I prepared bisteeya. Bisteeya is a Moroccan dish, that simplified is a sweet chicken pie with phyllo dough crust. I have to admit, I did not try to make my own phyllo dough. I'm just not that sadistic. This dish is commonly seen at large celebrations in Morocco.
The whole process was about three or four hours of almost continuous work. I started with my chicken, which I boiled with chicken stock, turmeric, parsley, a cinammon stick, salt and pepper. After that had simmered for a bit, I removed the chicken, and added five eggs to the mixture, slowly, until just set. This mixture was then placed in the refrigerator to chill. I prepared the phyllo crust at this time. Basically, layer eight sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each as you go. Arrange chicken, pour egg mixture over chicken (which is a lovely golden color from the turmeric). Then sprinkle the entire lot with a combination of cinnamon, confectioner's sugar, and ground almonds Proceed to top with eight more sheets of phyllo dough, buttering as you go. Then, I placed the pie pan in a preheated 425 degree oven for fifteen minutes. The pie is then removed from the oven and inverted onto a buttered baking sheet, and placed back in the oven for an additional ten minutes. I then placed the entire pie on a serving dish, surrounded it with a whole wheat couscous, and garnished with parsley.
It was definitely quite tasty. Ingredients were easy to find. My husband did comment that when he heard Moroccan he was expecting something very spicy, as in Texas spicy, and the Moroccan flavorings took him by surprise.
I will make this again, but next time it needs to be for a special occasion or for a larger group of people. The work is just too much for two folks.
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