Try this Chicken Kievs recipe, or contribute your own.
- 4 cloves of garlic
- olive oil
- 2 lemons
- sunflower oil
- 4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
- 4 x 150 g skinless chicken breasts (i got mine from the butcher with the bone in, but either way is fine)
- 3 tablespoons plain flour
- 2 large free-range eggs
- 150 g fresh breadcrumbs
- 2 large handfuls of baby spinach or rocket
- for the butter:
- 1/2 a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (15g)
- 4 knobs of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- Carbohydrate 36.8830375 g
- Cholesterol 105.75 mg
- Fat 8.1719374998875 g
- Fiber 3.46337497502565 g
- Protein 9.3703125 g
- Saturated Fat 1.61712249998447 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (135g)
- Sodium 310.773906249998 mg
- Sugar 33.4196625249743 g
- Trans Fat 1.06356531249695 g
- Calories 252 calories
Step-by-step
- Fry the bacon in a pan on a medium heat with a tiny drizzle of olive oil, until golden and crisp, then remove. For the butter, peel the garlic, then finely chop with the parsley leaves and mix into the softened butter with the cayenne. Firm up in the fridge.
- Working one-by-one on a board, stuff the chicken breasts. To do this, start by pulling back the loose fillet on the back of the breast – put your knife in the opposite direction and slice to create a long pocket (watch how-to video below). Open the pocket up with your fingers, cut the chilled butter into four and push one piece into the pocket, then crumble in a rasher of crispy bacon. Fold and seal back the chicken, completely covering the butter and giving you a nice neat parcel. Repeat with the 3 remaining breasts.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Place the flour in one shallow bowl, whisk the eggs in another, and put the breadcrumbs and a pinch of seasoning into a third. Evenly coat each chicken breast in flour, then beaten egg, letting any excess drip off, and finally, turn them in the breadcrumbs, patting them on until evenly coated. Shallow-fry in 2cm of sunflower oil on a medium to high heat for a couple of minutes on each side, or until lightly golden, then transfer to a tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until cooked through. You can bake them completely in the oven and skip the frying altogether, you just need to drizzle them with olive oil and bake for about 20 minutes – they won't be as golden, but they'll be just as delicious.
Crisp, golden breadcrumbs shatter beneath the teeth to release a sudden flow of piping-hot, herb-infused butter into tender poultry. Achieving this result requires strict adherence to thermal control and mechanical sealing. Professional kitchens rely on precise preparation to keep fat inside the meat rather than leaking into the pan before cooking finishes.
The Sealing Technique
Creating the pocket requires a careful incision along the tenderloin without puncturing the opposite side of the breast. Chill the compounded butter thoroughly before stuffing; warm fat liquefies too quickly and escapes through microscopic tears in the meat during the initial sear. When breading, establish a dry hand and wet hand routine to prevent the flour and egg coating from clumping into a thick, uneven shell. Dredge the stuffed breast lightly in plain flour, shake off excess powder, submerge it completely in beaten egg, and press fine breadcrumbs firmly onto every surface to form a moisture barrier.
Frying Versus Baking
Shallow-frying in two centimeters of sunflower oil on medium-high heat for approximately two minutes per side creates immediate exterior color and sets the crumb structure. Transfer the skillet items to an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius to finish cooking through gently over ten minutes. Alternatively, skip the stovetop entirely by drizzling the breaded parcels with olive oil and baking at the same temperature for twenty minutes, accepting a paler crust in exchange for reduced splatter and active monitoring.
