Sunday, October 9, 2011

Phyllo redux

I just removed an apple tart from the oven, something quite improvised that satisfies on a number of levels. I downloaded a recipe for a low-fat apple tart that uses phyllo dough, plus a homemade syrup to replace the usual butter and sugar.
I had the apples sliced and ready to go, but the phyllo dough I had removed from the freezer to thaw slightly was obviously over the hill. It refused to unroll in sheets, instead tearing into parchment fragments.
Undeterred, I placed the shards in the bottom of the glass pie plate to cover the surface and poured part of my already prepared syrup over it. The syrup contained:
1/3 cup Da Vinci sugar-free pumpkin pie syrup with Splenda
1/3 cup sugar-free maple syrup with Splenda
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. dried lemon zest
1/3 cup white wine
I placed 4 cored and sliced apples as the medium layer, then managed to cover the top with 3-4 semi-intact pieces of phyllo that had thawed after they still remained sealed in a waxed paper cylinder in the badly outdated phyllo box.
I tucked them in over the apples slices and poured the remaining syrup over them, tucking in the edges and adding a few squiggles of Smart Squeeze, which I refer to as "faux butter."
Into the oven it went at 350 for about 25 minutes. I checked it, and cranked up the temperature the last 10 minutes to 375.
It had browned, and the ingredients had melded with the other ingredients to form a delightfully rich cohesion. A spoonful of Umpqua low-fat vanilla ice cream with Splenda was added while still warm. Ersatz sin.
I tried something similar with phyllo last Thanksgiving using home-canned green tomato mincemeat. However, the syrup component was not yet in play, and it was a bit dry and pasty.
Now I have a magic combination to try. While there are not enough green tomatoes this year to attempt another batch of green tomato mincemeat, I have two remaining pints lurking on the shelf. They will be sacrificed.

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Pause that refreshes

Pause that refreshes
taken at Trout Lake Arts Fest