Individual Bstillas Moroccan Chicken And Almond Pies Food

INDIVIDUAL B'STILLAS (MOROCCAN CHICKEN AND ALMOND PIES)

Steps:

• To make the almond sugar:
• In a food processor grind fine almonds, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Almond sugar may be made 1 day ahead and kept covered in a cool dark place.
• To make the filling:
• In a small bowl combine saffron with hot water and let stand 10 minutes.
• In a heavy 4-quart kettle sauté onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and add ginger, ras el hanout, and pepper. Cook mixture, stirring, 3 minutes.
• Add chicken parts, broth, and saffron mixture and simmer, covered, turning the chicken once, until chicken is very tender and cooked through, 25 to 35 minutes. Let chicken stand in cooking liquid off heat 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, reserving cooking liquid and solids, and, when cool enough to handle, shred chicken, discarding skin and bones.
• Measure reserved cooking liquid and solids and if necessary boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 3/4 cups. Reduce heat to moderate and add eggs in a stream, whisking. Cook mixture, stirring, until eggs are set, about 3 minutes. Remove kettle from heat and pour egg mixture into a coarse sieve set over a bowl. Let mixture drain undisturbed 10 minutes before discarding liquid. Transfer egg mixture to a bowl. Stir in chicken, parsley, coriander, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste and chill. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and kept chilled, covered.
• Preheat oven to 425°F. and butter 2 large shallow baking pans.
• In a small saucepan melt remaining 9 tablespoons butter and keep warm but not hot.
• Cut phyllo sheets in half lengthwise and stack between 2 sheets wax paper. Cover wax paper sheets with a kitchen towel. On a work surface arrange a half sheet of phyllo with short side facing you and brush with melted butter. On this, layer and brush 3 more half sheets of phyllo in the same manner.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon almond sugar on short side of phyllo nearest you to cover about 2 1/2-by 4-inch area, leaving a 1-inch border on 3 edges. Put 1/3 cup chicken mixture over almond sugar and spread out slightly. Top chicken mixture with 1 more tablespoon almond sugar and roll up filling in phyllo, folding in sides after first roll. Transfer b'stilla immediately.
• Form 8 more b'stillas in the same manner with remaining phyllo, butter, almond sugar, and chicken mixture, chilling each b'stilla as it is made. B'stillas may be prepared up to this point 4 hours ahead and kept chilled, covered lightly with plastic wrap once cold.
• Bake chilled b'stillas in oven until tops and ends are puffed and browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool b'stillas slightly on a rack. Sprinkle b'stillas with confectioners' sugar and cinnamon and serve warm.
• To make the ras el hanout:
• In a spice grinder or cleaned coffee grinder grind fine aniseed, fennel seeds, allspice berries, cardamom seeds, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cuminseed, and red pepper flakes, In a small bowl stir together ground spice mixture, mace, ginger, and nutmeg until combine well. Ras el hanout may be stored in a tightly closed jar in a cool dark place up to 6 months. Makes about 1/4 cup.

CHICKEN BASTILLA (PIE)

Steps:

• In large skillet or 5-quart dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on all sides-about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
• In same large skillet, add onions, garlic, ginger, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil; saute, stirring constantly, just until onions are translucent. Stir in cinnamon, cumin, ground coriander, red pepper, turmeric, and saffron. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until onions are completely coated with spices-about 3 minutes.
• Increase heat to high. Add broth, fresh coriander, and parsley to skillet with onion mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring to combine. Return chicken to skillet, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until chicken is tender, approximately 30 minutes.
• Remove chicken from skillet to plate and set aside to cool. Continue to cook onion mixture, covered, until almost dry, about 15 minutes. Add eggs, salt, and pepper to onion mixture.Cook until soft curds form, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set onion-egg mixture aside to cool.
• Topping:. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread almonds on ungreased baking sheet and place in oven for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted. In food processor with chopping blade (or by hand), process almonds with sugar and cinnamon until coarsely ground.
• When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin and bones. Tear chicken into 2-inch-long strips.
• To assemble bastilla, place phyllo between 2 sheets of waxed paper, then cover with damp towel. (Phyllo dries out very quickly. Each time you remove a sheet, be sure to cover remaining sheets with damp towel.) Brush 12-inch pizza pan with some melted butter. Remove 1 sheet of Phyllo and place on pan, letting the edges hang over the rim. Brush phyllo sheet with butter. Working quickly, stack and butter 11 more sheets, arranging them in the pan in an overlapping, circular fashion (like a pinwheel).
• On center of phyllo, in even layers, arrange half the Topping, half of onion-egg mixture, all of chicken strips, the remaining onion-egg mixture, and the remaining Topping, Fold overhanging phyllo over top of bastilla and brush top with butter.
• Continue to butter and arrange 12 phyllo sheets in the same pinwheel fashion over top of bastilla (as before). Carefully tuck the overhanging ends underneath it. Brush top and side of bastills with butter. Cover loosely with foil.(At this point, can be refrigerated two hours or up to 2 days before baking).
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake bastilla 20 minutes or until golden. (If bastilla has been chilled, bake 5 to 10 minutes longer.) Place a baking sheet or another 12-inch pizza pan over the bastilla and invert so that the underside is now on top. Return to oven on the new pan (or slide back onto original pan) and bake 25 minutes longer or until crisp and golden.
• If desired, sprinkle confectioners' sugar and ground cinnamon on top of bastilla.
• Note: Ground saffron is available in specialty shops. If you can't find it, crumble the commonly found saffron threads before measuring.

