SUNDAYS WITH MARLENA SPIELER

BRICK a L'OEUF~
Ahh Brik...hmm what can I say? It tastes good, it tastes great but it isn't for the faint of heart to try to make. I tackled this recipe because it presented such a challenge. I think in this throw down Brik won. Imagine working with a piece of Filo dough and a raw egg and trying to wrap it all up without the egg oozing out or breaking and running all over the place. Exactly. I may try this again since it was delicious but I don't know if it was worth the aggravation.

Here is a little background on Brik. These are pastries that are sold in the market places in Israel. Men balancing trays of Brik compete to sell the pastries to the crowds before the market place closes for the afternoon siesta.

BRIK A L'OEUF

1 onion finely chopped
2-3 tsp chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley or a combination of the two
a pinch of fresh chopped chili (optional)
4 filo dough pastry sheets
4oz can tuna, well drained. Try to get the Albacore or the chunks of tuna in a jar-the regular canned tuna is too mushy, you want chunks.
4 eggs
vegetable oil for deep frying

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and have oil heated to 375 degrees
In a bowl combine the onions, cilantro or parsley and chili. Lay out a sheet of filo dough(make sure you keep the other sheets covered with a damp towel) and fold in half length wise. Put a quarter of the onion mixture in the corner and then add 1/4 of the tuna. Break an egg into a small bowl, then slide it onto the pastry with the onion mixture.

Quickly fold the pastry to form a triangle and keep folding (like you would fold a flag) to encase the egg completely. Carefully slide the folded pastry into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove the Brik from the oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the other 3 pastries. Bake the pastries for 5 minutes. Do not over cook, the egg yolk must be still runny. Serve immediately accompanied by hot sauce.

These are how they turned out except for the one.

*cooks note: #1 try not to let the egg break while folding, it runs out all over the place and if you fry it up it becomes like scrambled egg inside the pastry. I found that if you fold the dough into a triangle to mark it off then add the filling under the mark then you have the top triangle to flap over the filling to kind of hold in the egg. It is very difficult to fold it into a triangle so it might be easier to just fold it into a rectangular package. Either way, I found no easy way to keep the egg from oozing around and the filo from crumbling or tearing as I tried to fold it up. Working quickly I found was not an option as I wrestled with the egg. If you work too fast the egg breaks. I tried using a spatula to help me fold over the dough but with little success. I have no answer yet for that. I will try again one of these days to make Brik and maybe find a way to make it work, I guess it just takes a lot of practice.
To those of you who are brave and adventurous.. good luck.

Be sure to go to Cooking Schmooking Mel is making Lentil Soup and Sacramento Spice where Shankari is making a Chicken and Rice dish for their Sunday with Marlena.