Recipe#3527

Title: Chicken Pastry

From: alotzkar@direct.ca (Albert) 
 Newsgroups: rec.food.cuisine.jewish 
 Subject: rec. Chicken in pastry, or B'stila 
 Date: 8 Aug 1997 13:17:14 GMT 
 Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab 
 Message-ID: <5sf68q$7kj$1@entertainment-tonight.ai.mit.edu> 

1 chicken
 salt, fresh black pepper
 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
 pinch of saffron
 a tablespoon of mixed herbs or "bouquet garni"
 3 large onions, peeled and minced
 3 tablespoons oil
 1/2 cup  Pareve margarine or
         diet margarine, clarified
 2 eggs   - plus 2/3  cup egg whites
        well beaten
  1/2 teaspoon salt
 1 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
 2 cups ground toasted almonds
 1 tablespoon cinnamon
 12 filo dough sheets
 1/4 cup powdered sugar.
 Place chicken in a roasting pan.  If you use saffron threads, let them soak
 in half a cup of water.  Pour on fowl.  sprinkle salt, pepper, turmeric and
 mixed herbs on top.  Roast chicken in oven at 400 f for 45 minutes to an
 hour.  cool.  Remove skin and all bones.  cube chicken.  keep giblets,
 except for the neck, with all the spicy, herbed juice.  set aside.
 In a skillet, saute minced onions in oil.  Place in a bowl.
 In the same skillet, with a little oil, fry the beaten eggs mixed with salt
 and chopped cilantro.  Place in another small bowl.  Still in the same oiled
 skillet, toast almonds until slightly brown and grind them in a food
 processor.  Set aside. Clarify the shortening, (margarine) and everything
 is ready to be put together now.
 On the bottom of the pan used to roast the chicken, after washing and
 greasing it, stack 2 sheets of filo dough, letting edges overhang.  Brush on
 top some of the clarified shortening.  At broil, rapidly brown these 2
 sheets.  Then add cubed chicken, with all spices and juice.  Spread again 2
 more dough sheets with some shortening brushed on.
 Broil rapidly.  add soft mixture of eggs with cilantro.  Cover with 2 more
 greased sheets.  Broil rapidly.  add almonds mixed with cinnamon and sugar.
 Finish with your best-looking greased sheets.  Tuck in all dough and bake
 25 to 30 minutes at 400 f until golden grown.  Cool slightly.  sprinkle with
 remaining powdered sugar, making a decorative design with cinnamon on top.
 Serve hot.  It can be reheated several times.  It can also be frozen.