Chicken Kiev - Zoe's 80s Favourite

My old housemate Zoe popped over for dinner one night and I wanted to cook her something I knew she would love. As a massive fan of (and her speciality) corn-beef hash and Dallas - she did love the 80s and early 90's, I decided to go for a Chicken Kiev... but a handmade version served with watercress and tomatoes roasted on the vine.

I made the Kiev's the night before so I could just cook them when she arrived and we could spend more time having a good gossip. They were surprisingly easy and next time I would have more confidence to put in more of the garlic butter and be sure it would hold together.

I used a recipe from BBC Good Food.

Chicken Kiev

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts , with the mini fillets attached

• 100g plain flour

• 3 eggs , beaten

• 200g fine, dry breadcrumbs

• sunflower oil or vegetable oil, for frying

• lemon wedges and watercress, to serve

• 400g omatoes on the vine

For the butter

• 1 garlic clove , crushed

• small handful parsley , leaves finely chopped

• 2 sprigs tarragon , leaves finely chopped

• 50g butter , softened

• squeeze lemon juice

Method

• To make the butter, tip all the ingredients into a bowl and season generously with pepper and a little salt. Beat until completely combined then tip onto a sheet of cling film and roll into a log. Refrigerate until hard. Can be made up to 3 days in advance or frozen for up to 1 month.

• One breast at a time, lay them smooth-side down and remove the mini fillet (I found two of the breast did not have a mini fillet so I just cut a strip from the fattest part of the chicken). Make an incision down the middle of the fillet half way into it to make a pocket; it is essential that you don't cut all the way through the meat. Lay a piece of cling film over the breast and, using a meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten it out slightly. On another part of the board bat out the mini fillet slightly.

• Divide the butter into four and squash into flattish discs. Stuff each of the pockets that you made with a disc of butter. Cover each with the mini fillet and fold the sides of the breast over it. Set aside.

• Tip the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs into separate shallow containers. Working methodically, completely coat each breast in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then dip back into the egg and finally again in the breadcrumbs. Set aside. The chicken can be prepared the day before and left in the fridge or frozen for up to 1 month - defrost completely before cooking.

• To cook, heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat a decent layer of oil in a large frying pan and, once hot, turn the heat down to medium. Fry the Kievs for 2-3 mins on each side until dark golden.

• Lift them onto kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil then transfer to a roasting tin. Cook in the oven for 20 mins or until the Kievs feels firm when prodded at the widest part.

• Place the tomatoes (still on the vine) on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and place in oven for 10 minutes until hot and cooked.


•Serve immediately with the tomatoes, lemon wedges and watercress.