Chicken Kiev

I love this retro dish of deep-fried chicken breast wrapped around garlicky herb butter – it looks so impressive, but is really quite easy if you follow the recipe step-by-step. I use chives, parsley and tarragon because that’s what’s in the herb patch, but any combination of herbs works well. The traditional chicken Kiev cut is chicken supreme, a skinless breast fillet with the first joint of the wing still attached; get them from a specialist poultry shop or ask your butcher to prepare them (you could also use regular chicken breast fillets). Something this buttery makes me think of chardonnay, but I also want plenty of acid to cut through the butter – Si Vintners White, a semillon/chardonnay blend from Margaret River with a great nose and zingy, crunchy palate is the perfect fit.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 chicken supremes
Salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
¼ cup plain flour
3 eggs
⅓ cup milk
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 tablespoon finely sliced flat-leaf parsley
Steamed rice, for serving

Garlic & Herb Butter

125g salted butter, softened
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely sliced flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons finely sliced chives
2 teaspoons finely sliced French tarragon

Method

Make the Garlic & Herb Butter: combine all Ingredients well.
Spoon butter down the centre of a strip of baking paper. Fold the paper over and use a ruler to press against the side of the butter, pushing it into a long log about 2cm in diameter. Roll up in the paper, twist the ends to secure, and freeze until needed.
Scrape the meat off the wing bones of the supremes.
Place a supreme between 2 pieces of freezer film and, avoiding the wing bone, pound gently with a meat mallet to flatten to about 5mm thick – you want to get it as thin as possible without making any holes in the flesh. Repeat with remaining supremes.
Place supremes on a work surface, skin side-down, and sprinkle well with salt and pepper.
Cut Garlic & Herb Butter into 4 logs, place a piece in the centre of each supreme, trimming the log a little if necessary to make it fit.
Fold the end of the chicken over onto the butter, then roll the sides over it and fold the other end over to completely encase it, pressing the meat together to seal as firmly as possible.
Set up 3 bowls, 1 with flour mixed with salt and pepper, 1 with egg and milk lightly whisked together, and 1 with breadcrumbs.
Working one at a time, dip a chicken parcel into the flour, dusting off excess, then into the egg, draining off excess, then into the breadcrumbs, patting well to press them on.
Repeat the egg and breadcrumb process two more times, moulding the chicken into a smooth compact shape with your hands as you press the breadcrumbs on. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat oil for deep-frying, ensuring it’s not too hot or the chicken will burn before the inside cooks; it should be about 180°C.
Deep-fry the chicken for 6-8 minutes, until dark golden – you want to fry it for as long as possible without burning it, to ensure it’s cooked through. Depending on the size of your fryer, you may need to cook in 2 batches, keeping the first batch warm in an 80°C oven while cooking the second.
Toss parsley through steamed rice, arrange on plates, top with chicken Kiev and serve.