Sunday, January 30, 2011

Bastilla


Marrakesh is a Moroccan restaurant in DC where I have celebrated 3 events with family and friends.  The restaurant serves an eight course meal where everyone is seated on pillows and dishes are served to the entire group on a platter eaten with our hands.  The B'Stella or Bastilla is my favorite.  I researched recipes last week and decided that this would be my next conquest even though I prepared a heavenly Moroccan lentil soup just 2 weeks ago.  I was taken aback with a 2 1/2 hour preparation time, but after researching several recipes and watching a video on ifood.com, I made enough modifications to prepare the food in 1 hour.  (The day I have 2.5 hours to cook will be the day I take a nap :)  I love using recipes, but this time I combined several recipes that featured my favorite ingredients. 

What would I do differently?   First, don't talk on the phone while toasting the almonds.  I burnt 2 cups of almonds and had to send Tim out for more.  A few recipes featured parsley as the main herb, but I chose to go with my all time favorite cilantro.  One recipe called for a tablespoon of ginger and another one teaspoon.  I used a teaspoon and wished I had used more.  The final blunder came when our oven gave out after roasting my second batch of almonds.  Fortunately my neighbor and friend Marie allowed me to use her oven and saved the day.  Dinner was not served until 9PM and the boys had meatballs and canned corn for dinner, but alas, what can we do.  Life keeps on happening to all of us, Ay? 

This would be a great dish to prepare for friends on a special night.  Not exactly a typical Sunday evening dinner, but I did enjoy the anticipation of flavors from a fun evening many years ago.

Makes one 12" bastilla. Serves 4.

Prep Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole rotisserie chicken
  • 2 very large sweet white onions, chopped medium
  • 2 teaspoons ginger
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2  teaspoons white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (or 1/4 teaspoon Moroccan yellow colorant)
  • 1 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
  • 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • --------------------------------------------------------------
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 6 eggs, beaten
  • --------------------------------------------------------------
  • 2 cups whole blanched almonds
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons orange flower water or 2 drops wild orange essential oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
  • --------------------------------------------------------------
  • 1/2 lb. phyllo dough
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten
  • --------------------------------------------------------------
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 or 3 tablespoons cinnamon

Preparation:

Mix  onion, spices, butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed stock pot or Dutch oven.  (I went lighter on the butter and oil) Cover, and cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.  Be sure to stir the onions often and do not let the sauce burn as it will ruin the dish.  While the onions soften, cut up one rotisserie chicken into small pieces.  Add several spoonfuls of the onion mixture with the chicken to season and to help the chicken stay moist.  Set the chicken aside.


Cook the Egg Stuffing:
Transfer the remaining reduced onions and oil to a large non-stick skillet. Add the cilantro, and simmer for a minute or two. Add the beaten eggs, and cook as you would an omelet or scrambled eggs. Be patient, as it will take up to ten minutes for the eggs to set. Some oil separating from the eggs is OK. Set the egg stuffing aside.

Make the Almond Topping

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bake the almonds on a cookie sheet until they have a rich color and an almond smell fills the house. 10 minutes.  When the almonds have cooled completely, pulse them in a food processor until finely ground. Put them in a mixing bowl, and with your hands work in the powdered sugar, orange flower water (I used 2 drops of wild orange essential oil), and tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

Assemble the Bastilla

Generously oil a 14" or larger round pan. If you don't have a round pan, work on an oiled flat baking sheet or large plate, and shape a circular pie as best you can.
Brush melted butter on each sheet of phyllo dough as you work. If using phyllo, take care to keep it covered with plastic as you work since it dries out very quickly.
Using your pan as a guide, overlap double layers of phyllo dough – in a circular fashion, so that the inner halves of the pastry dough overlap in the center, and the excess dough drapes over the edges of the pan. (Remember to butter each layer of dough.)
Place two 12" buttered circles of phyllo, in the center of the pan. (I just used a piece of phyllo folded in half) This forms the bottom of the pie.
Cover the 12" circle with the chicken filling, and distribute the egg stuffing over the chicken.
Top the egg stuffing with another buttered 12" circle of warqa (shiny side up), or two 12" buttered circles of phyllo. Spread the almond topping over this layer of dough.
Fold the excess dough up and over the almonds to enclose the pie. Flatten and smooth any bulky areas.
Brush butter on the folded edges of dough, and top with three more overlapping layers of phyllo, brushing butter on each layer. Fold down the edges of dough and carefully tuck them underneath the pie, molding and shaping the bastilla as you go.
Brush the egg yolk over the top and sides of the pie. Lightly oil the bastilla in the same manner.

The bastilla is now ready for baking. It can be covered in plastic and stored in the refrigerator for up to a day, or in the freezer for up to two months.

Bake the Bastilla

Preheat an oven to 350° F (180° C). Place the bastilla on an oiled flat baking sheet in the middle of the oven, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Note that a bastilla placed into the oven directly from the freezer will take up to an hour to bake.

Garnish and Serve

Generously coat the bastilla with sifted powdered sugar. Sift the cinnamon on top of the sugar, or use the cinnamon to decorate the top of the pie.
Serve immediately.

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