Recipes
Chicken Bastilla
Restaurant Marrakesh
Morocco - Epcot

Serves 12

Step 1:

3 whole chicken breasts (approximately 1 pound each)
1/2 pound butter
1 1/2 pounds finely chopped onions
1 teaspoon ginger
1 pinch saffron
1 quart water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and white pepper to taste

Cook chicken breasts with all above ingredients until tender. Remove chicken and allow to drain. Return drained liquid to the pan the chicken was cooked in. Set chicken aside to cool.

Step 2:

12 raw eggs - beaten well
13 bastilla leaves

Scramble eggs with a hand whip until well mixed. Add eggs to the liquid the chicken was cooked in. Allow to boil slowly, stirring constantly. Turn down to simmer and stir only enough to keep eggs from browning for about 10-15 minutes. Do not cover. Drain in colander or strainer and reserve liquid. Set aside and allow to cool.

Step 3:

1 1/2 cups finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Add granulated sugar to crushed almonds. Mix well.

Step 4:

Shred the chicken with your hands, then mix with the egg mixture. Mix well. If it feels dry or crumbles, it needs some of the reserved liquid. Add just enough to moisten it. Mix well again.

Step 5:

Cut one bastilla leaf into 12 pie-shaped pieces. Lay out one whole bastilla leaf and then lay one of the 12 pie-shaped pieces in the center of it. On the center piece, add 1 tablespoon of almond mixture, then on top of the almonds, add 3 ounces chicken mixture. Add another 1 tablespoon almonds on top of the chicken mixture. Fold the bastilla leaf around the mixture, bringing the sides to the top and pleating them. Repeat this procedure for each of the appetizers.

Step 6:

1 cup Ten-X powdered sugar
Cinnamon

Put bastilla, pleated side down, on a greased cookie sheet. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush top of bastilla with vegetable oil.

Cook in a 350-degree oven until golden brown. Turn bastilla over and brown other side. Remove from oven. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar from a sifter on top. To design with cinnamon, pinch cinnamon between thumb and forefinger and release it in a sliding motion on top of bastilla. This takes practice.