Like many Americans, I’ve been paying attention to the current impeachment proceedings. Unlike many Americans, hearing people talk about Kiev all the time has made me hungry. That’s because I like chicken Kiev a whole lot. And what’s not to love, really? It’s breaded chicken stuffed with herb butter! The problem arises when you try to make it at home. It’s a tedious process that involves trying to wrap a chunk of butter inside a chicken breast and bread it in such a way that when you bake it, the butter oozes out of the chicken when you cut it. In theory, that’s awesome. In practice, it’s almost impossible to achieve. It ends up with dry breaded chicken that’s soggy on the bottom because all the delicious herb butter leaked out and made a puddle. So when I imagined making chicken Kiev for the blog, I realized that nobody had the time or energy to try to make it the usual way.
Enter the deconstructed version. It has all the aspects that make chicken Kiev tasty, with none of the problems of actually making it. It takes about half the time as the original recipe, and you know exactly what you’re going to get with it. There’s no putting it in the oven and praying you didn’t screw it up. That’s because I pan fry the breaded chicken, then drizzle the herb butter on top. You can’t mess this one up, I promise. Sure, it lacks the pizzazz of a properly-done chicken Kiev, but I’m old and don’t need that kind of drama in my life.
For the herbs, I used tarragon, dill, chives, and parsley. About 1/4 cup of each is good. This picture shows the amount that I used, with an 8-inch chef’s knife for scale.
Chop all that up coarsely. It doesn’t need to be super finely minced, but you don’t want any massive chunks of one herb. It probably ends up making about 1/2 cup of minced herbs when all is said and done.
For the chicken, get 4 small or two large chicken breasts, about a pound to a pound and a half in total weight. If you get the two large, slice them in half so you get two thin cutlets. Use a meat tenderizer mallet to pound them to about 1/4 inch thickness.
On a large plate, toss together a cup of almond flour with a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of garlic powder, and a teaspoon of onion powder. Add black pepper to taste as well. Beat 2 eggs into a bowl. Set those up next to your cooktop. Put 6 tablespoons of avocado oil into an enameled cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil has reached temperature, dip each chicken cutlet into the egg, then dredge in the almond flour mixture. Place each one gently into the hot oil and cook for 4-5 minutes, until you see the bottom turn a nice golden brown. Flip them carefully.
While you’re cooking the chicken breasts, 6 tablespoons of butter to a small saucepan and melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter is halfway melted, add the herbs and stir. Once it’s all the way melted, turn the heat down to low to avoid browning the butter.
When both sides of the chicken have turned golden brown, remove them to plates and drizzle each piece with about two tablespoons of the herb butter. I served this with a simple arugula salad, which worked well with it, because the acidity of the dressing and the peppery bite of the arugula complemented the savory, buttery chicken. The dressing for the salad was just 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard. Shake that up in a lidded container, then toss it with 5 ounces of baby arugula. Sprinkle the arugula with a couple of pinches of kosher salt and add black pepper before serving.
Deconstructed Chicken Kiev
Equipment
- Enameled cast-iron skillet
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 4 small chicken breasts 1 to 1.5 pounds total
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- black pepper to taste
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 6 tbsp avocado oil
For the Herb Butter
- 1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh chives
- 1/4 cup fresh dill
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 6 tbsp salted butter
Instructions
- Coarsely chop the fresh herbs and set aside.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large enameled cast-iron skillet over medium high heat.
- Using a meat tenderizer mallet, pound the chicken breasts to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness if necessary.
- On a large plate, mix together the almond flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Beat the eggs into a medium bowl. Put those next to your cooking surface.
- Dip a chicken breast into the beaten egg, then dredge in the almond flour mixture. Place it gently into the pan. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts, and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the bottom of the chicken turns golden brown. Flip them carefully and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. As soon as it's melted, add the herbs and simmer over low heat.
- When the chicken is finished, put each piece onto a plate, and drizzle with up to 2 tablespoons of the melted herb butter. Serve immediately.
- Macros per serving: 518 calories, 2 grams net carbs, 37 grams protein, 39 grams fat.
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