James Martin's chicken kiev with garlic and creamed leeks

Tuesday 12 February at 12:59pm

Following the success of his recent trips to France and America, James has brought it back home to remind us all that Great Britain deserves pride of place on the culinary map. He’s in the kitchen ready to cook up a dish loved across Britain, as he makes Holly’s favourite - chicken kievs.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1–2 litres vegetable oil, for deep frying

200g butter

7 garlic cloves, chopped

Small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 x 150g French trimmed chicken breasts (ask your butcher to do this or use regular chicken breasts)

2 eggs, beaten

75g plain flour

100g panko breadcrumbs

400g leeks, washed, cut into 8cm lengths and halved lengthways

100ml double cream

Juice of ½ lemon

Method

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer to 165–170C (330–340F) or in a deep, heavy based saucepan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. (Note hot oil can be dangerous; do not leave unattended). Line a large plate with kitchen towel.
Put the butter, garlic and half the parsley in a bowl. Season and mix well.
Pull off the skin from each chicken breast and discard then carefully pull away the fillet. Cut a hole all the way through the chicken breast from the top to the bottom to create a pocket.
Fill each with half the flavoured butter then push the chicken fillet into the chicken breast to fill the hole
Put the beaten eggs in one shallow bowl, the flour in another and the breadcrumbs in another. Season the flour well. Coat each chicken breast first in flour, then in egg and then again so they’re coated with each twice. Next, coat with breadcrumbs, pressing these in so the chicken is completely covered.
Carefully lower the chicken pieces into the hot oil and fry for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce the thickest part with a skewer to check the juices run clear. Lift onto the kitchen paper and season with salt.
Meanwhile, dry-fry the leeks in a frying pan over a medium heat for 2 – 3 minutes, stirring to keep them moving, until they’re nicely charred. Pour the cream into the pan along with the remaining parsley. Season and stir everything together. Continue to cook for 3 – 4 minutes until softened and cooked down. Taste to check the seasoning then stir in the lemon juice.
To serve, spoon the leeks onto two warmed plates and pop a chicken Kiev alongside