Thursday, April 26, 2012

Whats the matter....you chicken?!

Good Day! Well I am not sure how this blog entry will go. Blogger just got a new layout and I am still figuring out where everything is. I think it will be ok, it will just take some getting used too.
So it is sorta storming out right now, and my husband and a friend of his are working out, outside. I asked if maybe they should come in since lightning was striking like, a mile away and they said no. It added to the work out, they claimed. Men are so weird sometimes.
I will gladly stay in, and write this blog for you. And I will let you know if they are still alive by the end of it.
Chicken Kiev
I got this from my Taste of Home cook book. It has been a good one. You will be surprised to know that I tried this dish. What did I think of it? Well you will have to read til the end to find out.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup softened butter, 1 Tbsp minced chives, 1 clove of minced garlic, 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, 3/4 cup crushed cornflakes, 2 Tbsps minced parsley, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/3 cup buttermilk

I know what you are thinking. That is a ton of buttermilk! Well it took me a good 5 minutes to locate that buttermilk, and it was the only size I could find! I kid you now. And it was the only brand. Does anyone know a recipe that I can user the left over for? Oh, and the original recipe called for fresh ingredients on all the herbs. Yeah right! You know how expensive FRESH  herbs are?? Too expensive thats how much. So, I cheated. But I don't think the recipe suffered. And if you have the means feel free to use fresh!


Directions:
In a small bowl combine the butter, chives, and garlic. Shape into a 3inx2in rectangle. Cover and freeze until firm. About 30 minutes.

Ok, a few things that I have to add about this part. I was impatient for the butter to soften, so I nuked it in a microwave for like 10 seconds and that worked fine, I think. But, shape into a rectangle?? What nonsense!  As you can see by the picture below I could not shape that mix into any anything. It was that soft. And to such a specific size too. 3in x 2in. What if I wanted it in a 2.5in x 2.5 in one? It didn't make sense. So I threw some plastic wrap over the bowl and set in the freezer. 30 minutes. Way to long! I think ten would've been better. It was solid as a ROCK when I took it out of the freezer. I couldn't even spoon it  out. So, I nuked it again. Just for 5 seconds. That made is somewhat managable without it being a soup. Lessons learned my friends.

Flatten each chicken breast to 1/4 in thickness. Cut the butter mix into 6 pieces(I guess that was if you made it into the super specific rectangle, I just scooped up 6 equal-ish parts)place one piece in center of chicken. Fold over butter; secure with toothpicks.

I had whole chicken breast that I just cut in half, and that seemed to work fine. I have said it before and I will say it again. I can't stand touching raw chicken. That is what the tongs are for.


Every time I pounded the chicken a hole usually was in it. Just from hitting one place too much I guess. Oops!

There they are, all rolled up. A few were more difficult then others, seeing as there usually was a hole in them. But it worked out ok. Not my best work.

In a shallow dish, combine the cornflakes, parsley, and paprika. Place buttermilk in another shallow dish. Dip the chicken into the buttermilk and coat. Then evenly coat with cornflake mix.


I did not measure the cornflakes. I just crushed up a 1 qt ziplock bag filled with the cereal. And it came out to about a cup. With these dipping scenarios in recipes I tend to lean more toward having too much rather then too litte. Otherwise when you run out you have to wash your gunky hands and make more for that last piece of chicken, then you do have too much extra. Better safe then sorry.



I didn't really have any shallow dishes, so I used my super cute pyrex! I love the older pyrex stuff, and want to have a kitchen filled with it someday.


I didn't measure the buttermilk either. I just poured some in(my cute dish!)until I thought it was enough.




Place chicken in a greased 13in x 9 in baking dish. Bake, uncovered at 425 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove toothpicks before serving(Dah!).

Before
After!


There ya go! All done. That one in the back, its seasoning was a bit burnt. But that is because it had the very last of the seasoning that was mostly cornflake dust, so it burnt a little. Now, for how it tasted. It was ok. I didn't like it all that much. I think it was the cornflakes. The inside was great, but the outside, not so much. I think next time I will just use bread crumbs, or something. My husband found it to be just ok as well. It really needed a dipping sauce, so he used ranch and said it improved it greatly. So please tell me a way to make this dish a home run. I am still new at cooking, and need advice. So if you make it, let me know, tell me what you did differently.
Oh, and my husband and his friend are just fine. They still worked out when it started to rain. It too, added to the work out. Goofs.

4 comments:

  1. You can make buttermilk with regular milk. Just put 1 Tablespoon of vinegar and enough milk to make one cup. Viola! Instant buttermilk with no hefty leftovers!
    Also, I think if you used panko crumbs it would be better. (Fancy bread crumbs.)

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  2. I was going to say the same thing as Jess :] I almost never buy buttermilk unless it's for something special... lol.

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  3. Yummy!! I love your blog, and I have the same problem with Raw Chicken... *shudder*

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  4. I'm proud of you touching the chicken during the dipping process - I use powdered buttermilk, you just add water, it keeps in the fridge. Panko bread crumbs are the best, they're so light. Love the blog, keep up the good work!

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