Recipe - Bisteeya

3 pound Skinless chicken legs and
thighs
One half pound Butter
1 One half pound Finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 pn Saffron
2 Cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Salt and white pepper to
taste
1 qt Water
1 One half cup Almonds
One fourth cup Granulated sugar
12 Eggs
Egg wash of 1 egg and 2
tablespoons water
24 Filo leaves
6 tablespoon Melted butter
Powdered sugar
Ground cinnamon

Poach chicken and the next 7 ingredients in 1 quart of water until
tender, about 1 hour, and let it cool. Toast the almonds until
lightly brown, then chop finely. Mix the almonds with the granulated
sugar. Drain the chicken, reserving the broth, remove the bones and
shred the meat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat 12 eggs well. Adds the eggs to the slowly boiling broth,
stirring. Simmer the eggs, stirring, for 10 minutes and then remove
them with a skimmer and let them drain and cool.

Mix together the shredded meat and the cooked eggs. Moisten with
broth if mixture is too dry.

Brush a leaf of filo pastry with melted butter and top it with another
leaf. Brush another filo leaf with butter, place a fourth leaf on top
and brush it with butter. Center the second pair of filo leaves on a
small pie or cake pan, spoon 1 One half tablespoons of the almond mixture
in the center and spread it out into a circle about 3inches in
diameter. Then put 5 One half ounces of the chicken/egg mixture on the
almonds, press it down to about a 5inch diameter circle, add 1 1/2
tablespoons of almond mixture on top. Then fold the leaf up over the
mixture, pleating the top, and, using a wide spatula on top and the
support of the pie or cake pan below, carefully invert the packet
onto the first pair of filo leaves. Paint the edges of the flat sheet

with an egg wash and fold up the edges, pleating the top. With a large
spatula carefully place the bisteeya on a cookie sheet lined with
parchement paper and brush the top lightly with melted butter. Repeat
this process 5 more times.

Bake the 6 bisteeyas in a 350 degree oven until brown, about 35
minutes.

Sift powdered sugar on top of bisteeya and run crisscrossing lines of
cinnamon over the top.

Suggested drink: Tea

Yield: 6