Err.. I couldn’t make up my mind on which spelling to use for this memorable Moroccan dish that combines the flavors and textures of savory meat, soft eggs, crunchy pastry and sweet spices. Though the traditional dish is usually made with squab or pigeon meat, in the US you’re likely to see chicken substituted instead which also works great. So are we ready to take a little trip down to Morocco together? Let’s go!

So much of the success of pastilla depends on Ras el hanout, a popular blend of herbs and spices that is used across North Africa. The name means “top of the shop” in Arabic, and refers to a mixture of the best spices a seller has to offer. There are many different sorts of Ras el hanout, but whatever you do i recommend you make your own for this dish rather than to buy it at the grocery store. I compared my own to several purchased ones and i can tell you there’s a world of difference. If you want a dish with vibrant, exotic flavors, make your own, friends!

The other important thing to remember about pastilla is that it’s traditionally made with feuilles de brick (also known as warka dough). I’m lucky to have a friend who brought some back from Montreal last week and i just couldn’t wait to play with it. Feuilles de brick look and feel like fine, lacy cloth with a satiny sheen and texture. When fried they are crisper than springroll pastry and when baked they have a dry, melt-in the-mouth crunchiness, which is better than filo. You could of course use filo in this recipe, lots of people do, but feuilles de brick are well worth looking for in Middle Eastern markets or you can order them via amazon website.

The pigeon (or chicken) is braised in an aromatic broth with onions, ras al hanout, saffron until it falls of the bone. The spiced braising liquid is then reduced and a few eggs are scrambled in it and left to cool. Meanwhile, almonds are toasted and ground with sugar and cinnamon, the shredded meat is mixed with fresh coriander, parsley and lemon juice.

The rest is pretty easy, the ingredients are layered inside the feuilles de brick to form neat little packages. You start with the almond/cinnamon mixture at the bottom, top with shredded aromatic meat and herbs, then goes the spiced egg scramble and finish with some more of the ground almond mix.

Keep the little packages nice and tight, and cook them on both sides in clarified butter until golden brown. If you never worked with feuilles de brick you will be amazed at how crispy and delicious the dough gets. Side-effects include urges to wrap anything in it and deep-frying it.

Drain the pastilla on paper towels and let them to cool for a little while. When they’re just warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon (yes, it’s the traditional way to do it).

The least traditional thing about this post, i just realized, is serving them with a fork and a knife. What was i thinking!?  Those babies are best eaten with bare fingers to best absorb the sequence of taste, the harmony of textures and the.. the.. cacophony of smells!

Go ahead, get your fingers dirty and enjoy!

• Pastilla, Bastilla, Bisteeya, B’stilla, Bstilla

• • Serve 6

  

• • For the ras el hanout:

  • 1/2 teaspoon aniseed
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 8  allspice berries
  • seeds from 8 cardamom pods
  • 8 cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 stick cinnamon, broken in half
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon cuminseed
  • a pinch dried red pepper flakes
  • a pinch ground mace
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

  • For the almond/cinnamon sugar:

  • 3/4 cup blanched whole marcona almonds, toasted
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • For the filling:

  • 3 squabs (pigeons) or 4 chicken legs
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons ras el hanout
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 4 large eggs, beaten lightly
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
  • 4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
  • 1  lemon, juiced
  • 12 sheets feuilles de brick, or filo
  • 1 stick butter
  • confectioners’ sugar & cinnamon
• 

  • For the ras el hanout:

  • Place the aniseed, fennel seeds, allspice berries, cardamom seeds, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cuminseed, and red pepper flakes in a small saute pan and place over medium heat until fragrant. Let it cool and ground in a coffee grinder. Stir together ground spice mixture, mace, ginger, and nutmeg until combined.

  • For the almond/cinnamon sugar:

  • Place the almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and grind to a powder.

  • For the filling:

  • Season the squabs parts (or chicken parts) with salt and pepper. Heat a large kettle saute pan, heat the olive oil and cook until golden brown. Add the chopped onion and garlic and keep cooking until translucent. Reduce the heat and add ground ginger and ras el hanout. Cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the chicken stock and saffron and bring to a simmer. Cover and lower the heat and keep simmering for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool. Transfer the squab or chicken to a tray to let it cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat and discard bones and skin.
  • Reduce the braising liquid until you have about 1 1/2 cup left. With the pan over high heat, add the eggs to the reduced braising liquid and scramble. Transfer the spiced scrambled eggs to a bowl and let it cool.
  • In another bowl, stir the chicken, parsley, coriander, lemon juice and season to taste if necessary. Chill until ready to use.
  • In a large nonstick pan melt butter.
  • Cut the feuilles de brick (or filo) into 9 inches circles and brush with butter. Place two sheets (or 4 if using filo) in a 6-inches tart ring or mold.
  • Sprinkle almond sugar on the bottom of the dough (see pictures above). Put chicken mixture over almond sugar and spread out tightly. Top with the spiced scramble eggs and top with 1 more tablespoon almond sugar.
  • Close the bastillas tighly to make neat little packages.
  • Cook the bastillas in butter in the nonstick saute pan until golden brown on both sides. Finish in a 350′F oven if making a large one.
  • Place the cooked bastillas on a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm.

