Bastilla

In Morocco, Bastilla is traditionally made with pigeon, but Mamounia offers diners chicken, seafood and even vegetarian versions of dish, along with the more traditional pigeon. In this recipe we'll be making the chicken version.
Ingredients: 1/2 chicken
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 whole cinnamon stick
1 cup chopped cilantro
6 eggs
1/2 pound almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 large sheets phyllo pastry dough
1/4 cup melted butter

For Garnish:
confectioner
additional cinnamon
Instructions: Boil chicken in enough water to keep covered along with the chopped onion and spices until cooked, about 30 minutes. Drain chicken, reserving about 1/4 -1/3 cup of the cooking liquid. Bone the chicken and cut the meat into small pieces.
Cook eggs, along with 1/4 - 1/3 cup reserved cooking liquid from chicken in a large skillet until soft scrambled, do not overcook the eggs. Mix cooked eggs with chicken meat until well combined.
Process almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor until almonds are crushed.
The above three steps can be done ahead of time, if desired. refrigerate ingredients until ready to cook.
phyllo dough can be a little tricky to work with. For best results, thaw completely. It's important to keep the dough you are going to work with wrapped in a slightly damp kitchen towel, as the dough dries out very quickly and becomes fragile and breaks apart. To prepare for the recipe, Chef Daniel separated two large sheets of dough, folded each sheet in half, then in half again and wrapped them in a damp towel.
Now you're ready to assemble the dish.
1. 2. 3.
Brush an oven-proof skillet with melted butter. Unfold layer a phyllo pastry a little more than halfway across the skillet (photo 2), followed by another layer of dough over the other half (photo 3), overlapping the two pieces in the middle.
4. 5. 6.
Spread about 1/3 cup of the crushed almond mixture over the bottom of the dough (photo 4), followed by the chicken egg mixture, followed by another layer of almonds (photos 5 and 6).
7. 8. 9.
Carefully fold over the phyllo dough on all sides (photos 7 and 8), then brush the top of the pastry with melted butter (photo 9).
10. 11. 12.
Bake the bastilla in a 350° F. oven for about 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned (photo 10). Carefully turn skillet upside-down on plate to remove bastilla (photos 11 & 12).
13. 14.
Sift a heavy layer of confectioner's sugar over the Bastilla (photo 13). Pinching cinnamon between your fingers, draw a criss-cross pattern of cinnamon over the layer of confectioner's sugar (photo 14). Take a paper towel and wipe away excess sugar from the edges of the plate. Serve immediately.