Chicken Kiev

Chicken Kiev

This is for special occasions. Not only that, for all the work involved, I only make this for special people. ;-) This recipe is not a walk in the park but once you make it and taste it, i promise, you will tell yourself it was worth the effort you put into it. This Chicken Kiev comes to you with a selection of five sides. I made all five for all you lovely people out there but you can pick and choose the one/s you like best and make just one or two when you give this recipe a try.

Ingredients for Herb Butter:

120 grams butter, softened to room temperature

3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dry parsley)

Freshly ground pepper to taste

4-6 cloves garlic, chopped very fine

½ -1 teaspoon lime juice, or to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the above ingredients. Feel free to adjust the lime juice and garlic to your liking.
2. Taste the mixture and feel free to add some salt if you feel the mixture requires it.
3. Divide the mixture into four parts. Place each mixture on an individual piece of plastic cling wrap or wax paper and roll it tightly into a log and freeze it till it hardens.  

Ingredients for Cheese filling:

80 grams Philadelphia cream cheese

1 teaspoon carrot, chopped as fine as mince

1 teaspoon green bell pepper, chopped as fine as mince

1 teaspoon red bell pepper, chopped as fine as mince

1 teaspoon yellow bell pepper, chopped as fine as mince

2 teaspoons button mushrooms, chopped as fine as mince 

Method:

1. Mix all the above ingredients.
2. Spread it out, in about ¾ inch thickness, in a plate. Put it in the fridge to chill for 3-4 hours. Do not put this in the freezer.

Ingredients for the Kiev:

4 boneless chicken breasts

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

2-3 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Oil, for frying

Method: 

1. Use a sharp knife, make a deep cut along one side of each chicken breast to slice it open and ‘butterfly’ it (do not cut all the way through).
   
   
   
   
2. Use a meat mallet, gently tenderize and flatten the breast pieces until they are about 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick.
   
   
   
   
3. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Bring out the herb butter from the freezer and the cheese mixture from the fridge.
5. Divide the cheese into 4 portions.
   
6. Take a flattened chicken breast. Place one portion of the butter and one portion of the cheese mixture on one end of the chicken breast. Fold the chicken over it n roll it into the shape of a log. (if the chicken breast you're using are not very large in size then feel free to reduce the size of the herbed butter stick and also reduce the quantity of the cheese filling as you don’t want the filling to ooze out when it is being fried)
   
   
   
   
7. Repeat with the other three chicken breasts.
8. Tightly wrap each log-rolled chicken breast, separately, in cling wrap and keep it in the fridge for 2-4 hours.
9. Season the Panko with some salt and pepper.
10. Lightly beat the eggs with milk.
    
    
    
    
11. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Remove the chicken logs from the cling wrap; dip in egg/milk wash and roll it in the seasoned Panko breadcrumbs.
12. Fry the chicken, sealed side down, and cook on medium heat till golden brown. Approx 5 -6 minutes on each side.
13. Transfer to a kitchen paper towel to drain. Serve with Buttered corn rice or Buttery mashed potatoes or Pesto pasta or Philadelphia Cheese sauce or Oven roasted peppers. (Recipes posted below)
    
    

Philadelphia Cheese Sauce

 Ingredients:

120 grams Philadelphia cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon butter

Seasoning, only if required

Method:

1. Melt the butter, add minced garlic and sauté till you get a nice garlicky aroma but do not burn.
2. Add Philadelphia cream cheese and mix well on a low heat.
3. Gradually add 140 -150 mils milk and stir until sauce is at desired consistency. If you want a thinner sauce feel free to add more milk. Check seasoning and add as required.

Buttered Corn Rice

 Ingredients:

5-6 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

100 grams golden corn (I use Green Giant)

1½ cups cooked long grain rice

Method:

1. Melt butter in a wok. Add freshly ground pepper, 100 grams golden corn and sauté for a few seconds.
2. Add 1½ cups of cooked long grain rice and stir fry gently for a minute to ensure the ingredients are well blended. Serve!

Pesto Pasta

 Ingredients:

150 grams spaghetti/penne/fettuccine

1 bottle ready pesto (I used Green Tokri)

A few pine nuts, lightly roasted to a golden brown

A wee bit of freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

1. Heal water in a large vessel. Add salt to the water.
2. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the paste (of your choice) and cook till al dente. (I prefer mine softer)
3. Drain the pasta thoroughly in a colander. Spread the pasta in a large plate to ensure it doesn't stick and turn lumpy.
4. Heat olive oil; add the pesto from the bottle and sauté to heat it evenly.
5. Add the drained pasta, freshly ground pepper.
6. Thrown in half the pine nuts and use the other half to garnish.

Oven Roasted Peppers

 Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1-2 teaspoons olive oil

Method:

1. Line a baking tray/sheet with two sheets of aluminum foil.
2. Cut the bell peppers into ½ inch strips.
3. Add the freshly ground pepper to the olive oil.
4. Add the peppers to the oil and mix well ensuring that the oil is evenly distributed over the peppers.
5. Preheat an oven to 200 deg C.
6. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake them for about 20 minutes. Turn the slices with the help of tongs after 8-10 minutes and allow them to bake till done. Roasted bell peppers should be tender and brown or charred in spots when they're done.

Chef’s Notes:

1. The herb butter can be made and put in the freezer a day in advance.
2. Do not mince the vegetables for the cheese mixture. I've written ‘mince’ to give you an idea of how finely you will have to chop the vegetables.
3. Please remember NOT to put the cheese mixture in the freezer. It goes into the fridge section.
4. I suggest you use one cup of Panko at a time and add more breadcrumbs as you need it because Panko breadcrumbs are much more expensive than the regular breadcrumbs and you wouldn't want to waste them. If you don’t wish to use Panko, feel free to use regular bread crumbs. I used Panko for this recipe because it ensures a crisp coating on the chicken.
5. If you are health conscious feel free to use olive oil to fry the chicken instead of regular oil. Alternately, you can use lesser quantity of oil (white or olive), cook the chicken on high heat for 2-3 minutes till light brown on all sides, then transfer the Kiev’s to a baking tray and bake at 160-180 deg C for 20-25 minutes till golden brown and cooked through.
6. I've made five sides to show you how they would turn out. Feel free to select any one or two when you try the recipe.
7. If you wish to have more butter oozing out when you cut the chicken, feel free to omit the cheese filling and increase the frozen butter filling to achieve that. 
8. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Bon Appetit!!!