I was completely and utterly torn between two recipes, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s chicken with a soy-whiskey glaze and Mochachocolata aka Rita incredibly delicious-looking chicken with a sticky rice stuffing. Plus, i was hungry. Very hungry. So i thought, heck… let’s combine both recipes, shake really hard and see what comes out of it. Being ordered around by two persons at the same time ain’t easy, let me tell you, but the results were well worth the effort.

I started by slicing some really good Chinese sausage (smuggled from Hong-Kong, nothing less), shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, garlic and ginger and gave them a good stir-fry before adding the sticky rice, per Rita’s instructions i deglazed the pan with dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce and added chicken stock and left it to cook until it got all nice and sticky and delicious. Meanwhile Jean-Georges’s recipe instructed me to put the baby chickens in a quick 30-min brine. So i did that too! Went back to check if the sticky rice was good and boy… Rita didn’t let me down, it was amazing. I let it cool and made Jean-Georges’s soy-whiskey glaze and moved along to next step of Rita’s instructions:

“Stuff the chicken’s ass with the sticky rice.”

Umm.. Well, after removing the chickens from the brine and drying them.. i did exactly that. I never took chicken anatomy class in school but i think i got it right.

Next was a lot of roasting and basting business with the fabulous soy-whiskey glaze until the baby chickens got that glorious, deep brown shine to them. After enjoying a brief moment of pride, it was time for dinner.

Friends, it’s as good as it looks. If not better.

Thanks again to my two mentors for largely inspiring this recipe. I’ll definitely be making it again.

• Baby Chicken with Soy-Whiskey Glaze & Sticky Rice Stuffing

• serves 2-3
• Inspired/Adapted from Mochachocolata Rita & Jean-Georges Vongerichten
• 

• • Baby Chicken w/ Soy-Whiskey Glaze:

  • 2 baby chickens
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup chopped ginger
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup whiskey
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • canola oil, for brushing

  • For the Sticky Rice Stuffing:

  • 2 Chinese sausages, sliced
  • 1 cup dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water
  • 1 cup chestnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
  • 1 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 Tbs canola oil
  • 3 Tbs dark soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs soy sauce
  • 2 cups sticky rice
  • 2 cups chicken stock
• 

  • For the baby chicken w/ soy-whiskey glaze:

  • Combine the 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large container with 4 cups of cold water to dissolve. Add the baby chickens and soak for 30 min at room temperature.
  • Preheat the oven to 375′F. Drain the chickens and pat dry. Season the bird’s cavity with salt and pepper, stuff with the cooled sticky rice stuffing and truss it or at least tie up the legs. Combine the remaining ginger with the soy sauce, whiskey, the remaining 1 cup of sugar, and the garlic in a saucepan and bring to boil.
  • Put the baby chickens on their back, baste them with the soy-whiskey mixture, and put pan in the oven.
  • Roast for 45min, basting every 10 minutes with the soy glaze, until dark brown. A thermometer inserted into its thigh should read 155′F. Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with pan juices.

  

  For the sticky rice stuffing:

  • Soak the sticky rice and the dry shiitake in water ahead of time. Reserve some of the mushroom soaking liquid to cook the rice.
  • In a large pan, add canola oil and stir-fry the Chinese sausage slices, shiitake mushroom slices and chestnuts. Add the chopped garlic and ginger and keep stirring until fragrant.
  • Add the drained sticky rice to the mixture and deglaze with dark soy sauce and regular soy sauce. Add the chicken stock and 1/2 cup mushroom liquid and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  • Cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed.
  • Let it cool until ready to use.

  

This ain’t ordinary chicken, this is Joe the chicken. Joe the chicken was about to purchase a plumbing business but was wondering if the $250,000 a year business would put him in a tax bracket that … err… sorry! I’m mixing up stories again… I’m suffering from post-electum depression!

