Chicken Kiev - tasty and moist

Finally, I got spare time to post here with my very first food entry. Today's post/recipe is about "Chicken Kiev."

Chicken Kiev is a well known dish made up of boneless chicken breast pounded and rolled with garlic, butter and herbs then breaded/coated and cooked either by frying or baking.

At first I thought Chicken Kiev is a Ukrainian food, but when I did some research/reading online I just learned that it actually originated in Russia, therefore it is a Russian food.

In relation to the new knowledge I learned I felt ashamed to myself for being nonsense. You see, the picture above is my very first picture/first time experience to make this food as I was not really so sure if I would like the taste. It's not only about the taste as to why I hold myself from cooking this, the other reason is the nonsense part, as the name suggests, I am not real comfortable about it since I had this feeling that it reminds me of my husband's ex-girl. Sheeshh, hope my hubby won't read this, LOL! So in lieu of this food, I always make "Chicken Cordon Blue" instead.

So on the night before dinner of 1/19/2010, I finally decided to try the recipe for Chicken Kiev as I browsed through my recipe book. My reason, I got tired making Chicken Cordon Blue! I realized that if I cook Chicken Kiev, it will actually make my cooking lighter and quicker (sounds so good right?).

I was not disappointed to how I did it, as expected it made my work easier! But the part that I do love most was the fact that Chicken Kiev tasted real good! OH boy! My husband and my picky daughter ate a lot when I served it for dinner. It was soft and the inside was so moist and juicy too because of the butter, and the coating was perfect.

Anyway here's the recipe of Chicken Kiev:

You need:

1/2 cup softened butter
1 glove garlic crushed or minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I substitute dried parsley since I did not have the fresh one on hand)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp lemon rind
6 small chicken breasts
1/2 cup plain flour
3 cups dry breadcrumbs (add more as you need)
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp milk
oil for frying
salt
pepper

optional seasonings for the flour and breadcrumbs:
salt
black ground pepper
paprika/chili
red cayenne

How to cook:

* In a bowl mix together the butter, garlic, parsley, lemon juice and lemon rind then refrigerate.

*Place each chicken in a wax paper and pound well. You can use a meat mallet or a rolling pin to flatten. Remove from the paper and season with salt and pepper.

*Remove seasoned butter from refrigerator and divide it into 6 portions. Place one portion in the center of each chicken breast. Fold in the edges of the chicken breasts and roll up to completely enclose. Secure each breast with a wooden toothpick as needed.

*Place the flour and breadcrumbs in a separate plate. Then season if you desire.

*Beat the egg including the milk in a bowl.

*Toss chicken in the seasoned flour, dip in the egg mixture and then coat well with the seasoned breadcrumbs. Chill the chicken on a wax paper-lined tray in the fridge for one hour.

*In a deep fryer, heat oil to 365 degrees F. Carefully lower breasts into hot oil. Fry for 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on paper towel and serve with sour cream.