coffee Cake (I used pecans instead of walnuts)
Streusel:
1/2 cup (63 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (55 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup (57 grams) chopped nuts (walnut or pecans)

Cake:
1 cup(128 grams) chopped pitted dates
1 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (73 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup pure maple sugar
2 teaspoons orange zest
3/4 teaspoon maple extract
1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Glaze:
1/2 cup (110 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with baking spray with flour.
2. For streusel: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in butter and maple syrup until combined. Crumble with your fingertips until desire consistency is reached. Stir in walnuts.
3. For cake: In a medium bowl, combine dates, 1 cup boiling water, and baking soda. Let stand until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, discarding any excess liquid.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugers at medium high speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrap the sides of the bowl. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in maple syrup, zest and maple extract.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk and orange juice, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. (Better will be thin.) Fold in dates. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing top. Sprinkle with streusel.
6. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes, loosely covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a shart knife around edges of cake to loosen sides. Invert onto a plate, and then invert again onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
7. For glaze: In a medium saucepan, heat brown sugar, cream and butter over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cool for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in confectioners' sugar and drizzle over cooled cake.

thanks, sue, for posting those delicious pictures. and thanks everyone for making the evening so enjoyable.

Joan,
As usual, I had a wonderful time. Good food, some stellar desserts, and enjoyable conversation....one could not ask for more.
Thank you

As promised here is my RECIPE for BAKLAVA (from Chef Kelly Sears at Marcel’s Culinary Experience, adapted from THE LANGUAGE OF BAKLAVA by Diana Abu-Jaber)

Simple Syrup:
1 ½ c.sugar
1 c. water
juice from half a lemon (Meyer lemon –preferred)
1 t. orange blossom water
1 cinnamon stick

Sugar Nut Mixture:
1 lb pistachios or a combination of walnuts and pistachios
1 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
2 t. ground cloves,
3 or 4 strips of candied lemon and orange peel

1 box phyllo dough, defrosted
3 stick of butter, clarified

Make simple syrup. In a saucepan, boil all the syrup ingredients until the mixture turns clear. Cover the syrup and set aside in the refrigerator to cool.
In a food processor, grind together the nuts, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and candied peel to a fine, sandy consistency. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Carefully unfold the phyllo dough, making sure not to crack or tear it. Keep it covered with a piece of waxed paper or damp tea towel to help prevent it from drying out
Butter the bottom of a shallow baking pan – or a cookie sheet with at least an inch-high lip.
Carefully unpeel the first sheet of phyllo and lay it flat and smooth in the bottom of the pan and Brush with clarified butter.
Continue layering sheets of phyllo dough and brushing each sheet with butter until you’ve used 1/3 of the dough.
Spread some of the nut sugar mixture to cover the dough.
Place another sheet of dough on the mixture and butter it and continue layering sheets of phyllo dough and brushing each sheet with butter until you’ve used another 1/3 of the dough. Cover with nut and sugar mixture and then continue with the last layers of dough.
Using a sharp knife, carefully cut through the baklava in long straight lines to form diamonds or squares (about 2 inches long).
Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava – (about 2/3 of the syrup). Cover until ready to serve.

here are the 2 fillings i used for the borek (filo dough triangles). it had been awhile since i made them and i definitely did not put enough filling in them; my belated apologies. i've made them since and consider a rounded tablespoon a better quantity. ( i cut the standard frozen/thawed filo dough into 3 lengthwise strips and stacked 2 strips to make each triangle, buttering both layers).
MUSHROOM FILLING(approx. 24 triangles): 5T.butter; 3 scallions; 12 oz. mushrooms; a handful of dried porcini mushrooms, soaked and drained (opt. but i used them): 3T. cream; 12 oz. cream cheese; a handful of fresh dill; 1/2t. salt, and pepper to taste.
process scallions and mushrooms till finely chopped. saute in the 5T. butter on high heat, stirring carefully until almost dry. lower heat, add cream and stir until absorbed. process cream cheese, dill, salt and pepper. add mushrooms to combine. taste for seasoning and then chill about 30 minutes till firm.
TIROPITA (feta filled borek): for approx. 24 triangles: 7 oz. good quality feta (i like bulgarian or french); 5 oz. cottage cheese; 2 eggs; 3 scallions; dash tabasco; fresh thyme to taste- maybe 1T?; lots of black pepper; 3 oz. cream cheese.
process scallions and add cream cheese and cottage cheese, process till smoothish. add all and blend.
for both borek: keep your stacked 1/3 strips of filo well covered up with plastic wrap. heat a couple of sticks of butter and use a pastry brush to coat 1 strip, topped with another, also buttered. keep the rest covered. take the bottom left hand corner and fold it up to make a triangle. notice where the filling should go-then unfold and add the dollop of filling. fold corner back up and then keep folding triangles-like folding a flag. brush the last fold with butter; then brush the top well and place on baking sheet. when they're ready to go, bake in preheated 400degree oven until well browned. should be about 15 minutes. but judge by the color, not the time. these reheat well at 325degrees for about 10 minutes. enjoy!