
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, each breast sliced in half
- 3 T olive oil, divided
- pita bread
- 1 sliced onion
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1 tsp saffron
- 3 T ground sumac
- 1 t allspice (optional)
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the pita bread by drizzling in 1 T olive oil and laying out on a large baking pan. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350F. Rub the chicken pieces with 1 T olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish surrounded with sliced onion and broth. Bake for 15 minutes, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, lightly brown the pine nuts in remaining olive oil. Set aside. Sprinkle chicken with saffron, sumac, allspice and paprika.
Bake another 30 minutes or until chicken is almost cooked thru. Transfer one slice of cooked chicken and a scoop of cooked onion onto each pita. Sprinkle on some toasted pine nuts. Broil the chicken and bread, covered with pine nuts, for about 5 minutes or til pita begins to brown on the edges. Serve the pan sauce over the rice.
Served with brown basmati rice.



Comments: 16
Vis: In my humble opinion, using sunflower seeds would change the whole flavor of this dish. Crunching in to the toasted pine nuts was SUCH a taste experience! Just keep an eye out for when they go on sale at your favorite grocery :)
Sumac
Cherry red sumac is used extensively throughout the Middle East, especially in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, either plain or mixed with thyme leaves and sesame seeds (Zatar) as a tabletop condiment. Before the arrival of lemons in Europe, the ancient Romans used sumac for its sour flavor. In the Mediterranean region today, sumac is used as a tabletop condiment or added during cooking to lend a pleasant, fruity sourness and soft cherry color to sauces, poultry, fish, and Turkish salads. The flavor is on the order of lemon juice or vinegar but milder and less acidic. Because of the moistness of the fresh, whole sumac berries, a small amount of salt is added during processing to facilitate grinding. From Syria. Contains Sumac and Salt.
Ted, thanks for the info. I have seen recipes for Musakhan that call for lemon AND sumac, I thought that would be too tart. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE tart/sour food, but I am glad I didn't add lemon too. The sumac was just right.
Good stuff! Thanx. : ) 10