French Fridays with Dorie: Chicken B'stilla

      The twelfth recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Chicken B'stilla, found on pages 222-224. 

      Mary got up one morning and said on Twitter, "Do you want to make this with me?"  And so we did...each in our own kitchens, but commiserating together just how much we don't really like working with filo dough...yet.  We both had issues with it tearing and crumbling, a bit of a frustrating experience.  That said, it all tasted wonderful when we poked it all here and there and came up with something that actually resembles what the photo in the book looks like.  I love filo (phyllo) and the idea of it always, so definitely need to make a date to just grab a box of it and play around until I feel comfortable working with it in the future.  Think of all those Greek recipes I could be making that include phyllo!

      Ingredient list:  chicken thighs, onions, garlic, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, saffron, chicken broth, lemon juice, eggs, honey, pepper, cilantro (I left it out), parsley, filo dough, butter, almonds, and cinnamon sugar. 

      The filling is made (you can actually make it ahead and even refrigerate it until you are ready) and then placed into the filo crust.  (I made half a recipe which fit nicely into a six inch cake pan.)  After it is baked, it is unmolded and cut into slices for serving.  I'm a little messy on that part, so please be charitable. 

      It was all delicious, very much like a chicken pot pie actually, and Mark enjoyed taking it in his lunch the next day as well.  

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