Here’s the story, my butcher hired a new worker named Sergio. I called him the other day to ask him to send me a small turkey – until now simple enough, right?… Wrong! Sergio thought chickens were in fact… small turkeys, so instead of my small turkey I got delivered.. you guessed it – a big chicken! err.. Isn’t it the ultimate insult for a chicken to be mistaken for a turkey?

I wasn’t too happy about it but i decided to honor my big chicken anyway by making a delicious Honey-Glazed chicken with Quinces and Apples. This is a straightforward chicken saute where the combination of cider vinegar and honey blends the sauce, glaze the chicken and give the dish a tart-sweet edge that echoes the essence of the quince. Served over fresh pasta… un regal!

As for Sergio, I covered his ass and kept the mistake from his boss although i couldn’t resist to stop by the butcher shop the next day to discretely give him some ‘perspective’ and words of encouragement. I think it went like this:

“Eres mas pendejo que un culo de chango!” (you’re more stupid than a monkey’s ass!)
I thought it meant something like keep up the good work, no really… i did! To which the feisty little bastard answered:

“Vuelves a Francia, cabrón!” (Go back to France, a**hole!)I love these guys!

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 large quince, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons XV olive oil
• one 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
• 12 cippolini onions, peeled and trimmed
• pinch of sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup good chicken stock

• Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil in a medium pot. Add 1 tablespoon of the cider vinegar and the quince and boil gently for 10 minutes. Drain the quince well and set aside to cool, pat dry. Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add the pieces to the pan. Brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and reserve.

• Pour the excess fat from the pan and add the onions, sugar, cinnamon and rosemary to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and brown the onions evenly, 8 to 10 minutes.

• Return the chicken to the pan along with the quincs, apples and honey. Turn to coat the ingredients with the honey. Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes to caramelize everything. Add the remaining 1/2 cup cider vinegar, stirring and scraping up any bits.

• Slide the pan into the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to the stovetop again, turn the heat to medium, and add chicken stock, bring to a boil. Stir to blend.

• Discard the cinnamon and spoon out the chicken, fruit, and sauce and serve over fresh egg noodles. Enjoy!

As you can tell, today is chicken day on Chef’s gone wild. Of course, you know it’s not your average chicken day when your chicken taste a bit like Peking duck…

So is it chicken or duck, you asked? Well, let’s say it’s a chicken wannabe duck but who cares really as long as it’s delicious and taste like chicken… or duck. No, no, don’t pull your feathers hair now, this ain’t fowl play! I already told you it’s a chicken… Okay, to be fair let’s call it a chicken who lives on the edge of duckiness… cuz it kind of taste like duck too – not that i want to confuse you or anything. I’m sure it’s not a test tube chicken with added duck extract, i only use free-range chicken… and duck. It’s just that… this particular chicken just couldn’t decide. Could it be the ginger and soy-whiskey glaze then? Ahh …you bet! A glaze that transforms a chicken into a Peking duck? A transvestite chicken!! That’s what it is!!

Pffewwwww… I’m glad i got this out. Be discret now, the chicken doesn’t know and you don’t want to hurt his feelings. It might get tough.

The secret here is to baste the chicken while…

We interrupt this program for an important message.

…..!!??.. They must be cluckin’ jokin’?! Not on my blog! @%$#.. f @#$%ers!!Oh! err..er…eh.. Thanks Mr President for clarifying, my readers were worried about that! hmmm. It’s an honor to have you here…err.. See my friends! That chicken is safe to eat and that’s all that matters. Enjoy!

Roast Chicken with Ginger and Soy-Whiskey Glaze

Recipe adapted from Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Georges Vongherichten

(serves 4)

• 1/2 cup kosher salt (for the brine), plus more to taste
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• One 3-pound chicken
• 1 cup roughly chopped ginger (don’t bother to peel)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Scotch or other whiskey
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1/4 cup canola oil

—————–

1. Combine the 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large container with 4 cups of cold water to dissolve. Add the chicken and soak for 1 hour at room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 450′F. Drain the chicken and pat dry. Stuff about 3/4 cup of the ginger into the chicken’s cavity, season the bird with salt and pepper, and truss it. Or at least tie up the legs. Combine the remaining ginger with the soy sauce, whiskey, the remaining 1 cup of sugar, and the garlic in a saucepan and bring to boil; simmer while you brown the chicken, then strain.
3. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan and turn the heat to medium high. when the oil is hot, brown the chicken on both sides, coloring one leg and half the breast at the time – it will take 5 minutes per side. Put the chicken on its back, baste it with the soy mixture, and put pan in the oven.
4. Roast for 45min to 1 hour, basting every 10 minutes with the soy glaze, until dark brown. A thermometer inserted into its thigh should read 155′F. Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with pan juices.