Pages

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Romanian Strudel with Phyllo Dough

 
 
My mom, Sadie, loved to make this Strudel to celebrate special events.  I suppose  a sweet strudel  reminds us of  the sweetness of life.   I watched my mom make it many times but never really paid a lot of attention.  Yes.... I was very attentive when they were sitting so pretty on the trays...and then I would pay a lot of attention...very yummy....  My dad, Irwin, assisted her all the time.  One day in November, when I was visiting Montreal, we decided to try to make it together.  We did not have a recipe written but my dad has a pretty good memory and we had a lot of fun!
He kept saying "Your mother did it this way"  or "I think she added more of this ...or that"...whatever we did, it really did taste and look like hers and we both were proud of the results.  
He made it again a few weeks ago,  when we had the pleasure of welcoming a new little baby boy  to the family.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to go into Montreal for the celebration, but I was told his strudel was amazing!  He wrote the recipe for us and I want to share the recipe as he wrote it... . I added my 2 cents just a little bit.
 
Irwin and Sadie's Strudel
 
Ingredients;
1 lb  phyllo dough ..............(You use about 4-5 sheets at a time as stated below)
I/2  LB  Turkish delight ....
1 cup pitted prunes    
1 cup pitted dates
1 1/2 cup of-raisins preferably [white or golden)
1 cup  glacé fruit mix 
glacé cherries green & red 
icing sugar 
10 oz medium unsweetened shredded coconut
1 lb  shelled walnuts
1/4 cup of plain breadcrumbs
1 lemon


Mix prunes dates raisins in food processor - not too long- just enough  to get it mixed together, than put it in a very large bowl.
Mix walnuts and glacé fruit mix in food processor, until walnuts are in little pieces, then put into the big bowl
Add to bowl - shredded coconut & juice of 1/2 a lemon in the bowl and some rind of the lemon
then with your hands or whatever mix everything together

Open phyllo dough into the flat position and  cover with a damp cloth or it will dry out , take 4 or 5 sheets -  whatever you are comfortable working with,  flatten out and spray lightly with pam or veg.
oil.  Place  mixture  along edge,  about 1 inch wide.
Cut glacé cherries in 1/2 and place  about 1/2 inch apart all along row.
Try to roll the turkish delight into a rope about a1/4 thick [if not cut in small pieces ] and place on dough alongside the mixture.


Roll it up (jellyroll style)  to about 1/2 the sheet.


Cut the sheet of dough.
Cut your roll into about 3/4 inch pieces and place on a slightly oiled cookie sheet (or line with parchment paper) .


Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  Don"t let it get brown!  Let cool then sprinkle with icing sugar. ( a lot of icing sugar)

GOOD LUCK
 ________________________________

And I will leave it there...

I love you Daddy!

Until we bake again...

Penny




9 comments:

Sel and Poivre said...

What a wonderful post - so great to be able to bake with your Dad! This sounds delicious - I'm going to try it!

Elliot said...

They look good mom :)

Penny said...

Yes I feel so lucky to bake with my dad! Let me know how they turn out!



Thanks Elliot! Wish you would have been there to bake with us :)

sandra said...

Hi,

thanks for posting this recipe. I'm about to try it. A couple of weeks ago, I was playing around with phyllo dough & had a flashback to when I used to help my mum do this. My aunt also had a recipe for "romanian strudel", but this one seems much closer to my mum's. (my grandmother was (sephardic) from Romania.)

Rhona R said...

Thank you Sadie for sharing this wonderful recipe! I made it last year and I'm at it again tonight. Last time I used dried apricots instead of dates because I didn't have any - tonight I will make your original. Best wishes!

Canadian Quebecois said...

I too grew up with a mother who came from the Ukraine to Montreal in 1932 when it was part of the Soviet Uniom.I,as well, would experience this delicasie on special occasions. My sweetist memory was watching my mother making her own phyllo dough by swerling that dough above her head until it had reached the thinness of phyllo dough. As yingalie watching magic preformed before my eyes I never forgot that memory of the skill
my mother had. Thanks for the recipe, and I will try it.

Anonymous said...

My another used to tell me about her Romanian grandmother’s baklava with Turkish delight. I’ve been looking for a recipe for decades and now have found two in a week. Who knew it was called strudel? I’ll never know exactly how our family made it, but I’m so glad to try your version!

Anonymous said...

That would be my mother;-)

Anonymous said...

When it says take 4 or 5 sheets it is unclear whether you put them all together and oil the top one or separate them and do this for each one.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...