16 January 2011

Chicken Kiev

The origins of this dish depend on who you are speaking to.  The dish has been credited to France, Russia, Ukraine (as the name indicts), and Poland (from during the time when the Ukrainian city of Kiev was a part of Polish territory). 

Until I see proof with a hundreds year old recipe, I will give it credit to the Ukraine, simply because if you are familiar with Ukrainian food, it is perfectly feasible that it originated there. 

Either way, the recipe is made with simple ingredients, is delicious, and very impressive for important dinner guests.

Ingredients:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Chilled Butter
Herbs (traditionally Garlic, Green Onions, and Curly Parsley)
Salt & Pepper
Flour
Eggs
Bread Crumbs
Vegetable Oil & Butter to fry

Sprinkle Chicken Breasts with water and pound thin between plastic wrap.  Rub with Salt and Pepper and set to the side.




For Filling, you can use either method.  You can combine the Butter with the Herbs to use as a Compound Butter.  Or you can combine the herbs in a bowl and spread lightly across the underside of the Chicken Breast. 





Then, place a tablespoon of butter on the Chicken Breast toward the end closest to you. 






Roll the Chicken around the Butter very tightly, tucking in the sides.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 24 hours to retain shape while cooking.






Dip in flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs. 






Fry until golden brown on all sides.  Place in oven at 375 degrees until no longer pink and to keep warm while frying the next piece.






You can bake on 425 degrees for about 25 minutes instead of frying.

Smacznego!

4 comments:

Hyacynth said...

My hubby would be crazy happy if I made this ... how hard is it for a non-cook?

Unknown said...

Hyacynth, that's a great question. Never think much about non cooks making something I post.

I think if you try pounding the chicken and it seems too much, then you could try laying it flat and using your knife to cut open butterfly style.

You could try one, see how that goes. But be sure to refrigerate it! That really helps it hold it's shape. And refrigerate the rest as you dip and fry each so that they don't warm up and lose their shape.

Or, you could do a "Lazy Chicken Kiev" where you put garlic salt, dried curly parsley, and marjoram in the flour and just dip the pounded or sliced breasts in the same 3 items (no rolling, just flat), fry until golden brown (not burned and don't worry that the chicken is still raw at this point), and then put in oven with a pat of butter on top until they are all no longer pink inside.

I've also heard of people dipping in milk and corn flakes or bread crumbs and baking instead of the above recipe, which can work as well.

Good luck! I'd love to hear how this works out for you!

Mel said...

We tried this a couple weeks ago. The kids and Patrick weren't impressed but i loved it.

Melissa
www.thecorkums.com

Unknown said...

Melissa, you can also try with adding breadcrumbs to the stuffing, or even roasted garlic instead of raw (my personal favorite)...