Lunch & Dinner 11.30.13 - I Can't Pronounce Galaktoboureko

Although I ate this Greek Custard, or Galaktoboureko, last week as a part of my lunch and dinner on January 30 in the dining hall and I wanted to put something more recent up, I've just come across a discovery of my own.

Galaktoboureko is a Greek dessert of  baked custard and phyllo dough. It is usually covered in a syrup of lemon, orange or sometimes rose.

Right now, I'm sitting on my kitchen floor looking up recipes to bake this weekend. It as comfortable as it sounds. And poor Nemo got confused between the Eastern Australian Current and the East Coast and wandered here instead. So I wanted to bake him some treats so he had something to eat when he gets here.
(Don't remember that scene in Finding Nemo? http://video.disney.com/watch/catching-the-eac-4bb39d25a179ea8833003b15)

According to the Winter Storm Warning by the National Weather Service, the Lehigh Valley where I am currently located, is expected to receive as much as 10 inches and gusty winds of 20 to 30 mph. Sounds like warm dessert baking weather to me.

As I'm sitting on the uneven tile being supported by a wall that very obviously used to be a different color, I started going through some of my old cookbooks and magazines. About two years ago, I bought my favorite cooking magazine. A Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication called Ultimate Desserts. Even though my eyes have gazed through these recipes a million times, I always seem to find a recipe I hadn't noticed before. And that's where I found a recipe for Greek Custard, the same exact dessert I had tried for the first time last week in the dining hall. Thus why it's making a late appearance now.

When I saw this in the dining hall, I was afraid to try it. I didn't know if it was going to be sweet, savory, bitter, or squishy (just like the jellyfish in Finding Nemo). I couldn't take too long to stare it down because of the long line behind me. I had to make a decisions: take the Greek Custard and be able to blog about my adventurous new worldly experience from the dining hall or walk away, having to sit in my scaredy-catness, defeated by my own fear of trying new things. I put it on my plate, my only security knowing there were napkins at the table to spit it out in if I didn't like it.

I slowly spooned myself the corner of the desert and lifted it towards my mouth. I already knew my face looked as if I had just eaten an entire lemon, cringing at the thought of a less than delightful taste entering the sacred territory of my mouth. And then, it was wonderful.

It was similar to the consistency of bread pudding, warm and tasted like thick, sweet oatmeal. I loved it. That's why I had it again when it was offered at dinner.

I'll give it 4.5 out of 5 card swipes.

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So now, as I will probably be trapped in as a result of the thunderous Storm Nemo, I am going to attempt to make my own Greek Custard. Now I just have to brave it out to get the phyllo dough. I invite you to do the same.

Greek Custard (adapted from Ultimate Desserts)

Prep: 25 minutes
Bake: 45 minutes
Cool: 35 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup melted butter
10 sheets frozen phyllo dough (halved)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 slice lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. For custard, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, flour and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Stir in milk and 2 Tbsp of butter. Cook over medium heat, while stirring, until bubbly and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in 2 cups hot mixture gradually into beaten eggs. Then return the now formed egg mixture to the saucepan and stir over low-medium heat until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
4. Brush some of the melted butter on the bottom of a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Start brushing one of the halved phyllo dough sheets with some of the melted butter. Top this sheet with nine more of the halved sheets brushed individually with butter. Place this stack in the bottom of the baking dish.
5. Pour the custard over the phyllo dough stack in the baking dish. Repeat the brushing phyllo dough with melted butter into another stack of 10 sheets and place on top of the custard. Bake for 45 minutes.
6. For syrup, combine 1 1/2 cup of sugar, water and lemon into a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and discard lemon.
7. Wait 30 minutes until the custard is cooled after cooking before pouring syrup on top of custard. Cover and chill. Cut into squares to serve.