[1] In this recipe, baklava is moved from its original pan recipe to a fusion with tart shells, which are a Medieval European invention (photo © Hannah Kaminsky).

[2] For comparison, a classic piece of baklava, which is made in a sheet pan like brownies, but cut on the diagonal (photo © Recchiuti Confections).

[3] An easy way to have a baklava experience: buy pre-made phyllo cups and add the nut filling. Phyllo cups are available at many markets, plus online at Gourmet Food Store (photo © Gourmet Food Store).

[4] Want more vegan desserts? Get this book. It’s so beautifully photographed, you’ll want to make everything (photo © Skyhorse Publishing).

November 17th is National Baklava Day.

Unless you have the touch for working with phyllo dough, baklava can be a chore to make.

Our colleague Hannah Kaminsky, of Bittersweet Blog, has a suggestion.

Here, from Hannah Kaminsky’s new book, Sweet Vegan Treats (photo #4), is a novel Baklava Tart (photo #1).

Hannah created the recipe as a way to use up remnants of phyllo after a little pastry mishap.

Here, the phyllo is merely crumbled over the top; no careful layering is necessary to produce an impressive dessert.

The amount of phyllo sprinkled on top is very imprecise, allowing a lot of wiggle room to use however much you want.

In fact, instead of a package of phyllo, you can purchase the mini frozen shells (photo #3) and only crush up as many as necessary.

Here’s the history of baklava and a recipe to make conventional baklava (photo #2).
 
 
RECIPE: BAKLAVA TART

Hannah created this as a vegan recipe, but you can make it conventional by substituting the vegan butter and cream cheese for regular, and can substitute honey for the agave nectar.

Editor’s Note: When in Greece, you can enjoy baklava made with honey instead of sugar syrup. The baklava has a soul-satisfying honey flavor.

We also prefer our baklava to be made with pistachios (authentic Greek), not walnuts.

By the way, the original version of baklava, called gastrin—used honey, and olive oil instead of butter. Here’s the recipe and a photo that shows how similar the recipes are.

For yourself or a vegan friend, check out Hannah’s latest book, check out Sweet Vegan Treats. It has 90 recipes, each as scrumptious as this one.

An impetus to buy it: November is National Vegan Month.
 
Ingredients

For The Crust

 
For The Filling

 
For The Glaze

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease a 13×4-inch rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. If you don’t have one, you can use a 9-inch round fluted tart pan with removable bottom, but your cut shapes will be triangles rather than rectangles.

2. MAKE the crust: Blend together the cream cheese and both sugars in a stand mixer, creaming until well combined. Stir in the vanilla, lemon and agave or maple syrup.

3. ADD in 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt, and mix until fully incorporated. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and mix well. Press the resulting mixture into the tart pan, bringing it evenly and smoothly up the sides. Prick the bottom all over with a fork, creating vents for steam to escape and preventing big bubbles from getting trapped inside.

4. BAKE for 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly golden brown in color. Remove the pan from the oven but leave the heat on.

5. STIR together in a medium bowl the walnut pieces, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour the melted butter or coconut oil over everything in the bowl, stirring to coat.

6. GENTLY PRESS the nut mixture into the crust so that it fits in an even layer. Crumble enough phyllo over the top to cover the nuts completely. Return the pan to the oven, and bake for an additional 20 to 22 minutes, until the phyllo becomes nicely browned.

7. REMOVE the tart from the oven. Melt the final measure of butter for the glaze in a small bowl. Stir in all the remaining ingredients and pour the mixture evenly over the top of the tart while it is still warm. This will help bind everything together and sweeten the tart a bit more.

8. COOL for at least two hours before slicing.

There are numerous ways to garnish hot chocolate.

The latest to catch our eye is this beauty from La Rose Noire.

You can approximate it at home.

Unfortunately, consumers can’t purchase from La Rose Noire: It is a wholesaler to professional pastry chefs.

But if you like beautiful chocolate embellishments, pastries and other desserts, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had in perusing Chef Gérard Dubois’ beautifully-photographed product catalogs.

It provides almost as much satisfaction as actually eating them!
 
