Feast in the MIddle East

Hello friends…

I want to thank you all so much for joining me on my culinary journeys, and as a thank you for subscribing to my page, I will share one of my most precious dessert recipes: Palestinian Mutabak, or buttery filo dough with a sweet cheese filling drizzled with a lemony rose simple syrup.  I like to fool myself by saying that this rich dessert has all the basic food groups: protein, fat, and carbs, but who am I foolin? This is a decadent delight you can imagine the Greek God Dionysus feasting on his plush couch after the grape harvest.

Do not, I repeat, do not fear the filo dough–as you see in this video I made with my beloved mother, the technique is a lot easier than you might think! This dessert is reminiscent of the Greek baklava, only you use melted cheese instead of nuts so you must serve it immediately.

(Instructions for dessert in video above)

• Ingredients
• 1 package phyllo dough (most packages contain 24 sheets)
• 1 ½ sticks of melted butter or ¾ cup ghee
• 1 ½ pounds of Queso Blanco Casique –or Mexican farmer cheese (you can also substitute sweet mozzarella or even ricotta cheese, but the consistency will be slightly different.
• Sugar syrup :
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups  water
• 1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp rose water (optional)
• ½ cup chopped pistachios for garnish (you can substitute any other kind of nut if you wish)