As I was watching Iron Chef America this morning (my new obsession), Iron Chef Flay made a Chicken Kiev dish. At first I thought I didn’t hear correctly, but, it was Kiev. This brought back some great memories for me. I didn’t visit Kiev often, but I remember one trip in particular. Three of my aunts lived in Kiev and they stole me away for a week long adventure 🙂 I was maybe five or six, so I don’t remember too much, but I remember eating delicious food, a trip to the zoo, some shopping and lots of relaxing. Ahhhh memories…

I wanted to make this dish because although Bobby Flay said it’s a known dish, I’ve never heard of it. And I had most of the ingredients 🙂

I went to my go-to recipe site: www.allrecipes.com and found a great recipe for this dish (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chicken-kiev-2/detail.aspx)

Ingredients (not my own recipe)

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
• 1/2 lemon, sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

I followed the instructions and added my own side to make it a complete meal. There were a few small tweaks that I highlight below.

Here are some pictures:

1. mixing the butter and prepping it for the freezer. I used garlic salt instead of garlic powder because that’s what I had. In the future, I will play around with spices to add an extra kick.

Combine 1/3 cup butter, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. On a 6×6 inch piece of aluminum foil, spread mixture to about 2×3 inches. Place this mixture in the coldest section of your freezer and freeze until firm. This can be done ahead of time.

2. I prepared the chicken. It’s very important that the chicken breast is very thin.

Remove all fat from the chicken breast. If using whole chicken breasts, cut them in half. Place each chicken breast half between 2 pieces of waxed paper and using a mallet, pound carefully to about 1/4 inch thickness or less.

Although the recipe didn’t call for any veggies, I decided to use up the zucchini and green pepper in my fridge. I sauteed the veggies in a bit of olive oil. Once they were sauteed, I let them cool off completely.

3. I followed the steps for rolling up the chicken breast with the butter, but I also added two zucchini halves and some peppers.

1. When butter mixture is firm, remove from freezer and cut into 6 equal pieces. Place one piece of butter on each chicken breast. Fold in edges of chicken and then roll to encase the butter completely. Secure the chicken roll with small skewers or toothpicks.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with water until fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, dill weed and flour. Coat the chicken well with the seasoned flour. Dip the floured chicken in the egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Place coated chicken on a shallow tray and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

I left the chicken in the fridge for about half and hour. Once I was ready to fry the chicken, I followed the oil heating instructions and cooking instructions. *I did not use a deep frying pan, just a regular pan. *Instead of vegetable oil, I used olive oil. Healthier 🙂

In a medium size deep frying pan*, heat vegetable oil* to medium-high. Fry chicken for  about 5 minutes then turn over and fry for 5 minutes longer or until the chicken is golden brown. To test for doneness, cut into one of the rolled chicken breasts to make sure it doesn’t have a pink interior. Serve immediately, garnished with a sliced lemon twist and a sprinkling or parsley.

SIDE of Potatoes

I decided to go with potatoes as a side because..well, if Kiev is in the name, why not go with a typical Ukrainian side? I have some nice Green Giant Klondike Rose Red Skin Golden Potatoes. They are an oblong shape, which led to my decision to cut thin round slices for sauteing. I sauteed the potatoes over medium-high in a dollop of the butter I froze before, olive oil, some chopped onions, salt and pepper. My suggestion is to add the onions halfway through the cooking process, not right away, as they will burn.

Finished Meal:

I loved this dish. It was SO delicious! The veggies were a great touch to the chicken. I’m thinking of using Jalapeno peppers in the future for an extra kick 🙂

The potatoes were a great pairing. It wasn’t the lightest dish to have for lunch and a fresh salad would be a nice way to make it lighter. I can’t wait for my husband to try this..although I’m sure he’d prefer that I called it Chicken Liev (his city of birth)