Chicken Kiev

Chicken kiev is a classic Russian Dish. Crispy fried breaded chicken with a warm molten garlic butter center.

📝 Ingredients

• 180 g butter
• 100 g button mushrooms (optional) (chopped finely)
• 34 g garlic (finely chopped)
• 14 g parsley (finely chopped)
• 20 g oil (frying the mushrooms)
• 4 g salt
• 1 g black pepper (freshly cracked)
• 250 g breadcrumbs (note 2)
• 1 egg
• 50 g water
• 60 g flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 chicken breasts (note 3)
• 500 g oil (note 4)
• 4 g chopped dill (optional)
• salt and pepper

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Garlic butter ---
2. 2room temperature butter: Make sure your butter is at room temperature.
3. 3prepare garlic and mushrooms: Chop the mushrooms finely and mince or chop the garlic too.
4. 4heat pan: Heat a cast-iron skillet and add in some oil or butter.
5. 5cook mushrooms: Cook the mushrooms until they are well browned.
6. 6cook garlic: Turn down the heat to medium and add the garlic. Cooking and stirring for a minute or so just until they release their aroma. Do not colour them.
7. 7chill down mushrooms and garlic: Remove the pan from the stove, put the fried mushrooms and garlic in a separate bowl and let it cool to room temperature.
8. 8chop parsley: Meanwhile, chop some parsley with a sharp knife.
9. 9add to garlic, mushroom and parsley to butter: When the Mushroom mix has cooled down, add it to the room temperature butter along with the chopped parsley and seasoning if you are seasoning it.
10. 10wrap: Once you have mixed it all together. Store it in the fridge wrapped up or do the following for easy portioning.
11. 11store in fridge: Lay a piece of parchment flat on the table. Place the butter on the parchment and place another piece of parchment on top. Roll out to 5mm thick and close the parchment so that you have a thick envelope of garlic butter. Store in the fridge until needed.
12. 12--- Preparing the chicken ---
13. 13butterfly chicken: Cut the chicken horizontally but do not cut it completely through. This is called butterflying.
14. 14roll out the chicken: Once cut, place between two layers of plastic wrap or parchment lightly oiled. Gently roll out with a rolling pin.
15. 15stuff with butter: Cut a piece of the garlic butter you made and place in the middle of the rolled out chicken breast.
16. 16seal chicken close: Fold it close and make sure all the sides are covered and there is no butter sticking out anywhere. Otherwise, it will escape while we fry the chicken. Not what we want.
17. 17prepare breading station: Prepare a little breading station. You will need three bowls. One for seasoned flour, one for seasoned beaten egg mixed with equal amount of water or milk, and one with breadcrumbs. To season the flour and eggs simply add some salt and pepper.
18. 18bread chicken: Cover the chicken with flour first then dip in the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs. Go back into the egg mixture and one last time into the breadcrumbs. This is called a double breading. Surprise surprise.
19. 19store in fridge until ready to fry: Place the kiev on a baking sheet or plate ready for frying or baking. You could also freeze it at this point if you are prepping ahead for another day.
20. 20--- Cooking and serving ---
21. 21heat oven: Heat the oven to 180°C or 365°F. We will finish cooking the chicken in the oven to make it easy for the average home cook. If you are a confident cook then go ahead and fry it till done on the stove.
22. 22heat pan with oil: Heat a suitably sized skillet and add frying oil so that it is 1 inch or 2,5cm deep. Measure the temperature with a thermometer so that it's 180°C or 356°F. Regulate the temperature of the oil by turning the higher or lower.
23. 23place kiev into oil and fry: When the oil is hot, carefully and away from you, place the kiev into the hot oil. Cook it on one side until it has a nice golden colour and then flip cooking on the other side too.
24. 24finish cooking in the oven: Once nicely browned on both sides, place onto a baking tray and into the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Check the internal temperature by sticking the thermometer needle into the top of the kiev but not going all the way into the centre as the butter will run out. When it reads above 65°C or 140°F remove and let it rest for 5 minutes. If it's not there yet give it more time.
25. 25season and serve: Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.