 
MAKING THE HOT CHOCOLATE

It’s not too difficult to find solid chocolate leaves locally—or chocolate flowers, turkeys, Santas and other shapes.

[1] Chocolate leaves garnish cups of (counter-clockwise) traditional hot chocolate, curried white hot chocolate and white hot chocolate (photo © La Rose Noire).

Just can make hot chocolate (hopefully from scratch—not instant) and pop a leaf on top right before serving.

The lucky recipients can remove the chocolate with a spoon and pop it into their mouths, or watch it dissolve to create even richer hot chocolate.
 
 
CHECK OUT 25+ OTHER WAYS TO GARNISH HOT CHOCOLATE
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COCOA & HOT CHOCOLATE

[1] Tazo Tea’s Pumpkin Spice Latte is available in concentrate (shown) and in tea bags (photo © Tazo).

[2] Most people like their PSLs hot, but you can also drink them chilled. In fact, you can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a tall glass of cold PSL.

Are you a tea drinker who feels left out when the Pumpkin Spice Latte hubbub starts each fall?

You can have your own PSL, thanks to Tazo Tea.

Tazo has enhanced its chai teas with pumpkin flavor—more precisely, pumpkin pie spice flavor.

Revelation: Did you know there is no pumpkin in Pumpkin Spice Latte?

Whether in coffee or tea form, the flavor is created from pumpkin pie spices.

These are often a blend of allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.

Indian chai spices are somewhat similar: black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and star anise.
 
 
TWO PSL TEA OPTIONS

Tazo’s PSLs offer two choices, with and without sweetener:

 
For yourself or for stocking stuffers, these PSLs hit the spot.

In fact—don’t tell our family and friends—this Thanksgiving, everyone is getting a box of Tazo Chai Pumpkin Spice tea bags as a party favor, instead of a chocolate turkey.

We’re not trying to save on calories; we’re just spreading the joy of Tazo PSL.

You can find it at retailers nationwide and on Amazon.

For more information visit Tazo.com.

Here’s a recipe that adds to the festivities during the holiday months of November and December, and cheers up the gray months of January, February and March.

If you’ll be focusing on healthier eating in the new year, note the healthful ingredients in the recipe.

The recipe was contributed to the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission by The Endless Meal.
 
 
RECIPE: STUFFED SWEET POTATOES

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Prick the sweet potatoes 5-6 times each with a fork then set them on a baking sheet. Place them into the oven and bake or 45-60 minutes, or until they are soft. Remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool slightly.

2. PREPARE the topping while the potatoes are baking. First toast the walnuts; then place the walnuts, mint, parsley and pomegranate in a medium-sized bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to combine.

3. WHISK the tahini with the lemon juice, garlic and salt to taste, in a small bowl. Add enough water so that it is the consistency of honey and set aside. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle…

4. CUT through the tops of the skins in a T shape. Gently mash the insides, then pile the walnuts and herbs on top and drizzle with some tahini sauce.
 
 
ABOUT SWEET POTATOES

Contrary to popular belief, sweet potatoes are not actually potatoes, but are only distantly related to them.

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are a member of the Morning Glory Family (Convolvulaceae). When then plant is in flower, its blooms resemble morning glories (photo #3).

Sweet potatoes are starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots—a.k.a., root vegetables.

They were grown by Native Americans and subsequently cultivated in the southern U.S. since Colonial times.
 
Sweet Potato Nutrition

Sweet potatoes have long been ranked high in nutritional value, and provide a good source of dietary fiber, which helps to provide feelings of fullness and satiety to control food intake.

[1] These festive stuffed sweet potatoes are made with all-healthful ingredients (photos #1 and #2 © North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission).

[2] There are numerous varieties of sweet potatoes grown worldwide. These are a popular cultivar in the U.S.

[3] A sweet potato plant in flower. If the flower looks familiar, it’s because sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family (photo © Earth100 | Wikipedia).

And, a medium sweet potato has about 100 calories when baked in the skin, making sweet potatoes an ideal food for weight management.

Unlike white potatoes, which have a high glycemic index and can cause a spike and ultimate drop in blood sugar, sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index.

