A lighter Chicken Kiev and a new way with cauliflower cheese

It was while watching the endless programs about Wills & Kate this week, that I hit upon the idea of chicken Kiev. The childhood cook of Wills and Harry described how she had taught the young prince to make this dish, helping him to pound the chicken flat, letting him choose his own herb mix to add to the garlic butter and teaching him how to bread and fry the Kievs. They sounded extremely good and a blast from my own past as my mum and dad and I would frequently enjoy these buttery bundles. I love the way the butter seeps into the chicken flesh and keeps it juicy and succulent from within.

I suppose these could even be considered in my bistro list, but I have toyed around with the original concept too much for them to be 'classics'.

A good Chicken Kiev has to have two things: a good compound butter to flavour the inside of the meat and some sort of breading. Here I found my quandary. Low carb breading is difficult to substitute. Pork rinds would be a good, crunchy contender if I could find them anywhere, really, I have looked hard. Nuts, almond meal or Parmesan cheese are possibilities as is low carb bread whizzed up in a blender. Good though all these alternatives are, I decided to wrap the chicken in Serrano ham partly to make them easier and bake them instead of deep frying to make them a little less oily. OK, I wouldn't get the super crispy exterior, but I would get a nice salty flavour from the ham which would crisp on the edges.

 

Pounding the chicken breast flat. A therapeutic exercise, especially after arguing with (distant) relatives. Make sure you lay the chicken between some cling wrap or you will get chicken paste.

 

The compound butter is the other important element in a Kiev. It should be garlicky, herby and salty, perhaps with a little tang of lemon juice to cut across the richness or a pinch of paprika to add a subtle, intriguing spice or maybe both to add depth. I used sage, rosemary and thyme and 3 cloves of garlic with a pinch of salt.

 

A very extravagant dish of organic chicken breast stuffed with a herby, garlicky butter and wrapped in equally expensive ham from Spain. 

Recipe at bottom of post.
 

A new way with Cauliflower cheese.

The addition of leeks and a cheese sauce rich with Mascapone, sour cream, Dijon mustard and strong Cheddar and Caerphilly pushed up the cheesiness on this dish to another level.

I'm always trying to find new ways to make cheese sauce without any flour and think I may have hit upon the winning combination. Mascapone is luscious, creamy but not so sweet that it can only be used in desserts and it is thick which allows it to blanket some cauliflower without becoming too  liquid and diluting the flavour. The only problem with this miracle cheese is its expense. Like all cheese in BC, it is extortionate. But it's OK, I've seen a really simple recipe to make my own, requiring nothing more than some cream and some tartaric acid. Watch for a later post of my attempts.

 

Recipe : Ham wrapped stuffed chicken

2 chicken breasts

salt and pepper

Butter

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp chopped mixed herbs (fresh is better)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 tsp salt

8 slices Serrano ham or Prosciutto

Preheat the oven to 375oF

First make the butter.

Blend the butter, herbs, salt and garlic in a blender until well mixed. 

Shape into a sausage on a piece of foil, tightly wrap up like a Christmas cracker and pop in the freezer for about 30 minutes to harden.

Lay the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of cling wrap and pound with a rolling pin or bottle until they are flat and much larger.

Remove the butter from the freezer and foil, cut in half and place one piece in the centre of each flattened breast. 

Roll up the chicken around the butter as best as you can. 

Now lay 2 pieces of ham on a flat surface and place the chicken on top, fold the ham snugly around the chicken, using the other 2 pieces to secure the edges. Repeat with the other breast. You can now wrap the whole bundle in foil to help it all stay together and keep as much butter inside as possible.

Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, opening the top of the foil for the final 10 minutes to crisp slightly.

Remove from the foil and serve.

Recipe : Cauliflower cheese with leeks

1 head of cauliflower, separated into florets

1 leek, washed and finely shredded

1 tsp butter and 1 tsp oil

Sauce

4 tbsp Mascapone cheese

2 tbsp sour cream

3/4 tsp Dijon mustard

1 cup grated strong cheese

First, heat the butter and oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the leek, cover, reduce heat and sweat for about 20 minutes to soften and sweeten, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the cauliflower. Boil until almost tender, about 12 minutes.

To make the sauce, combine the Mascapone and cream in a pan over gentle heat until melted. Remove from the heat, add the mustard and cheeses and mix well until the cheeses are melted. Set aside.

Drain the cauliflower and place in a baking dish, top with the leeks and pour over the sauce, sprinkle with a little black pepper. 

Grill (broil) until the top is golden brown and the dish is hot through.