I love everything about chicken Kiev (or Kyiv) – crispy crumb on the outside, melted garlic butter on the inside – except how fiddly they can be to make. This recipe gives you all the good bits, but with minimal hassle. Recipe is egg free, tree nut and peanut free, soy free and legume free.
Recipe can be gluten free and wheat free if gluten-free breadcrumbs are used, and dairy-free if a dairy-free butter alternative is used along with dairy-free yoghurt (this can be coconut, soy or nut-based yoghurt, depending on your preferences) and a dairy-free parmesan alternative.
This recipe is taken from my book Ginger Pig One Pot, which I wrote with the Ginger Pig butchery founder Tim Wilson. Photo by Sam Harris.
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Ingredients
baby potatoes 500 g (sliced)
chicken stock cube 1
olive oil 2 ½ tbsp
natural yoghurt 2 tbsp
bone in chicken thighs 4
lemon 1 ¼ (zest & juice)
Parmesan 2 tbsp (grated)
panko breadcrumbs 40 g
garlic powder ¼ tsp
vegetable oil 1 tbsp
Tenderstem broccoli 100 g (halved)
salted butter 75 g (melted)
flat leaf parsley 2 tbsp (chopped)
garlic cloves 1 (crushed)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6.
Slice the baby potatoes into approx. 5-mm slices
Make up the chicken stock cube with 150ml boiling water.
Place the sliced potatoes in a 23 x 30cm (9 x 12 inch) roasting tin, arranging them evenly across the base. Pour over the stock, then cover the dish tightly with foil and place in the hot oven for 20 minutes.
Put the natural yogurt (or dairy-free yoghurt), 2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add the chicken thighs and turn them in the yogurt to coat. Set aside.
Make the the breadcrumb topping. Zest half the lemon and cut the rest into wedges. Grate the Parmesan.
In another bowl, place the panko breadcrumbs, lemon zest, grated Parmesan or dairy-free alternative, garlic powder and some salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, then add the vegetable oil and mix again – it will be lumpy to start with, but keep going until the mixture has a sandy texture.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and take off the foil. Carefully pour away the hot stock. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon wedges and some salt and freshly ground black pepper to the potatoes, gently tossing to coat.
Remove the chicken from its marinade. Dredge the skin side only of each chickenthigh in the crumbmixture. Place the crumbedchicken thighs, skin-side up, on top of the potatoes and return the dish to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
Halve the Tenderstem broccoli then rinse it in water. When the timer goes off, add the wet broccoli to the tray, drizzling it with the last half spoonful of olive oil as you go. Return to the oven for 10 minutes (spin the tray round when you put it back in, to ensure even browning).
Make the garlic butter
Melt the butter or dairy-free alternative and leave it to slightly cool. Finely chop the flat leaf parsley.
Crush the garlic and salt into a puree using the flat blade of a knife. Mix with the finely chopped parsley into the melted and cooled but still liquid butter. Set aside until ready to serve.
Serve
Remove the roasting tin from the oven. The top layer of potatoes will have crisped up, while underneath they will be cooking in the chicken juices. Serve the chicken on top of the potatoes with the garlicbutter spooned over the meat and the broccoli.
