Chicken Kiev

Molten garlic-y butter with hints of parsley. Who can say no to that? And when that comes out of a chicken fillet parcel? I know, it's too tempting a killer! So this time, I am not going to talk about this and will move on to the recipe :)

PS: This is no mean feat. This one actually requires a lot of work and care at every step, because its speciality lies in that geyser of butter oozing out when it is punctured. So sealing the butter in, in a way that it does not come out while cooking is...well painful.

PPS: Also it's painfully loaded with calories *shy, guilty grin*

Ingredients

For four

• Chicken breast fillet  – 4
• Butter – 200g, softened (see tip)
• Garlic cloves – 4, peeled and crushed
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped (see tip)
• Flour – 100g
• Eggs – 2
• Black pepper – couple of pinches, divided
• Paprika or cayenne powder – a pinch (optional)
• Salt – to taste, divided
• Oil – 2-3 tablespoon (to fry)
• Cling film or wax paper

Method

1. Sift the flour thoroughly to get rid of any lumps.
2. Beat the butter using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer.
3. Mix the salt, pepper, paprika (optional), garlic paste, parsley into the butter and fold (see tip).
4. Lay an A8 sized piece of cling film (or wax paper) on a flat surface.
5. Divide the butter into four equal parts and place one part on the film and roll into a short, thick log. Repeat until all the butter is used up.
6. Carefully place them in the freezer.
7. Place each chicken breast fillet on a piece of cling film, cover with another and pound them until they are fairly thin to be rolled.
8. Season the flattened fillets with a pinch of ground black pepper and salt.
9. When the butter logs have hardened, take them out one at a time and roll them as shown in the figure (image NOT to scale): 

   

   Sealing butter log inside Chicken Kiev

10. Repeat with all the fillets and wrap them in a separate cling film each, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and no more than overnight.
11. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and paprika to the flour and divide into two dishes (see tip).
12. Beat the two eggs with 1 teaspoon of water.
13. Take off the cling film and place the roll in one of the flour dishes, coat evenly, dip in the egg mixture, and coat well. Dip in the second dish of flour and coat evenly and shake off the excess. Place it on a dish with the open edge of the roll facing downwards. Repeat with each of the rolls.
14. Heat oil in a skillet and place the fillets, no more than two at a time and cook both sides until golden brown.
15. Lay a paper towel on a dish and remove the chicken kievs on to them to drain before serving.

This is tricky to make, as the butter seems to ooze out while cooking. I have tried to minimize the possibilities but errors still creep in, after all we're only humans. Don't be disheartened. It takes everyone quite a few trials to get them right :)

Tip

1. You can make the butter-only traditional version, or you can replace half of the butter with cream cheese. Mozzarella should work too, but gets very sticky and difficult to work with.
2. I cannot stress enough about fresh parsleys. I couldn't find fresh parsley leaves so I had to use dried ones. Also add tarragon leaves if you can find them. I couldn't. :(
3. Folding is a technique used to mix two components together, you'll find a mini tutorial at the end of my Chocolate Mousse Cake recipe.
4. You can replace the second dish of flour with bread crumbs, or, if you think you can really bear with all the layering, keep a third dish of breadcrumbs or flour and make another layer by dipping into the eggs again and coating in breadcrumbs/flour.