Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (149 page)
SERVES 4
Avoid using kosher chicken in this recipe or it will be too salty. If you don’t want to buy whole chicken legs and cut them into drumsticks and thighs, simply buy 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs. To make Melba toast crumbs, place the toasts in a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag, seal, and pound with a meat pounder or other heavy blunt object. Leave some crumbs in the mixture the size of pebbles, but most should resemble coarse sand.
1 | (5-ounce) box plain Melba toast, crushed |
¹⁄ | cup vegetable oil |
2 | large eggs |
1 | tablespoon Dijon mustard |
1 | teaspoon dried thyme |
³⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
¹⁄ | teaspoon dried oregano |
¹⁄ | teaspoon garlic powder |
¹⁄ | teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) |
4 | whole chicken legs, separated into drumsticks and thighs and skin removed |
1.
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet.
2.
Thoroughly combine crushed Melba toast and oil in shallow dish or pie plate. Lightly beat eggs, mustard, thyme, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and cayenne, if using, together in second dish.
3.
Working with 1 chicken piece at a time, coat with egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Coat all sides of chicken with crumb mixture, pressing gently so that crumbs adhere. Transfer breaded chicken to prepared wire rack.
4.
Bake until chicken is deep nutty brown and registers 175 degrees, about 40 minutes. Serve.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
To transform chicken breasts into a four-star affair, French chefs use a forcemeat filling (made from the chicken itself) to stuff the breasts. We wanted a less fussy, but still elegant, version of this dish. We decided to use just boneless, skinless breasts (rather than a whole chicken) for ease of preparation. Trimming a little bit of meat from each chicken breast, pureeing it, and then adding it to a mushroom-leek mixture worked great, with the pureed chicken serving as a cohesive binder for the stuffing. We spread the mixture onto pounded chicken breasts and rolled them up to form roulades; this allowed the chicken and stuffing to be uniformly distributed. Trimming the breasts after pounding was even better, as we were able to form the breasts into even rectangles that were easy to roll. Finally, we browned the chicken before adding some broth to the skillet to allow the chicken to gently finish cooking.
See “STUFFING CHICKEN BREASTS” illustrations that follow recipe.
SERVES 4
To make butterflying the chicken easier, freeze it for 15 minutes. If the chicken breasts come with the tenderloin attached, pull them off and reserve them to make the puree in step 2. Because the stuffing contains raw chicken, it is important to check its temperature in step 6.
CHICKEN
4 | (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloins removed, trimmed |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
10 | ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin |
1 | small leek, white part only, halved lengthwise, sliced thin, and washed thoroughly |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
¹⁄ | teaspoon chopped fresh thyme |
1 | tablespoon lemon juice |
¹⁄ | cup dry white wine |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh parsley |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
SAUCE
1 | teaspoon Dijon mustard |
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces |
1. FOR THE CHICKEN:
Slice each chicken breast horizontally, stopping ¹⁄
2
inch from edges so halves remain attached. Pound between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to even ¹⁄
4
-inch thickness (each cutlet should measure about 8 by 6 inches) with meat pounder. Trim about ¹⁄
2
inch from long sides of cutlets (about 1¹⁄
2
to 2 ounces of meat per cutlet, or total of ¹⁄
2
cup from all 4 cutlets) to form rectangles that measure about 8 by 5 inches. Transfer chicken cutlets to plate, cover, and refrigerate while making stuffing.
2.
Process all trimmings in food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds. Transfer puree to medium bowl and set aside. (Do not wash food processor bowl.)
3.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and leek and cook, stirring often, until leek is softened, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons lemon juice and cook until all moisture has evaporated, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to food processor. Add wine to now-empty skillet, scraping up any browned bits. Transfer wine to small bowl and set aside. Rinse and dry skillet.
4.
Pulse mushroom mixture in food processor until roughly chopped, about 5 pulses. Transfer mushroom mixture to bowl with pureed chicken. Add 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons parsley, ³⁄
4
teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon pepper. Using rubber spatula, fold together stuffing ingredients until well combined (you should have about 1¹⁄
2
cups stuffing).
5. TO ASSEMBLE AND COOK:
With thinnest ends of cutlets pointing away from you, spread one-quarter of stuffing evenly over each cutlet with rubber spatula, leaving ³⁄
4
-inch border along short sides of cutlet and ¹⁄
4
-inch border along long sides. Roll each breast up as tightly as possible without squeezing out filling and place on plate seam side down. Evenly space 3 pieces of kitchen twine (each about 12 inches long) beneath each breast and tie, trimming any excess.
6.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken bundles and brown on all sides, about 8 minutes per side. Add broth and reserved wine to skillet and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken bundles register 160 degrees, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer chicken to carving board and tent loosely with aluminum foil.
7. FOR THE SAUCE AND TO SERVE:
While chicken rests, whisk mustard into cooking liquid, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer over high heat and cook until dark brown and measures ¹⁄
2
cup, 7 to 10 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time, remaining 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons lemon juice, and remaining 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove twine and cut each chicken bundle on bias into 6 medallions. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.
1.
Slice each breast horizontally, stopping ¹⁄
2
inch from edges so halves remain attached.
2.
After pounding each butterflied chicken breast to uniform ¹⁄
4
-inch thickness, trim about ¹⁄
2
inch from long sides of each cutlet to form 8 by 5-inch rectangle.
3.
Spread stuffing evenly over each cutlet, leaving ³⁄
4
-inch border along short sides and ¹⁄
4
-inch border along long sides.
4.
With short side facing you, roll up each cutlet and secure it snugly with kitchen twine.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Chicken Kiev has developed a reputation as bad banquet fare. We wanted to bring this dish back to its roots as an elegant dish of crisply breaded chicken packed with a flavorful herb butter. We butterflied the cutlets and pounded them thin (even thinner at the edges) so that we could roll the chicken up snugly and completely encase the butter, which prevented it from leaking out. Chilling the rolled cutlets for an hour in the refrigerator further sealed the seams. Toasting the bread crumbs prior to coating the chicken allowed us to skip the step of pan-frying so we could cook the chicken entirely in the oven.
See “ASSEMBLING CHICKEN KIEV” illustrations that follow recipe.