Tahini Dough:

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons organic cane sugar

½ cup tahini paste, cold

1 egg, lightly beaten

3-4 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse to integrate the dry ingredients. Add the tahini paste, distributing it around the flour. Pulse until the mixture resembled coarse meal. Add the egg and water, and continue to pulse until the mixture holds together but is not too wet. Don’t over pulse the contents of the food processor. Gather the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Quince filling:

2 quinces, quartered and cored, a few seeds reserved

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup water

½ vanilla bean, split and scraped or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cloves

Lemon juice

Bring the sugar and water to a simmer in a pot, until the sugar has dissolved. Meanwhile, Slice each quarter of the quince into quarters and transfer to the pot, along with the clove and vanilla. If you are using extract instead of the bean, add it once you take the pan off the heat at the end. Simmer the contents of the pot for about 2 hours, or until the quince turns red. Strain the quince of the syrup, reserving both, and remove the vanilla and the cloves.
Roughly fork mash the quince.

To assemble:
Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
Dust a work surface generously with flour, and roll out each piece of dough to be about 1/8” thick. Spoon a dollop of mashed quince into the center, leaving a good inch of space along the rim. Roll up two opposite sides, followed by the remaining two opposite sides, leaving a small square of quince peeking through.
Bake in a 375º F oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for a remaining 10 minutes.
When you take the letter out of the oven, brush it generously with the reserved syrup to coat the dough.

Serve with the Tahini Cream (optional), lightly toasted pistachios, and pomegranate seeds.
Makes 4 love letters.

Garnish:
3 tablespoons pistachios, lightly toasted and chopped
3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Tahini Cream (recipe below):

Tahini Cream (optional):
¼ cup tahini
1 tablespoon honey
Up to ¼ cup water
Pinch ground cardamom

Use a small food processor or bowl with a whisk to blend the tahini with the honey. Gradually add the water, until you have a light, whitish “cream”. Season with the cardamom if you would like.

Maple Pecan Baklava is our twist on the traditional Eastern Mediterranean dessert. Maple syrup and pecans strike an accord in this indulgent sweet that is perfect for Thanksgiving and the holiday celebrations that follow. We suggest black walnuts here for a unique flavor, but you can also use regular walnuts for the same result.  You can make this on your own, but we suggest inviting a friend over to help with the phyllo and to spend time with in the kitchen. This is enough for one 13x9 inch tray with a 2” side.

For the Syrup:

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 cups maple syrup

Lemon rind from 1 lemon (at least a good 2 inches or so)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon orange flower water (optional)

For the Filling:

2 cups pecans

1 cup black walnuts or regular walnuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

To Assemble:

3 sticks of butter

1 package of phyllo dough

1 13x9x2 inch baking tray

Pastry brush

Spoon

Make the syrup by combining the water, sugar, and maple syrup in a small saucepan with the lemon rind. Bring to a boil and simmer until it has reduced slightly and gains a syrupy consistency. It should lightly coat a spoon. Remove from the heat, and add the lemon juice and orange flower water. Allow the syrup to cool completely and set in the fridge to chill.

Meanwhile, pulse the nuts, cinnamon, and sugar together in a food processor until they are coarse crumbles. Transfer to a bowl.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and keep warm.

To Assemble: It is important to organize your workspace before you get started on this assembly process. You will need to keep the stack of phyllo covered with a sheet of plastic wrap and a wet towel as you work. It is good to have 2 people work on this together, so that 1 person can always make sure the phyllo stays damp.
Keep the butter, pastry brush, and the bowl with the nut mixture near by.

Start with a sheer coating of butter on the baking pan. Add a layer of phyllo and brush gently with butter, coating the whole sheet lightly. Repeat with another 3 layers of phyllo for a total of 4. After the 4th layer, add a sprinkle of the nut mixture onto the phyllo after brushing it with butter. It is important to lightly sprinkle the nuts evenly across the whole layer of phyllo. Layer with 2 phyllo sheets, each brushed with butter, then repeat with a layer of nuts. Follow by 1 layer of phyllo. Continue this pattern of 1 layer of nuts, followed by 2 layers of phyllo (each brushed with butter), followed by 1 layer of nuts, followed by 1 layer of phyllo, until you are done with your nuts, and you have 4-6 phyllo sheets leftover. You should have about 7 layers of nuts at this point. Top with the remaining 4-6 phyllo sheets and brush the top generously with the remaining butter. Slice the baklava in a diamond pattern by using a sharp knife (preferably slightly serated).

Bake in a 340ºF oven for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This seems like a wide range of time, but it is dependent on the heat of your oven. Check the baklava after 30 minutes, and then time accordingly. Remove the baklava from the oven when the top is crisp and lightly browned. Pour the cooled syrup over the entire baklava slowly, so that it can be absorbed.

Allow to rest for at least 12 hours before eating.

Our friend Adolfo suggested this recipe, as he compared the tartness of tomatillos to the tartness of plums. He is right- tomatillos can be easily swayed to the sweet side with just a touch of sugar. This sauce goes perfectly over a sweet corn cake with cape gooseberries as a garnish.

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups tomatillos, husked and roughly chopped
1 sprig of basil, rinsed
½ cup sugar

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped tomatillos and a few spoonfuls of water. Bring to a simmer and add the sugar. Cook over medium high heat and crush with a wooden spoon. Add the basil sprig, leaves and all, and keep cooking until the tomatillo is soft and cooked through, but not dry. Remove the basil, transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the heat and keep warm until ready to serve.

In North Africa, some couscous dishes are eaten with buttermilk. This dish takes from that tradition, and combines fresh market fruits for a healthy, whole-grain dessert. Couscous is made of semolina that has been rubbed with water to form small little balls, which are stored dry. To reconstitute it, all you need to do is pour in hot water to steam the grains. It is important that you use a fork to stir, or else it will become clumpy and mushy mess.

1 10-ounce package of couscous, about 1 ¾ cups
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup blueberries
½ cup blackberries, cape gooseberries, raspberries, or more blueberries
1 yellow peach, pitted and chopped into small dice

Place the dry couscous in a large casserole dish.
Bring the water, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon to a boil in a small saucepan.
Pour over the couscous and cover the dish for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, stir in the fruits and buttermilk with a fork and cover again for another 2-3 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed.
Serve with extra buttermilk or yogurt that has been sweetened.
Serves 6 people.