Alright, enough about depressing posts that talk about all the food I made before sadness happened in my life. Right? Right!
Let's get onto some new things. I HAVE made things, despite what it seems like. I make grilled cheese sandwiches, and pastas. :) Things I don't really post (though, I am tempted to start posting grilled cheese sandwiches. They're just so good!). But I did make this a little while ago, and it turned out really nice-- and I have lots of plans to make things in the future. I have a whole list of recipes I want to try out in my favourites folder to get me feeling more into cooking so I can create some of my own again. Plus, I have my whole list of personal recipes that I HAVE made and HAVEN'T posted on here that I get the pleasure of making for Brian.
Oh, right, Brian.
Him.
So there's this guy, he's pretty awesome. He's tall. Funny. He's the kind of guy that watches sappy movies and works at CBS and thinks about Meta things and does improv. I like to make fun of him a lot-- but not as much as I like to hang out with him. Oh, yeah, he's my boyfriend now. Probably should mention that part.
None of this has to do with food, except that hurray! He likes to eat!! That means more food on the table. When we first started, I dunno, dating or whatever, I made him this meal of-- of basically chicken kiev. Except I didn't roll it stuffed with butter and herbs. I instead flattened it, dredged it in flour --> milk --> panko. Then I pan-fried (sigh) it in a butter I had earlier mixed with herbs and deliciousness in my mortar. So the butter was all... buttery and herby.
Served with some creamy mashed potatos-- just white rose potatos mixed (with a fork) with butter and sour cream and milk. And a bit of parmesan. Oh, and some rosemary. Oh, and some garlic.
Mm, yeah.
I topped the 'chicken kiev' with some fresh basil, it sort of got sauteed in. Brian loves basil, and so do I. So basically that means basil is going to go in everything, hah! If only I could get him to admit that cinnamon is as awesome as it is.
I still plan to cook some for Jeff. We're still good friends (oh, crazy life). But you'll see less mentioning of him here. That's okay, I know you're not here for the personal life, you're here for the food. Unfortunately, the two are married in my mind.
Chicken Kiev
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup (approx) panko bread crums
1/2 cup (approx) flour
salt and pepper
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, basil, and parsley
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
chopped fresh basil to top
salt and pepper
Grind the rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley and garlic together in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle. Add the butter, salt, and pepper and mix to form a paste. Refridgerate for 30 minutes and allow the flavors to meld.
Mix the flour with salt and pepper. Take the chicken breasts and flatten them with a meat mallet. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour, dip in the milk, then into the panko bread crumbs.
Remove the herbed butter and melt the majority of it, saving some, in a medium saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and fry until golden brown on the outsides and cooked all the way through-- approximately 4-5 minutes each side.
Top with chopped basil and serve, covering with the saved melted butter. Salt and pepper to taste.
Comments
Anyway, this looks good - I think I know about the Chicken Kiev that you're used to; the kind that comes in the plastic bag that you heat in the oven and when you cut into it the buttery filling just kind of explodes and gets everywhere? Yeah, no good.
I've been pondering for years how to make one that doesn't essentially end up that way, and it sounds like it's not so much the secret to keep the butter from getting all melty but serving it with something that brings out the herbs and soaks up some of the meltiness. Is that a word?
Anyway. Good recipe!