Remember chicken Kiev? The lightly fried chicken breast stuffed with herbed butter was considered haute cuisine at restaurants in the 1970s and ’80s. When prepared properly, the butter would spill out of the chicken like hot lava when you cut into it. You could also find frozen versions of chicken Kiev (or, more properly, chicken Kyiv) at the grocery store. But these days it’s considered little more than a dated joke.
I don’t remember eating chicken Kiev at fancy restaurants. But I do remember the versions my mother brought home from our local butcher shop when I was a teenager. Dusted with breadcrumbs, she baked it in the oven instead of frying it. Mom always served it with boxed rice pilaf and a frozen vegetable or two. It was my favorite thing to eat, even though I had no idea why it was called chicken Kiev.
According to a 2013 National Public Radio story, chicken Kiev originated in Paris, where it was made with veal. Chef Viacheslav Gribov told NPR that, during the 1840s, Russian royalty often sent chefs to Paris to learn how to cook so they could “learn from the best.”
Some of those chefs returned with a recipe for something called a Mikhailovska cutlet. It was similar to the chicken Kiev we know today, but it was made with veal. The Russians made their version with chicken, since chicken was pricier, and therefore, more extravagant.
The dish gained popularity in the United States after World War II, when restaurants such as the Russian Tea Room, in New York City, began serving it to Russian immigrants, renaming it chicken Kiev. Ironically, it took much longer for it to gain popularity with its namesake city – something that only happened when tourists started ordering it in the 1960s. “Chicken Kiev made Kiev famous,” Gribov told NPR.
I was reminded of my fondness for chicken Kiev when I saw it on the menu of Sudova, which is owned by James Beard-nominated chef Sarah Dworak. While she grew up cooking alongside her Ukrainian-born grandmother, it was Dworak’s American-born grandmother who made it – and only for special occasions.
At Sudova, Dworak brines the pounded chicken breasts in kefir, then rolls it around a chilled compound butter with dill. After a quick turn in the fryer, it’s finished in the oven, which prevents the breading from getting too dark or burned. It’s served with English peas and greens.
Since chicken Kiev is making a comeback on restaurant menus, I wondered if it was gaining popularity in our local butcher shops, too. I found them listed on the websites at both Lehr’s Prime Meats, in Milford, and Summit Meats, in Anderson Township. When I noted its absence from the butcher case at Avril-Bleh, butcher Randall Art told me he’d be happy to make some. (More accurately, he was happy to have his apprentice, Jeriah Williams, a student at Cincinnati State, make them).
Art suggested Williams make the Kiev with thighs, instead of breasts, figuring they would be less likely to dry out when cooked. I was skeptical, but went with the idea anyway.
Back home, I popped them into the oven for dinner. The thighs were small, so I made two each for me and my wife. Stephens had wrapped them as tight as Cuban cigars, preventing the butter from spilling out while cooking. And Art was right in his assumption that the thighs would work better, as they came out perfectly cooked, no dryness at all.
Instead of Mom’s boxed pilaf and frozen veggies, I cooked up some pearled couscous and fresh spinach for sides. In less than 40 minutes, I’d prepared a meal worthy of a white tablecloth restaurant (albeit a white tablecloth restaurant from the 1970s).
Still, I knew my brief investigation into chicken Kiev was worth writing about. My hope is that maybe, just maybe, other local butcher shops will start displaying chicken Kiev in their cases again – that this dated relic might have a comeback. Seeing that it’s already on the menu at a James Beard-nominated restaurant, maybe it already has.
Highly Recommended is a weekly spotlight on some of food writer Keith Pandolfi’s favorite finds as he eats his way across Greater Cincinnati. Come back every Tuesday for more.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What happened to chicken Kiev? Butter-stuffed dish of the ’70s is back
Reporting by Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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