Chicken Kiev

                 We were studying Russia in our homeschool the past week, so of course we needed to have a dish to celebrate this country.  My precocious 11 year old daughter looked up Russian recipes and said "what's Chicken Kiev"?  I said, "it's something that I have all the ingredients for".
                 Chicken Kiev actually doesn't come from Kiev.  The origins are actually in debate.  Some say it was created by a French chef for a Russian Empress in the 1700's.  Others believe it to be more of a modern dish, and became very popular in the 20th century.
                  The ingredients should be readily available in your kitchen.



My version of Chicken Kiev is as follows.
Ingredients

1. 1 pound of chicken breasts
2. 6 Tbl of softened butter
3. 1 Tbl of fresh parsley
4. 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
5. homemade breadcrumbs or panko
6. 2 eggs
7. 1 Tbl of water
8. flour for dredging
9. olive oil for frying
10. 1 tsp salt plus some for sprinkling on chicken

In a food processor combine the butter, lemon juice, salt, and parsley.  Pulse until all the parsley is chopped and combined well with the butter.

Then remove it from the processor and place it in a piece of plastic wrap.  Form the butter in a log shape in the plastic wrap and then place in the freezer if you want to use it in an hour.  This can be done ahead of time and just placed in the fridge if you have more time.

Mix the eggs with the water in one dish.  Then place flour in another dish, and breadcrumbs in a third dish.

Flatten the chicken breasts thin, but don't make holes in them.  Season with some salt.

Remove the butter from the fridge or freezer.  Place a piece of the butter in the middle of the chicken and then roll up.  You can seal it with toothpicks if you have them.

Then dredge the chicken in flour, then eggs, and then breadcrumbs.

In a heated frying pan, medium heat, place a thin layer of olive oil.  When the olive oil is heated add the chicken.  Turn them when the breadcrumbs brown.  They will not be cooked all the way because we are not deep frying.  When the sides have browned, place them in a baking dish.

Place the dish in a 400F preheated oven for 15 minutes.

When you serve it, watch out for the squirting butter from the inside.  Seriously, it can squirt.  Some butter will have melted in the baking dish.  You can spoon some more of it on the chicken.

This was so good.  The chicken was moist and tender.  I am thinking about it again right now actually. Gosh, I love studying other countries!