Chicken Kiev
Chicken with a lovely light crust and is beautifully moist and full of flavour with a yummy garlic and parsley butter inside.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 50g garlic and parsley butter see below
- 40g plain flour
- 1 large or 2 medium eggs lightly beaten
- 75g dried breadcrumbs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 200ml sunflower oil
Garlic and parsley butter:
- 50g butter softened
- 1 small garlic clove crushed
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Garlic and parsley butter:
- Mix the butter, garlic and parsley together in a small bowl until well combined. Divide the mixture in half and spoon each half into the centre of a piece of cling film. Wrap the cling film around the butter, rolling them into sausage shapes. Twist the ends of the cling film so they’re rolled tightly and then put them in the freezer until you need them at step 2 below.
Chicken:
- Lay a chicken breast smooth side down on a sheet of baking paper or cling film. Lay another piece of baking paper or cling film on top and, using a meat mallet or rolling pin, bash the chicken to around 5mm in thickness. You want to be able to wrap the chicken easily around the butter, but not so that it’ll break or become see through. Repeat with the other chicken breast.
- Lay a flattened chicken breast out with the length running away from you, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then put one of the pieces of butter near the end closest to you, running from left to right across the breast. Pick up the edge of the chicken closest to you and begin to roll it over the butter while at the same time folding in the left and right sides of the chicken so that the butter is enclosed within the chicken. Continue to roll the chicken away from you until you end up with a perfect chicken parcel. Repeat with the other chicken breast and butter.
- Put the flour in a large shallow bowl, the egg(s) in another bowl and the dried breadcrumbs in another. Season each one with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can also add some dried herbs like oregano, or thyme or chopped fresh herbs, if you like.
- Carefully dip the chicken parcels in the flour first, making sure they are well covered and shaking off any excess (this will help the egg to stick), then dip them in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs, making sure they are well covered. Repeat this process again, in the same order – flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. Place the breaded chicken breasts in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until the coating is firm.
Twice cooking the chicken kiev:
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 4. About 5 minutes before you are ready to cook the chicken, heat the oil in a medium frying pan to 180C. Remove the chicken breasts from the fridge and very carefully, place them into the hot oil to shallow fry for 1 minute on each side, constantly basting the oil over the top and sides of each breast, until golden brown. Carefully remove the browned chicken with a slotted spoon and transfer them to an ovenproof frying or sauté pan, or baking tray. Bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (74C).
- Remove the chicken from the oven and serve immediately with your choice of sides. We recently enjoyed ours with some roast veg – yum!
Notes
- The original recipe uses more oil for deep frying the chicken first, however, to make it slightly healthier and for less smell in the kitchen, David shallowed fried them, then baked them in the oven.
- The recipe is easily adapted if you’re cooking for less or more people.