Chicken B'stilla, a.k.a. "Even my burps taste good!"

This week's challenge was Chicken B'stilla and I think it was quite a triumph. I described the dish, prior to making it, as a Moroccan version of chicken pot pie since it's basically shredded chicken inside a filo shell. But upon eating it, I discovered that that's not quite right. It's definitely its own thing and so lovely and so, well, unusual in a very friendly way.

The dish takes at least a few hours to make, but most of that is hands-off. The chicken marinates for a while with some onions, garlic, cinnamon, coriander, and ginger and then simmers for another hour or so until it's tender. The house smelled absolutely delicious. I was supposed to use saffron, but couldn't find it and I don't think the dish suffered from it. Once the chicken is finished it, you mix in some almonds, parsley, and cilantro, and then pile it into a filo shell, sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top, and bake it for a while longer. I was a little apprehensive about the filo, but found it surprisingly easy to work with. I did manage to fling melted butter all over my cookbook, though. A sign of love?  Andrew had at least three servings and declared it one of the best things I've ever made. We agreed that the flavor was interesting and complex with the play between sweet and savory, but much more mellow than Indian food. 

For dessert I made this Whole Lemon Tart. It's crazy easy! Meyer lemons were on sale, so I bought several and was happy that I only needed to sacrifice one. Simply take a lemon, slice it, remove the seeds, and toss the slices, skin and all, into a blender with some sugar. Add some cornstarch,eggs, and butter, and voila, your're finished. Well, you have to put it into your pre-baked crust and bake it a while, but jeez, compared to the other lemon tarts I've made, this one is an absolute breeze and absolute success. The lemon comes through brilliantly and isn't nearly as rich as the tart from Pierre Herme, even though his is quite delicious. The texture is more akin to lemon bars, I think, but it was a lovely complement to the chicken. The crust I made was not stellar, but I blame that on me. It was my first attempt at a shortbread crust and I found the dough just too sticky to get in the pan right. Oh well. 

What else? School is going fairly well and I'm enjoying teaching logic more than I'd anticipated. Huzzah! I bought this necklace on Etsy because I wanted something gold and different and playful and I love it. Andrew and I had a fun date last night. Paella for two? Yes, please! We're having a dinner party tomorrow, which is going to be absolutely terrific. Then I'm going home next weekend! Things are on the up and up.