Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

2 tb Olive oil 1 c Reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 Small (about 3/4 lb each) 2 tb Chopped fresh coriander
-whole chicken breasts -leaves
1 1/2 c Chopped onions 1 tb Chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 Cloves garlic, finely 7 Large eggs, lightly beaten
-chopped 1 ts Salt
1 ts Finely chopped peeled 1/2 ts Ground black pepper
-fresh gingerroot Topping (recipe follows)
2 ts Ground cinnamon 24 17-by 12-inch phyllo
1 ts Ground cumin -(strudel) leaves, thawed if
1 ts Ground coriander -frozen (about 1 lb)
1/2 ts Red pepper 1 c (2 sticks) butter, melted
1/2 ts Turmeric Confectioners' sugar (opt.)
1/4 ts Ground saffron (see Note) Ground cinnamon (opt.)

1. In large skillet or 5-quart Dutch oven, heat 1 T olive oil over
medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on
all sides-about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

2. In same large skillet, add onions, garlic, ginger, and remaining 1
T oil; saute, stirring constantly, just until onions are translucent.
Stir in cinnamon, cumin, ground coriander, red pepper, turmeric, and
saffron. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until
onions are completely coated with spices-about 3 minutes.

3. Increase heat to high. Add broth, fresh coriander, and parsley to
skillet with onion mixture. Heat to boiling, stiffing to combine.
Return chicken to skillet, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30
minutes or until chicken is tender.

4. Remove chicken from skillet to plate and set aside to cool.
Continue to cook onion mixture, covered, until almost dry- about 15
minutes. Add eggs, salt, and pepper to onion mixture. Cook until soft
curds form-about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set
onion-egg mixture aside to cool. Meanwhile, prepare Topping.

5. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin and
bones. Tear chicken into 2-inch-long strips.

6. To assemble bastilla, place phyllo between 2 sheets of waxed
paper, then cover with damp towel. (Phyllo dries out very quickly.
Each time you remove a sheet, be sure to cover remaining sheets with
damp towel.) Brush 12-inch pizza pan with some melted butter. Remove
1 sheet of phyllo and place on pan, letting the edges hang over the
rim. Brush phyllo sheet with butter. Working quickly, stack and
butter 11 more sheets, arranging them in the pan in an overlapping,
circular fashion (like a pinwheel).

7. On center of phyllo, in even layers, arrange half of Topping, half
of onion-egg mixture, all of chicken strips, the remaining onion-egg
mixture, and the remaining Topping. Fold overhanging phyllo over top
of bastilla and brush top with butter. 8. Continue to butter and
arrange the remaining 12 phyllo sheets in the same pinwheel fashion
over top of bastilla (as in Step 6). Carefully tuck the overhanging
ends underneath it. Brush top and side of bastilla with butter. Cover
loosely with foil. (Or refrigerate two hours or up to 2 days before
baking.)

9. Heat oven to 350'F. Bake bastilla 20 minutes or until golden. If
bastilla has been chilled, bake 5 to 10 minutes longer. Place a baking
sheet or another 12-inch pizza pan over the bastilla and invert so
that the underside is now on top. Return to oven on the new pan (or
slide back onto original pan) and bake 25 minutes longer or until
crisp and golden.

10. If desired, sprinkle confectioners' sugar and ground cinna- mon in
stripes on top of bastilla.

Note: Ground saffron is available in specialty-food shops. If you
can't find it, crumble the commonly found saffron threads before
measuring.

Topping: Heat oven to 375'F. Spread 1 1/2 C slivered blanched almonds
on ungreased baking sheet and place in oven 7 minutes or until lightly
toasted. In food processor with chopping blade, process almonds with
2 T sugar and 2 t ground cinnamon until coarsely ground.

Nutrition information per serving-protein: 27 grams; fat: 34 grams;
carbohydrate: 31 gram; Fiber: 3 grams; sodium: 678 milligrams;
cholesterol: 210 milligrams; calories: 519.

Country Living/Feb/94 Scanned fixed by DP GG

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