This is beneficial for diabetics and others wanting to avoid glucose highs and lows.

Wild sweet potatoes were first domesticated in either Central or South America. Domesticated sweet potatoes have been dated to at least 5,000 at locations between the Yucatán Peninsula and Venezuela.

Yams are not the same as sweet potatoes:

Check out the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.
 
 
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA SWEET POTATOES

North Carolina has been the number-one sweet potato-producing state in the U.S., since 1971.

The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission is a nonprofit corporation made up of more than 400 sweet potato growers, along with the packers, processors and business associates that support them.

The sole purpose of the Commission is to increase sweet potato consumption. Their mission is to entice consumers’ taste buds and push for healthy eating lifestyles.

The recipe above is one of many developed by leading chefs and nutritionists. Check out the recipes.

We can’t wait to try the Sweet Potato & Spinach Lasagna.

[1] Freshly caught and skinned wild salmon (all photos © Sitka Salmon Shares).

[2] Line-caught salmon.

[3] After they’re caught, the fish are quickly processed.

[4] They’re blast-frozen, and shipped by FedEx to your doorstep.

[5] The fish arrive ready to season and cook.

Several months ago we wrote about a wonderful service for fish lovers: Sitka Salmon Shares, a wild-caught Alaskan seafood delivery service.

Sitka is a port city in southeastern Alaska, near Juneau, the state capital, which is inland.

Sitka sits on the west side of Baranof Island, on the Gulf of Alaska.

And it’s there that a collective of local fishermen pull the catch into their boats and quickly bring it to port.

There, it’s filleted, blast frozen to -50°F and individually vacuum-sealed, locking in the fresh-caught flavor.

We’re a very happy subscriber. The fish is as good as it gets.

Sometimes we’ll eat the fish night after night, until it’s gone, because we can’t stop eating it.

The vacuum-packed seafood can sit in the fridge for more than a week (we’ve had excellent results with salmon two weeks in the fridge).

When we won’t be dining in for a week or so, some of the fish stays goes into the freezer for later in the month. It maintains its fresh taste without degrading.

 
 
HOW DO THE FISH TASTE?

The company’s motto is “from boat to doorstep.” The fish tastes like it was just pulled out of the water.

When we test fish or meat, we cook it simply, with no seasonings. The true test of flavor is how good they taste when they’re “naked.”

The Sitka Salmon Shares salmon and cod we tasted were so good, just steamed, that we had no need to add salt, pepper or lemon juice to the cooked fish. (We cooked it “medium rare.”)

We felt so good eating great fish for dinner, that we ordered a premium share in addition to our regular share.
 
 
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED FISHERY SEAFOOD DELIVERY

Sitka Salmon Shares is Community Supported Fishery (CSF), the fish version of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), where farmers deliver boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables during the season.

Consumers purchase “shares” of the seafood harvest before the fishing season begins.

The number of shares purchased dictates how much fish the fishermen catch, which is why you need to sign up before fishing season begins.

Your share of the wild Alaskan catch is delivered to you monthly during the fishing season, which runs from April thru December.

The species and weight of your fish will vary, based on the plan you select.
 
Subscriptions are open now, and the company will send a gift card.
 
 
WHEN YOU SIGN UP

You choose the species and quantity of fish for your monthly delivery, ranging from 3 to 9-month intervals (you can cancel at any time).

The 2020 catch is based on what’s best in the sea. The 2019 catch included:

The CSF (Community Supported Fishery) supports small-boat family fishermen.

 
 
YOUR NEXT STEP

Head to SitkaSalmonShares.com and pick a plan.

Then, relish each box of fish you receive.

If you’re not a skilled cook, remember: No fish-cooking skills are required. A simple steaming is marvelous (and very low in calories).

Your fish-loving friends and family will be thrilled with a gift of Sitka Salmon Shares.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give a gift of fish and you provide a number of memorable meals.

NOTE:

Memberships are open now, and available year-round except for one transition week.

There is a one-week period in late September/early October when you cannot purchase a membership.

That being said, if you hit the website during that week, just come back the following week!