Hurry up Meal - Chicken Kiev, Garlic Broccoli, and Potato leek gratin

 

Uh Oh. I realized at 6pm that the things I bought ingredients for, I didnt have TIME for. 

So I thought, here's a new challenge, can I make something LIKE those things, using a different method, and make it still yummy?

I had no choice but to find out. 

Chicken Kiev

So this dish is made with a compound butter with tarragon, garlic, parsley, pepper and butter, mixed together, then frozen. That takes about 30 mins.

Reviewing the recipe, it was bout here that I realized I had around a half hour before the crew mutinied. I didnt have time to do this and bake the chicken. 

The rest of the recipe calls for pounding, then folding the chicken around the frozen butter, and putting the toothpick into the chicken to hold it together, then egging and breading the chicken. 

To speed it up, instead I added the spices for the butter into a bowl, and breadcrumbs with some salt and mixed it together. In another bowl I added the egg and milk. 

I had butterflied chicken, so I just cut the butterflied chicken in two pieces. I then egged, then breaded the chicken. 

I cut thin slices of butter and laid them on top of the chicken. Not frozen in fact, but soft. 

This went into a 400 degree oven. At this point I could not (and still cannot) find my thermometer. This is hazardous since I dont know how long to cook it. I admit, I swore. 

Potato Leek Gratin

Next I had to do something with the potatoes. I grabbed the mandolin and sliced the potatoes. 

Potatoes

Mandolin
(Always use the guard!)

You're supposed to layer it with cream, some cheese, and leeks in a baking dish and baked for 45 mins. This was not going to happen so I went with a big flat cookie sheet. I salted the potatoes. 

Next I looked at the leeks. 

They have a root end on the white side and get gradually darker and tougher. So you don't eat the entire thing, just the white and lighter green, otherwise it may as well be hay. 

Cut off the root and cut off the dark green leaves. Then you cut it long ways, and then into half moons. I added this to the potatoes, on top. 

    

I mixed together some LF milk and flour to mimic the cream (I'm lactose intolerant) and poured that over the potato-leek mix. 

Then I grabbed the last of the gruyere and grated it, adding that to the potatoes

Gruyere

Shredded Gruyere

This and some black pepper went on to the potatoes and they went into the oven with the chicken. 

Almost there!

Now I needed a green vegetable. 

Garlic Broccoli

Another issue with the green veg is that the plan was to saute the broccoli in butter and fresh garlic. 

One of my favorite finds has been the garlic paste that I buy pre-made and can toss into any dish at the last minute. 

At this point, I know myself. I know if I try to saute, I will get distracted and something will burn. Boiling will be more foolproof. 

Boiling takes less time when its in a flat wide pan with as little water as possible. 

For this reason I cut up the broccoli all the same size, then tossed them into an empty soup pot. 

I added just enough water to cover them and set them on to boil. I tossed in some salt. 

Once that was boiling and getting tender, I drained the water and added about 1 cloves worth of garlic paste and a hunk of butter (about 2 tbsp). 

Since it was tender, I folded in the butter with a rubber spatula. 

Finishing up and plating

At this point the butter had melted on the chicken in the oven, so I cut into it to "feel" if it seemed done. It had tightened up so I pulled it out to cool and moved up the potatoes to the top of the oven. 

Once the potatoes were starting to brown on top, I poked them to make sure they were soft. I probably should have waited until they were softer, but they were alright. 

Here are the finished items. 

Finished chicken

Finished Potatoes

Plating involves putting stuff on a plate.

You always have this end in mind when planning, to have an odd number of items on the plate. 

So here is the chicken, broccoli, and potatoes, plated. 

It turned out delish!

The only complaint was the potatoes shouldve been left in just a bit longer, and we shouldve used a more flavorful cheese such as a nice sharp cheddar. 

But dinner got done in 40 mins and no mutiny!

Back to the cookbook soon, now that I've had a chance to eat first! 

Cheers,

Vicky