Foodie Friday Chicken Kyiv

Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and that led me to try my hand at what has been always known as Chicken Kiev. I changed the spelling to the current spelling for capitol of Ukraine. After you check out this recipe for 2, whether you attempt it or not, please consider making a donation to support the people of Ukraine. One group doing amazing and heroic work feeding those in the war-torn country and refugees in surrounding countries is World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org/

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News

Foodie Friday Chicken Kyiv (Kiev) (Prep. time about 3 hours start to finish, but it can be done in stages; a few minutes here, then chill then another few minutes, then chill...)

2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 1 1/3 lb. breast, divided in 2 after flattening

2 large cloves garlic

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp. Kosher salt

½ tsp. cracked black pepper

1 Tb. Parsley flakes (fresh parsley is better, but none was available)

¼ C. flour

½ C. plain, unseasoned bread crumbs

¼ C. panko bread crumbs

2 eggs

2 Tb. Water

1 ½ C. vegetable oil

This is not a difficult recipe, but it can take time. You can plan ahead and make the different components ahead of time in the following order:

Make the compound butter by combining soft butter with garlic run through a garlic press or grated finely on a micro-plane, Kosher salt, parsley and cracked black pepper. Roll into a log in plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 days. The butter has to be frozen hard for it to stay in the chicken while cooking.

Flatten chicken breast between sheets of plastic wrap to about ¼ inch thick but not so thin that you get holes in the meat. At this point, you can divide the breast into 2 servings if dealing with one larger cut. Salt and pepper both sides. Wrap in plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Season flour with salt and pepper on a large plate. Beat eggs with water in a long, deep dish. Combine bread crumbs on another large plate to prepare to bread. Dredge one chicken breast in the flour, coating thoroughly. Cut frozen butter into a log long enough to leave about an inch from each end of breast. Fold the ends of the meat over the ends of the butter and roll the meat tightly over the butter just like a burrito, making sure there are no openings. Roll the chicken in the egg wash, making sure every bit, including the ends are coated. Immediately roll in the bread crumbs, again, making sure there are absolutely no open spots. Roll the coated chicken again in the egg wash and again in the bread crumbs. Press the bread crumbs firmly all the way around to make sure the chicken is completely sealed inside. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Repeat with remaining chicken. Let the chicken chill at least 15 minutes before moving on to next step. I would not let it sit more than an hour before your move on to the frying phase or the bread crumbs may get soggy and pasty.

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News

In a cast iron skillet (or however you like to deep-fry things) heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil to 365 degrees. Carefully place one chicken breast into the pan and fry on every side until evenly golden brown. Set on paper towel to drain. Repeat with other chicken breast. Do each individually as to not overcrowd the pan, risk oil boil over or lower the oil temperature preventing an even browning and sealing that butter inside the chicken. You are going to finish cooking in the oven so you don’t have to worry about doing all the meat at one time. This is the final step where you can sit back and relax before you are ready to finish up. The final step is baking.

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place the Chicken Kyiv into a shallow baking dish (just in case you didn’t get the butter really sealed in).

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News

Bake 20 minutes. This is the tricky part: you want to check just the meat for a temp. of 160 degrees but sticking it with a temperature probe can break your seal and let your butter out. Try to get the probe in one of the end seams where you folded a couple flaps of meat over each other.

Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving with baked or boiled potatoes or rice. Even resting for a few minutes, the garlic butter-goodness will gush out in a spectacular fashion as soon as you cut into it.

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF

Enjoy.

Bless Ukraine and her brave people! Слава Україні!

15 Ways You Can Help People in Ukraine Right Now

As Americans watch events unfold in Ukraine, many wonder how they can help. Below is a list of organizations responding to the crisis in Ukraine along with information on how you can support their various missions.