This is without doubt my favorite chicken dish. Chicken Kiev is boned chicken breasts rolled around seasoned butter, breaded, and baked. Delicious! Several years ago this was a very popular entree that could be found on the menus of some of New York’s finest restaurants. But, it would eventually give way to the more modern, healthy, ‘low this and that’ cuisine. Perhaps that is because of the high butter content, all of which oozes out onto the plate as you make that first cut with your knife. Just the sight of it can cause your cholesterol numbers to climb. But some things I refuse to give up. This is one of them.
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon parsley, fresh
1 tablespoon chives, fresh
2 teaspoons lemon juice, fresh
2 teaspoon dried tarragon
½ teaspoon thyme leaves, dried
pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning chicken
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 large whole eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
2 cups bread crumbs, fresh ground
1 cup flour, for dredging
Preparation:
Combine butter, parsley, chives, tarragon, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place mixture on plastic wrap or waxed paper and roll into small log; place in freezer.
Place chicken breasts, 1 at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Squirt chicken lightly with water and squirt the top of the plastic wrap as well. Pound to no less than 1/8-inch thickness. Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper.
Lay 1 chicken breast on a new piece of plastic wrap and place 1 tablespoon of the compound butter and 1 tablespoon bread crumbs in the center of each breast. Using the plastic wrap to assist, fold in ends of breast and roll breast into a log, completely enclosing the butter; roll very tightly. Repeat with each breast. Place chicken in refrigerator for 2 hours, or up to overnight.
Place egg and water mixture in 1 pie pan, season with salt and pepper; and bread crumbs and flour in different pie pans.
Dip each breast first in the in the flour, then egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Place on a rack over a pan and refrigerate for about two hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat until oil reaches 325-350 degrees F.
Remove from fridge when ready to cook. Gently place each breast in oil, sealed-side down, and brown. Transfer to a baking pan and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack set in sheet pan and allow to drain for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Six servings.
