That sneaky and fickle and ever so demanding FILO / PHYLLO, always letting itself dry out in under 10-15 minutes, and crumbling to pieces if exposed to the hot summer air and if not meticulously covered up with another sheet of baking paper and also a damp cloth, when you unroll it and lay it out. And sometimes it’s just ripped here and there and everywhere when you unroll the leftover sheets that spent some time in the freezer and then were left to defrost. I know you’re overtaken by the urge to toss them out (like I do)but wait, don’t ! I know it seems like nothing but it’s actually still something that could be useful and a replacement, instead of flour in a cake and/or as a crunchy topping !
STRAWBERRIES are also wily little mushy things, that always want to release their juices, especially if sliced and soon after touching an immaculate frosting or even when cooked in a batter. We’re dealing with that too here.
Sneaky-leaky STRAWBERRIES & forlorn-torn FILO sheets scraps … GRRRRR !
Marinate your strawberries in lemon juice and sugar to release at least 25% of its volume in water, but save that juice and add it back in. And interestingly enough, if you refrigerate it, it will thicken and gel up.
As for the filo (or phyllo), keep all those ripped pieces and crumpled shreds in a freezer bag and when you have enough, use it up in a recipe.
And the semolina or cornmeal or breadcrumbs is there as a backup to help suck up that extra “wetness” of this batter.
That’s my (short) story.
It’s already 27°C on this fine Saturday morning and it isn’t even noon yet, so I’m gonna marinate some seafood for a salad and make myself an iced-coffee, to gently sip, while sitting on the terrace amongst my summer blooms . . . :)
