Chicken B'stilla - FFWD

From FFWD Land. This is a very unusual dish...a thick chicken “stew” baked in an almond-lined phyllo crust. Fantastic! Rich, with an interesting combination of flavors.

I don’t care for saffron but once in a while, it tastes "right". I did use it here, even though I considered omitting it. I didn’t use much so it was very subtle...I think the B’stilla would be great without the saffron (still a lot of flavors going on) but, it would also be great with even more saffron than I used. I skipped the sugar/cinnamon topping and used less honey than called for; and my husband added some raisins as we ate it. I will add a few currants next time to the filling (smaller than raisins) and still omit the sugar topping (that would have been too much sweetness for us, especially when adding currants). I usually don’t like raisins or currants in savory dishes but they are perfect here.

I put together the marinade with the chicken and then, right before I started cooking it, I went out of town for four days! I continued with the recipe when I got back & it turned out perfectly. Leftovers lasted for many days and heated up good enough in the microwave (some of the flavor dissipated after two days, though).