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Deep - Fried Chicken Cutlets Wrapped Around Butter
(Kotlety Po - Kievski)
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Chicken Kiev is one of the great classic Ukraine dishes that has achieved international fame. The traditional Ukrainian recipe calls for boned pounded chicken breasts - fresh, never frozen-rolled around fingers of unseasoned butter. Less traditional are the herb seasonings suggested below, which add a note of interest to an otherwise bland, though typical, dish.
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| What You Need: |
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4 whole fresh chicken breasts, ½ to ¾ pound each, with or without the wing bone attached
12 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
2 eggs
Flour
2 cups fine, dry white bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
OPTIONAL SEASONINGS
1 teaspoon fresh, strained lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely cut fresh chives or tarragon
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper
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| How To Cook: |
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1. To skin the chicken breasts, start at the pointed end of the breast, insert your thumb under the skin, and strip it off. Bone and halve the breast. To prepare the chicken breasts with the wing bone attached, cut off the wing tip and its adjacent bone and leave only the short leg like bone attached to each breast.
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2. Place the 8 halved breasts smooth-side down on a cutting board. With a small, sharp knife and your fingers, remove the small fillet from each breast. Lay the breasts and fillets, one pair at a time, on a sheet of wax paper.
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3. Cover the breast and fillet with a sheet of wax paper and, with the flat side of a cleaver or a metal meat pounder, pound them to a thickness of1/s inch. If holes appear in the flesh, overlap the edges of the tear slightly, cover the patch with wax paper, and pound gently until the meat joins together.
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4. Cut the 1½ sticks of butter into 8 equal parts. Shape each piece of butter into a cylinder about ½ inch thick and 3 inches long. Wrap them in wax paper and chill until firm. (Or, cream the butter by mashing it against the side of a bowl with a wooden spoon. Beat into it all the optional seasonings and cut and shape the butter as described above. Chill until firm.)
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5. To assemble the cutlets, gently peel off the wax paper and sprinkle the chicken lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Wrap the chicken breasts and fillets around the butter fingers.
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6. In a small bowl, beat the eggs just long enough to combine them. Spread flour and the bread crumbs on two separate strips of wax paper and, one at a time, dip the cutlets into the flour. Shake each one gently free of excess flour and, cradling it in your palms, pat the cutlet into a long cylinder tapering slightly at each end.
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7. Now dip the cutlet into the eggs, making sure its entire surface is coated, and roll in the bread crumbs, again making sure it is thoroughly coated. Arrange the cutlets side by side on a platter and refrigerate for 1 or 2 hours before frying.
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8. About 30 minutes before you plan to serve the chicken, preheat the oven to 200°F. Line a shallow baking dish with a double thickness of paper towels and place it in the oven. Pour enough oil to rise 3 or 4 inches up the side of a deep-fat fryer or a heavy saucepan into which a frying basket will fit.
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9. Set the pan over high heat until the oil registers 360°Fon a deep-fat thermometer. Fry the cutlets, 4 at a time, in the frying basket for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown, then transfer them with tongs or a slotted spoon to the lined baking dish.
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10. Fry the remaining cutlets similarly. The finished cutlets may re-main in the low oven for no longer than 10 minutes before serving or they will lose their freshness and their butter may escape.
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11. Traditionally, chicken Kiev is served accompanied by peas and by kasha or straw potatoes.
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