COOKING UP A CREAMY CHICKEN KIEV

THIS IS a very popular and versatile way for all the family to enjoy chicken. For me, it’s a juicy feast of flavours, served with some steamed vegetables, thick chunky chips or salad. I prefer to make my own, and they can be a bit more time consuming than the shop bought counterparts - but the results are well worth it.

Sometimes I like to make a variation on this dish, and place cream cheese and herbs in the centre and wrap it in ham, like a chicken cordon bleu and delicious! It’s important to use a sharp knife for cutting a pocket in the chicken, and to make the incision slowly, otherwise you risk cutting though the chicken fillet which will result in the butter running out during the cooking process.

When selecting your chicken it’s important to use the best you can, buy it from a good supplier, preferably your local butcher or farmers market.

At Dunbrody we are lucky enough to have our own vegetable garden, so there’s salads and veggies coming into their own at the moment, the perfect addition to this recipe.

SUPREME OF CHICKEN KIEV

4 chicken breasts-skinned & boned 110g butter 4 cloves of garlic 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley Salt & Pepper to Season

Coating:

1. Seasoned Flour 2. Two eggs mixed with 50ml milk 3. Fresh white breadcrumbs (approx 6oz/175g) Begin by making the garlic butter. Finely dice the garlic and add it to the softened butter together with some freshly chopped parsley and some seasoning. Mix this together until thoroughly combined.

You can store it like this until required or alternatively you can mould it between a piece of parchment paper and free it in a cylindrical shape until it is required. It is a handy commodity to have to hand in the freezer to liven up a piece of meat or even to mix into some hot pasta.

With a sharp knife create a pocket in the side of the chicken by opening it out like a book. Divide the garlic butter between the four chicken breasts and close over the flap again to make sure that the garlic butter is encased in the chicken.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

Next you must coat the chicken. You first dip the chicken into the seasoned flour (plain flour with the addition of some salt and pepper) and make sure it is well coated. Shake off the excess and then dip the floured chicken into the ‘eggy’ mixture.

It is vitally important that the chicken is coated entirely with this mixture so as to be completely coated with the breadcrumbs.

The chicken finally is passed through the fresh white breadcrumbs and these are gently pressed onto the chicken so as to entirely coat them.

Pan fry the chicken on either side (using a low heat) until they are golden brown.

Transfer to a flat baking sheet and pop into the oven for an additional 20-22 minutes until the chicken is well cooked through.

I would suggest you serve with a large green salad