The CookingBites Cookalong: Chicken Kiev

Well, I made one! Not to professional standards, but it didn't break or leak, was very buttery (although this hardly shows up in the photo) and it tasted good, although the chicken breast was huge so I think some more parsley, garlic and chilli (and finer breadcrumbs) may be in order :laugh: In fact it was so big it would only just fit in my single serving deep fat fryer, and I only had a salad with it. I didn't put the butter in the fridge, or the kiev in the freezer either, and the only cling film involved was in giving the chicken a good bashing.

Chicken Kiev.jpg


Chicken Kiev[2].jpg
 
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@Elawin,

I see that your bread crumbs are a bit "chunky loose" verses breaded all over effect of Panko ..

Nice job !

Have a lovely day ..
 
morning glory said:
Bravo! I was beginning to think I was on a 'Cookalone' ! It does look rather gigantic! How did you get the chicken to seal up without rolling it using clingfilm?
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It was the smallest of the three chicken breasts I got during my trip to Tesco's at the weekend :wink: I butterflied the breast as usual, before giving it a good beating. The recipe said to put the butter mixture in the middle and roll it up, but I had trouble doing that and couldn't roll it up neatly. I put the butter mixture on one side of the butterfly, tucked the ends over first and rolled it half way. Then I rolled it the rest of the way and tucked the ends of that half underneath. sealing it with a bit of the beaten egg.

I checked the recipe I used from the BBC Food site, and it definitely says only 1 tsp fresh parsley. Definitely lacking in that department - I wonder whether there is a typo on their site. I froze the other chicken breasts, but I will try the recipe again at a later date and add more parsley and more garlic. It's a shame my photo didn't show up the butter, but it was very pale (and unsalted).

@Francesca When I went to the supermarket, they had no breadcrumbs at all, panko or ordinary ones. I couldn't find the pack I had in the freezer, and I couldn't be bothered to use the grinder, so I just crumbled the bread as best my arthritic fingers will allow. They tasted lovely as I used some of my fresh, home made bread.
 
Finally, it was the appropriate Saturday:

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Chicken Caesar Kiev.

Chilled the garlic butter as advised, lined the chicken cavity with anchovy fillets before stuffing with the chilled garlic butter, then wrapped tightly in cling film before chilling in refrigerator for half an hour. Even after this I couldn't see how it was not going to leak, so I used cocktail sticks to 'stitch up' the joins. Dipped in seasoned flour, egg wash then breadcrumbed (coarsely grated French stick, with generous amount of grated Parmesan added). Deep fried for ten mins in duck fat (for that was what was in the fryer) then 20 mins in oven at 180 deg C. Served on lettuce, with more grated Parmesan.

Bad points:
It was never going to be pretty because of the anchovies.
I used too much parsley.
Cocktail sticks were a cheat, better not repeated if cooking for guests.

Good points:
Tasted good.
Butter didn't leak
Very succulent chicken
Nicely crisp outer coating.

Conclusions:
Would definitely cook it again.
Need to master sealing in the butter in a more conventional way.
 
Finally - the finishing of the Kiev...

Breadcrumbed:
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Fried:
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And the reveal:

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I used Felicity Cloake's recipe see here, which involved freezing the Kiev's before the breadcrumb stage. I substituted coriander for parsley.
The verdict:
  • The method really does work effectively for ensuring the Kiev's are sealed. There was no leakage at all and the melted butter burst out satisfyingly, when the Kiev was cut in half.
  • The idea of substituting coriander didn't seem to work. I'm not sure why but it didn't have the intensity of taste I expected.
  • The inside of the first Kiev I cooked was partially raw! As it was obviously already cut open then it couldn't be cooked further . I followed the timings in the recipe exactly. But, it seems to me that the timing is going to vary depending on the size of the Kiev.
  • I cooked the second Kiev for 3 minutes longer and had to lower the heat of the oil otherwise the crumbs would have burned.
  • I don't have a deep fat fryer so this maybe why the timing of the frying had to be increased - I'm really not sure about that...
Would I make it again? Probably, but having got over the angst of it possibly bursting and found what seems to be a foolproof method to prevent that, the worry about the cooking time still remains. @epicuric , I noticed that you deep fried for 10 minutes and then oven cooked for 20 mins. That is over 3 times longer than the recipe I used recommends! I suppose that would be foolproof! Does it really need that long, though?

@Elawin, how long did you cook yours for?
 
I am sorry to have missed this. I'm afraid I only just noticed the thread. I haven't ever cooked Kievs and I'm impressed by all your efforts.
 
To everyone who participated in this Kiev Cookalong, a big thank you! :D Its great to share experiences and see what others can do with a classic recipe. I have learned a lot from the experience (as I did from the previous Cookalongs), which is the point, really.

Now we need ideas for the next dish. I will start a new thread soon!
 
Elawin said:
The recipe said 10 minutes in a deep fat fryer, but I left it in for a couple of minutes longer and then let it stand for about 5 minutes to make sure it was cooked OK. I didn't put it in the fridge or the freezer though, but just cooked it as soon as I made it.
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You cooked it longer than I did then. I think the original recipe timing I used is at fault. I think its going to be belt and braces next time I make this. I'll make sure its thoroughly defrosted (that might have been the problem) and then deep fry followed by baking it!
 
morning glory said:
You cooked it longer than I did then. I think the original recipe timing I used is at fault. I think its going to be belt and braces next time I make this. I'll make sure its thoroughly defrosted (that might have been the problem) and then deep fry followed by baking it!
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Mine never got anywhere near an oven. When I used to get supermarket ones, I found they nearly always leaked in the oven - lovely if you wanted garlic flavoured oven chips.
 
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