Thursday 2 October 2014

Recipe time - comfort food

Comfort food for me comes in two guises - something savoury ideally involving creamy mashed potato or dauphinois potato (see a theme!), or some delicious desert preferably involving gooey caramel. Banoffee pie or the M&S toffee honeycomb tray bake are personal faves. 

As Autumn slowly draws in, this is perfect comfort food weather and although I don't want to let it all go in the hope my chunky knits will cover any sins, I also don't crave a crisp salad on a cold rainy night.

So with that in mind I decided to make homemade chicken kievs this weekend and they were such a great surprise! Yes I know this meal isn't a work of art and I definitely need to work on my photo skills, but they were blooming good. I don't ever buy kievs in the shops as they're always such a let down but these were anything but. Crispy on the outside, moist on the inside with a lovely herby garlic butter. Team it with some buttery mashed potato and greens and you're onto a winner. 



Ingredients 



  1. 200g unsalted butter, softened
  2. 3 fat garlic cloves, crushed
  3. Small handful of fresh parsley & tarragon, finely chopped
  4. 4 skinless free-range chicken breasts
  5. 100g plain flour
  6. 2 large free-range eggs, beaten
  7. 100g fresh breadcrumbs (I used panko for extra crisp!)
  8. 2-3 tbsp olive or sunflower oil, for frying
  9. Pinch of paprika 
  10. Sea salt
  11. Ground pepper

Approx 6 maris piper potatoes, peeled & cut into quarters
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
200g tenderstem broccoli (or your preferred greens)
4 slices parma ham, finely sliced (optional)
1 lemon, zested

Method
  1. 1. Preheat oven to 190°C
  1. 2. To make the filling, mix the butter, garlic, tarragon and parsley. Season well, chill in the fridge (or if like me you forget about this step you can freeze for 20 minutes.
  1. 3 For the chicken breasts, make a small slit in each fillet creating a pocket at a slight slant.

4. Take the butter out of the fridge (or freezer), and slice and add to the pocket. If still soft you can spoon in, or if you're a real pro whip out a piping bag and pipe the mixture in.


  1. 5. Mix the flour, pinch of paprika and seasoning together in a shallow bowl (I added some extra tarragon and parsley to the flour for some extra flavour). Tip the beaten eggs into another bowl and the breadcrumbs into a third. Toss the stuffed chicken in seasoned flour, shake off any excess then dip in the egg, followed by the breadcrumbs.Lay the breasts on a plate and chill to help the crumb firm.
  1. 6.. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and colour for 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly golden brown. Transfer the pan to the oven (or place on a baking tray) and cook for approximately 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
  1. 7. Boil the peeled potatoes until tender, drain, add some milk (or cream if you're feeling naughty), with a knob of butter, season and mix until smooth. 
  1. 8. Steam your greens for 3-4 minutes until tender and if you're feeling extra fancy heat a touch of oil in a pan and fry the parma ham. Stir in the lemon zest, steamed broccoli and seasoning and toss together.
  1. 9. Serve and enjoy!

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