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Crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter

Crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter

Crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before but I’m a big fan of Jamie Oliver… So when I decided to make crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter I though of his recipe from the book Jamie’s Comfort Food . And because I’m also a big fan of chicken, the perfect match was made 🙂

Origin of chicken Kiev

Have you ever wondered the origins of this dish? I bet you think it comes from Kiev, right? Wrong! I thought the same but, when I started investigating, it turned out that it was invented in Russia by French chefs! Surprised? So was I…

Russian aristocracy became very interested in French cuisine in the 1700s. So they started sending their Russian chefs to France to train. They even took French chefs into Russia so they could learn their cuisine. And that’s how they claim that a French chef called Nicolas Francois Appert invented Chicken Kiev in the early 1800s. But there’s several other versions of the story and there’s not enough documentation to proof the veracity of any of them. So the origins of this delicious dish are still a mystery.

Another mystery is the name – Kiev is the capital of Ukraine but Chicken Kiev did not get its name from there. And no one actually mentions why Kiev. The French chef’s dish became famous and Russian chefs tried to imitate it, calling the dish “cotelettes de volaille” instead of Chicken Kiev. Early restaurants in New York City changed the name back to Chicken Kiev, in an attempt to attract the new Russian immigrants and this name stuck.

Chicken Kiev was a classic dish by the 1900s and it was served in Russian restaurants both in Europe and the United States, as well as in Russia. It is served with fried Julienne potatoes and fresh peas in Ukraine.

My Crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter

Because I love crispy chicken, garlic butter and bacon, Jamie Oliver’s recipe attracted me from the minute I saw it for the first time. I watched the video, read the recipe and tried it myself. Was an absolute hit at my table… what best then a good crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter???

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Crispy chicken Kiev with garlic butter

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Category: Main Course

Ingredients

4 rashers smoked streaky bacon
Chicken breasts (1 small one per person)
3 tbsp flour
2 eggs
150g fresh breadcrumbs
Garlic butter:
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
4 knobs unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Instructions

In a pan, over medium heat, fry the bacon with a tiny drizzle of olive oil until golden and crispy. Remove and crumble it with the help with a sharp knife. Set aside.
Garlic butter:
Peel the garlic. Then finely chop it together with the parsley.
Add the garlic and the parsley to the softened butter. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper and mix to incorporate the ingredients into the butter.
Using a piece of cling film, form a roll with the butter and place in the fridge to firm up.
Stuff the chicken breasts:
Work each breast at a time on the kitchen board. Start by pulling back the loose fillet on the back of the breast - put the knife in the opposite direction and slice to create a long pocket. Open the pocket up with your fingers. Cut a slice of the garlic butter and push it into the pocket. Add some of the crumbled bacon on top of the butter. fold and seal back the chicken pocket, making sure you cover the butter completely. Close it with a tooth pick or tie it with kitchen string.
Preheat the oven - 180C
Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Whisk the eggs in another bowl. And put the breadcrumbs in a third bowl.
Evenly coat each chicken breast in the flour, then in the egg and finally turn them in the breadcrumbs.
Place 2cm of oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the breasts on a medium to high heat for a couple of minutes in each side.
Transfer the chicken breasts to an oven tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for 10 mins or until cooked through

Adapted from Jamie's Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver

Jamie's Comfort Food
Jamie's Comfort Food
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Comments

  2. So funny, indeed would have thought it came from Kiev! But then again, wasn’t Ukraine part of Russia at some point…?

    • Yes, you are right 🙂 but it was really interesting to research this dish…