chef d's baklava

1 lb. walnuts - finely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

 2 t. cinnamon

3 sticks butter, melted

1 package phyllo dough

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

1 T. lemon juice

1 c. honey

1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Combine and set aside walnuts, 1/2 c. sugar, and cinnamon.  Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch pan with melted butter.  Open the phyllo dough and layer 6 whole leafs (or 12 half leafs) in the pan, buttering each layer as you go. (The edges will extend over the side.) Spread 1 cup of the walnut mixture.

Cut the remaining phyllo dough in half.  Layer 8 half sheets -- butter each layer.  Each sheet will be an inch or so short, so stagger the sheets from corner to corner to cover the whole pan.  Spread 1 c. of the walnut mixture.  Repeat 8 sheets and walnut mixture twice.  You will end up with 4 layers of nuts.

Layer the remaining half sheets on top -- butter each layer.  Brush the top with the remaining butter.  Trim the edges off. Cut halfway through the layers diagonally.  (Note: Do NOT cut from corner to corner.) This is done now since it will be very fragile after it's been baked.

Bake 1 hour or until golden brown.  15 minutes before the baklava should be done, mix 1 c. sugar, water, and lemon juice in a sauce pan.  Cook sauce over a medium heat, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, add the honey and vanilla, and stir until well blended.  Remove the baklava from the oven and finish cutting through the layers  Pour the sauce over the hot baklava.

Cool.  Let it sit for at least 24 hours (lightly covered -- but not in the refrigerator) -- longer if you can stand it!  The longer you let the baklava sit, the better it gets.  After I have everything gathered and the nut mixture done, I can assemble the baklava in about 45 minutes.  Each pan makes 35-45 nice pieces depending on how close your cuts are.  

Remember that the frozen phyllo dough needs to thaw in the refrigerator for 6 hours.  If you thaw it at room temperature, the sheets of phyllo dough will stick together.  I have found that you can melt all of the butter and keep it in a crock pot on low so you don't have to melt butter as you go.