Kasbah Bites Recipes

Steps:

• Brown the ground chicken/turkey on a lightly oiled skillet, remove when browned.
• Brown the onions, turn heat down to medium.
• Add cooked rice, mix.
• Return the chicken to the pan& add the peas, then the almonds.
• Mix the honey& balsamic vinegar, stir well, add spices, stir again.
• Pour this over the chicken mixture, stir well cook 3 minutes longer and remove from heat.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan.
• Remove 3 sheets of phyllo pastry and lay them flat with the narrow end toward you (cover the remaining Phyllo with a damp towel).
• Flip up 2 sheets of Phyllo and lightly paint the bottom layer with butter, flip the next sheet down and paint it with butter, then the remaining sheet and again paine it with butter.
• Cut the 3 layer sheet into 6 long strips (I use a cleaned edge of the phyllo box to keep the cuts straight).
• Put a generous tbsp of the chicken mixture on a corner of a strip nearest to you.
• Fold the corner with the filling on it up and to the right to form a small triangle, now continue to work your way up the strip by flipping and folding until you reach the top.
• Paint the outside lightly with butter and place on a cookie sheet.
• Continue until all the mixture and Phyllo are used.
• Bake at 350F for apprx 15-20 minutes turning them once during the baking.
• Serve Hot.
• Your other option is to freeze them unbaked.
• Place a single layer of"Bites" on a cookie sheet and freeze them, remove from cookie sheet and place them in single layers with plastic wrap between layers.
• Bake from frozen state 350F oven for 20 minutes, turning them once or until they are golden on both sides.

Steps:

• Mix together the saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, and lime powder in a small bowl, and set the spice mix aside.
• Melt the butter in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and brown them over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Mix in the tomato puree.
• Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, the grated carrots, whole cloves, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, and the Kabsa spice mix. Cook for about 3 minutes; pour in the water, and add the chicken bouillon cube.
• Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cover the pot. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 30 minutes.
• Gently stir in the rice. Cover the pot and simmer until rice is tender and almost dry, about 25 minutes; add the raisins and a little more hot water, if necessary. Cover and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until the rice grains are separate.
• Transfer the rice to a large serving platter and arrange the chicken pieces on top. Sprinkle the toasted slivered almonds over the dish.

Steps:

• Make the lemon yogurt sauce: In a medium bowl, stir to combine yogurt, lemon zest and juice, parsley, and cayenne. Season with salt; set aside.
• Make the chicken: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large high-sided saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in batches, cook chicken, turning, until golden and crisp on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium and stir in onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, cumin, coriander, and turmeric. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, orange zest and juice, stock, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
• Place browned chicken, skin-side up, in simmering liquid and transfer to oven for 25 minutes.
• Remove chicken from cooking liquid and place on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Reserve pan with cooking liquid. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees and transfer chicken to oven until cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes.
• To prepare the rice, heat pan with reserved cooking liquid over medium and bring to a simmer. Stir in rice, cover, and cook at a low simmer until rice is tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and fluff with a fork to combine.
• Heat safflower oil in a small heavy-bottomed pot until a deep-fry thermometer reads 325 degrees. Add almonds and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towel-lined plate to drain. Add raisins to pot and cook until puffed, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper-towel lined plate to drain.
• To serve, spoon rice onto a serving platter and top with chicken. Sprinkle with fried almonds and raisins, garnish with parsley, and serve with lemon yogurt sauce.