Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds chicken, fryer, whole
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion, chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 cups water, approximately
- 1 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon ginger
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 pound almonds, sliced
- 2 tablespoons oil, olive
- 1/2 cup sugar, confectioners
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup butter, clarified
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 package phyllo, about 12 ounces
Preparation
Step 1
1. Rinse the chicken, Mince the garlic and coat the chicken. Set aside.
2. In a large Dutch oven (I like to use enamel-covered cast iron), sauté onion in butter.
3. Add chicken, water, parsley, saffron, turmeric, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon sticks and salt. Use enough water to cover the chicken, The exact amount of water does not matter as the stock will be reduced later in your preparation. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/4 hours.
4. Heat the olive oil in a heavy frying pan. Add almonds and stir until brown. Remove from heat and cool. Add confectioner’s sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside. This will be the almond and top layer in the pie.
5. Remove chicken and all bones from stock. Leave the stock on the medium heat, uncovered to reduce.
6. Discard bones and skin and reserve all chicken meat. Shred with your fingers into small pieces (not larger than one inch and preferably shreds rather than chunks). Set aside. This is your chicken layer.
7. Reduce the stock until thick with the herbs/onion. A spatula scraped on the bottom of the pot should reveal the bottom for a few seconds (see photo). Add lemon juice. Beat eggs and whisk into reduced stock. Cook until thick and quite dry (see photo). Set aside. This is your egg layer.
8. Clarify the second quantity of butter by melting in a small saucepan. Skim solids at the surface (discard) and decant the clear liquid (reserve). There will be some remaining solids in the bottom of the pot (discard these also).
9. Preheat oven to 375 F.
10. Open phyllo according to package directions (be sure to thaw first in the refrigerator – not at room temperature). Begin layering the phyllo on a large round pan (a pizza pan works nicely). One at a time, lay at least 6 pieces of the phyllo in a fan shape, leaving edges of each piece overhanging the pan (see photo), and buttering each piece as you proceed.
11. Bake 2-3 phyllo leaves in the oven — just until crisp — about 1 minute.
12. Place the chicken on your phyllo “fan”. Make the chicken layer no more than 1/2 inch thick (reserve any extra chicken for another use). Cover the chicken with the egg mixture and then top with the crisped phyllo leaves. Top this with the almond layer. Then take the extended phyllo leaves and fold toward the center – over the top of your layers. Shape your pie into a “round shape” as you go.
13. Use another 6-12 sheets of phyllo to complete your pie. Making another “fan”, put each layer over the pie but extending over the edges of the pan. As you butter each sheet, tuck the extending edge under the pie.
14. Give the pie a final brush of butter and you are ready to bake. I find that a 350 F oven works best — heats the bestilla through without burning the top of the pastry. Bake for approximately 30 minutes. If your pie is not golden brown, increase the oven temperature and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.
15. When your pie is removed from the oven, dust with powdered sugar and, using your fingers, decorate with lines of cinnamon. Cut and serve.