Do You Know How to Make Moroccan Bisteeya?
Last Friday evening, I hosted a dinner party at my farm for about thirty people. Having recently returned from an excursion to Morocco, I was in the mood to treat my guests to some of the tantalizing food preparations that I had enjoyed on the trip. Morocco is an exciting and colorful land and that is true of its cuisine, as well. There are so many fabulous flavors, colors, and textures and it really makes for wonderful and unexpected party fare. I was first introduced to the foods of Morocco many years ago when I attended, what is probably, my one and only cooking class. Paula Wolfert, the doyenne of Mediterranean cooking, came to the Greens Farms Bookstore when I was living in Westport, Connecticut, and taught a group of us how to make bisteeya, a savory and sweet meat pie, traditionally made of squab, and served as a first course to a special meal. I simply loved it and went on to experiment with other Moroccan fare, which became a regularly suggested menu in my catering business. I was even more intrigued after my first visit to that fascinating North African country, where I bargained in the souks for traditional Moroccan cooking vessels and ingredients. My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin and I came up with a menu for the party using plenty of produce from my vegetable garden and eggs from the chickens. I hope this blog will inspire you to try cooking Moroccan food. It’s really delicious and not too difficult, at all!
1 In Morocco, colors are never shy and for my Moroccan dinner party, I brought out the bold orange enameled cast iron round casserole pots from the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's. http://bit.ly/Lz62BD
2 These pots are all about good looks and great taste. In addition to orange, the collection also comes in blueberry, cranberry, and buckwheat.
3 The heavy-duty construction and durable details of each piece provide even heating for moisture-rich flavor. Plus, there's a lifetime warranty.
4 This is my collection of Moroccan tagines. A tagine is a type of dish named after this special pot in which it is cooked. It has a low-sided bottom dish and a conical cover, which is designed to return all condensation back to the bottom dish.
5 Moroccan tagines are flavorful and aromatic slow-cooked dishes braised at low temperatures. I bargained for these brown tagines in the souk on my very first trip to Morocco forty years ago and paid 90¢ each. On my recent trip to Morocco, the price was $25 each.
6 The dinner menu: Bisteeya - Couscous Royal with Chicken, Lamb, Merguez, and Vegetables - Tagine of Lamb and Eggplant - Assorted Citrus Sorbets - Coffee and Tea
7 The guinea fowl was simmered in broth with onions, garlic, lemon juice, herbs, cumin, and saffron until it was falling off the bone. This bowl contains all of that boneless, skinless meat.
8 Eggs were scrambled in butter with lemon juice, salt, and pepper until fairly stiff.
9 Plenty of fresh chopped coriander and parsley from the garden was stirred into the egg mixture.
10 Blanched slivered almonds were sauteed in olive oil until slightly browned.
11 The almonds were tossed with confectioners sugar and a bit of ground cinnamon.
12 The almond mixture was then crushed slightly in a mortar and pestle.
13 The almonds, guinea fowl, and scrambled egg mixture were ready to be assembled.
14 I melted and clarified butter, which is made by pouring off the clear liquid butter, separating it from the milky solids.
15 I started the assembly by brushing a sheet of good-quality Greek phyllo dough with the clarified butter.
16 Phyllo, of course, is paper-thin sheets of dough used for baking pastries in Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Moroccan cuisine.
17 I carefully placed that first buttered sheet in a buttered round pan, draping the excess over the edges.
18 I layered another buttered sheet of phyllo to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
19 Brushing each sheet of phyllo with butter is important so that it bakes golden, crisp, and flaky.
20 I placed about five layers of phyllo over the bottom of the pan.
21 I then placed a layer of guinea fowl over the bottom.
22 I sprinkled the meat with some of the sweet almonds.
23 Next, a layer of the scrambled egg mixture
24 Then, I repeated the process, layering more meat, nuts, and eggs.
25 I folded the excess phyllo up and over the filling.
26 I had enough filling for three bisteeyas.
27 Next, it was time to cover the bisteeyas with more sheets of buttered phyllo.
28 I draped each one with five more layers.
29 I carefully tucked the overhanging layers down the inside edges of the pan, sealing the bisteeyas.
30 A final brush with clarified butter
31 I then used a very sharp paring knife to score the tops in a diamond pattern.
32 The bisteeyas were baked at 425º until the tops became golden brown.
33 The tops were sprinkled with confectioner sugar.
34 The bisteeya was sliced into pie-shaped wedges and served. It was so savory, sweet, and fabulous!
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Hi Martha, this is an amazing and delicious Moroccan recipe. I love your enameled cast iron round casserole pots, I wish we can find them in London and the Gulf or the Middle East. You have a big collection of Moroccan tagines so impressed! I am sure your bisteeyas tasted delicious. I love love the serving plates, gorgeous!