MOROCCAN-STYLE CHICKEN PIE

Steps:

• For filling:
• Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Mix in cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and saffron; stir 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over; stir 1 minute. Add broth; bring to simmer. Sprinkle chicken with salt; add to broth mixture. Gently simmer chicken uncovered until cooked through, reducing heat if necessary to prevent boiling, about 20 minutes. Stir in raisins. Set skillet aside until chicken is cool enough to handle.
• Transfer chicken to plate. Shred chicken coarsely and return to skillet. If sauce is thin, simmer over medium heat until sauce coats chicken thickly. Stir in cilantro and parsley. Season filling with salt and pepper. Cool filling completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill.
• For phyllo:
• Finely grind almonds, powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and cinnamon in mini processor.
• Stack 10 phyllo sheets on work surface. Invert 9-inch glass pie dish onto stack. Cut around dish through phyllo, making ten 10-inch rounds. Remove dish. Cover rounds with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel.
• Brush same pie dish with melted butter. Place 1 phyllo round on work surface; brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Top with another phyllo round, brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Repeat stacking with 3 more phyllo rounds, butter, and almonds. Fit phyllo stack into prepared pie dish. Brush with butter. Spoon filling evenly over. Place 1 phyllo round on work surface. Brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Top with another phyllo round, brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Repeat with 2 phyllo rounds, butter, and almonds. Place stack atop filling; top with remaining phyllo round. Tuck in edges. Drizzle more butter over top. Cut 4 slits through top phyllo stack to allow steam to escape. DO AHEAD: Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Place pie on rimmed baking sheet. Bake uncovered until phyllo is golden and filling is heated through, about 40 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Cut into wedges.

CHICKEN & ALMOND PASTILLAS

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp butter in a large casserole dish, add the onion, ginger and garlic, and cook for 5 mins until soft. Add the cinnamon, the cardamom seeds and the turmeric. Stir around the pan for 30 secs until aromatic, then add the chicken and flour. Stir to coat the chicken pieces, then add the chicken stock and season. Stir, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 45 mins.
• Remove the lid from the pan and lift the chicken pieces onto a plate. Add the honey and almonds to the cooking liquid and turn up the heat. Bubble the liquid until thick and reduced by about half. Meanwhile, finely shred the chicken with 2 forks. Return the chicken to the sauce and stir in the orange zest, apricots, flaked almonds and parsley - the mixture should be quite thick. Leave to cool.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Unwrap the pastry, keeping any you're not working with under a damp tea towel, so it doesn't dry out. Taking one piece at a time, brush all over with the melted butter, and around the edges with the beaten egg. Put roughly a sixth of the chicken filling in the top right-hand corner in a triangular shape. Fold the opposite side of the pastry over to cover the filling. Keep flipping the encased filing down the pastry, brushing between the layers with butter as you go, to give you a triangular parcel, like a large samosa. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling until you have 6 pastillas. Put the pastillas on a baking tray and brush the tops with egg. Bake for 25 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden.
• For an authentic finish, mix together the remaining cinnamon and icing sugar, and dust the pastillas just before serving.

BISTEEYA OR MOROCCAN CHICKEN PIE

Steps:

• In a large skillet put 2 tablespoons butter, the chicken pieces, onions, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper,2 teaspoons cinnamon, the ginger, cumin, cayenne, saffron, turmeric and chicken stock.
• simmer gently, covered, until the chicken is cooked, 45 minutes.
• remove the chicken from the sauce and let it cool.
• remove all the bones and tear the chicken into 1 inch pieces.
• bring the liquid to a simmer and add the eggs stirring gently until the eggs are cooked and most of the liquid is evaporated, 4 to 5 minutes.
• add the chicken, cilantro, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Toast the almonds in the oven until they are very lightly golden and hot to the touch, about 5 to 7 minutes.
• Coarsely chop them in a blender or food processor and mix with 3 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon.
• set aside and reserve the rest of the cinnamon sugar for a garnish.
• Melt the remaining 12 tablespoons butter. brush a 12 inch pie pan with the butter.
• place one sheet of phyllo dough on the bottom of the pie plate so that it completely covers the bottom of the plate and extends over one side by several inches.
• brush the whole sheet of phyllo lightly and continue with 7 more sheets moving in a pinwheel effect, brushing butter on each sheet.
• spread the chicken mixture on the phyllo and sprinkle with the almond mixture.
• Fold the overhanging phyllo up over the chicken and almonds and brush with butter.
• then continue adding 7 more sheets of phyllo to the pie as your did before.
• tuck all the overhanging edges under the pie and brush remaining butter over top of the pie.
• place in 375F oven and bake until golden brown and flaky, about 20 minutes.
• sprinkle the garnishing cinnamon and sugar over top.