Chicken Triangles

From: "Easy Cooking Step by Step," Bev Bennett. Woodbury, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 1985.

There's a reason you'll find this cookbook at every garage sale and thrift store. A lot of people liked the idea of a step-by-step cookbook but this cookbook doesn't really deliver - definitely not on the step-by-step aspect and not on quality of recipes. However, these chicken triangles are incredibly tasty and, although they require you to be something of a culinary construction worker, are worth the time they take.

The recipe suggests serving them hot or tepid. Don't be afraid of the word tepid. It just means you don't have to time everything perfectly so you can take them out of the oven the minute guests arrive. You can make these a few hours ahead and pop in a 200 degree oven to reheat for about 15 minutes and the flavor is even better than out of the oven the first time.
1 cup butter, melted (divided)
3 eggs, beaten
3 cups chopped cooked boneless chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon saffron dissolved in 1 tablespoons chicken broth (if desired, just use the broth)
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground gingerroot
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (divided)
3 tablespoons sugar (divided)

1/4 cup light or dark raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground pepper
16 sheets phyllo dough

Place 2 tablespoons melted butter in top of double boiler. Add beaten eggs and cook, stirring often, until mixture resembles slightly underdone scrambled eggs. Stir in chicken. Add saffron mixture, along with coriander, nutmeg, ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon sugar, raisins, pine nuts and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lay 2 sheets of phyllo dough, one on top of the other, on board or cookie sheet (keep remaining 14 sheets covered with slightly damp cloth). Brush generously with melted butter. Cut into 3 vertical strips. Place a heaping tablespoon of the chicken mixture in corner of one strip and fold into triangle, then continue folding into triangles all the way up the strip. Trim off excess. Press edges of dough in to seal using more butter. Place triangle on ungreased cookie sheet.

Repeat making triangles with remaining 2 strips. Then repeat the entire process 7 more times (using 2 sheets of phyllo for each, cutting each into 3 strips). You'll have 24 triangles in all.

Mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush triangles with remaining butter and sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot or tepid.