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | June 27th, 2012 at 1:13 am
Beautiful bisteeya ! Such simple ingredients, or is it that you yourself made the recipe into a simple and fearless process --- something for which you are a genius, Martha. BTW, those rose and gold plates are extraordinary. Perfect for presenting a dish with exotic flavors and gorgeous flaky pastry.
Posted by: Penny | June 27th, 2012 at 1:17 am
A lot of Clemson Tiger Fans would love your orange pans to go with their orange blood. I'm not a CTF, but I like the pans, and I do believe I'd even like the bisteeya, and I really like the dishes.
If your weather is like ours is supposed to be the rest of the week, after today, stay cool. I'm giving my plants an extra soaking to combat the supposedly 102 temps.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | June 27th, 2012 at 1:46 am
Great inspiration for a new dish as I have never heard of bisteeya. Think that the world will miss Nora and her writings about living and learning about much through food. Did she visit you on one of your shows? My family loved JULIE AND JULIA as she did seem to immortalize the wonderful life and times of our beloved icon, Julia Child as the one who started it all.
Posted by: ann | June 27th, 2012 at 1:57 am
These are beautiful and I'm going to try a vegetarian version as I'm not a meat eater. So nice to get a cooking lesson on your blog! It's always great to get acquainted with a different cuisine. I read the blog daily and this was one of the most interesting to me. Thanks again, Martha! You continue to be an inspiration.
Posted by: Julie Dunham | June 27th, 2012 at 7:10 am
I love the cast iron pots from your collection at Macy's, the orange color speaks to my heart! I need help though, several people are commenting on the rose and gold plates but I don't see them, what picture are they in? The tangines you purchased 40 yrs ago are lovely, how smart of you to hold on to them all this time considering how much they are selling for. I can't wait to see the blog about your most recent trip to Morocco!
Posted by: Cindy F | June 27th, 2012 at 7:30 am
Hi Martha,
Hmm, a cooking lesson – how nice! Just the other day on one of your Living shows, I watched you and a chef cook something in a tagine. You mentioned then that you’d been to Morocco and I knew you had gone this year too but we hadn’t heard much about it. Thanks for this recipe – I’ve been itching to make something with phyllo dough. Maybe not Bisteeya unless I use chicken but I really like all the spices you used - I want to make something. I found a recipe for ground beef Bisteeya online which might be better for me to practice with. You made it look easy but I know me and I’d probably mess those phyllo sheets up big time.
~
I won’t be cooking today though, it’s my birthday (67) and I get to choose the restaurant. Maybe I should say, Four Seasons in New York - it would surely make everyone laugh! Thanks again for the cooking lesson and I hope you do it again. I too like your gold and rose dishes. You have such an array of dishes – I don’t know where you find places to keep them. Trish
Posted by: Trish | June 27th, 2012 at 9:01 am
Hi Martha, This is a gorgeous, yummy, totally inspiring blog today and my mouth is watering when I view all of these delicious photos again like I did late last night! Not only are the foods looking fantastic, but I love all of your beautiful kitchenware from Macy's and the Moroccan tagines, also! All of the foods in this delicious Moroccan Bisteeya probably come from your Bedford farm such as the garden vegetables and your chickens eggs, etc.! I might just have to try making this ASAP! I also enjoyed the websites about Paula Wolfert, who taught you how to make this when you lived in Westport, Connecticut and your dear friend Chef Pierre who does a lot for you at parties at your farm!! That must have been a delightfully delicious party for about thirty of your great friends who must have enjoyed every bite of it! Sure hope you have a wonderful day again! Off to see the bird's nest that F&S found on the ground while wondering around the farm! Jan PS Happy Birthday to my friend Trish!
Posted by: Jan Erickson | June 27th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Martha,
The food looks so good. Thanks for sharing this blog.
Trish,
Happy Birthday!
Posted by: KLBrown | June 27th, 2012 at 11:06 am
Trish, I hope you had a very good birthday. I didn't know it earlier, so...I'm taking this opportunity to wish you many more.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | June 27th, 2012 at 10:46 pm
My husband is Moroccan and I LOVE Moroccan food! I love to make both seafood and chicken bastilla, although it's not something we eat often. They are delicious! For Ramadan I'll be making the same filling for the chicken and seafood bastillas but rolling them into briouats or even small snack-sized bastillas. Whatever the shape, they'll be on the table when my husband has his iftar meal (breakfast) each evening.
Posted by: Cathy | June 28th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
Loved the sense of anticipation I had reading this as you made the recipe. Absolutely beautiful and a magnificent presentation.
Posted by: Karen | June 29th, 2012 at 1:06 pm