A tradition for as long as I can remember in my family is the picking of dinner for your birthday celebration.  You can have whatever you like, within reason, and then we all come together and enjoy a meal. 

Sean, my husband, being new to my family hasn’t experienced his own full blown birthday celebration with the whole Warnes/Steen clan.  So until we go to Seattle next I decided to continue the tradition in the Payne family.

Sean’s birthday was last Saturday and because we were out of town on that day we had to postpone his birthday dinner for another night.  Due to more things keeping us busy it was delayed until last night.

Sean’s birthday pick for 2009 was Chicken Kiev with all of its buttery goodness.

The only other time I have made this I hadn’t been made aware of creating a pocket in the chicken for the butter and so my butter all ran out while it was baking.  I was convinced that on this attempt I was going to make sure the butter stayed in the chicken, especially since Sean’s favorite part is when you first cut in and the butter runs out.

The meal turned out better than I could have guessed with a nice moist chicken breast with butter just waiting to be let loose.  The parsley in the butter gave it a nice flavour, but really when it comes to butter you usually can’t go wrong.  Traditionally this dish is made with bread crumbs, but I used panko which gives it a different texture. 

Rounding out the meal with a side of mashed potatoes and a mixed green salad it was a great first Payne birthday celebration.

Stayed tuned for the dessert that included quite possibly my new favorite ice cream.

Chicken Kiev

2 Large Chicken Breast

Softened Butter, Garlic cloves, Parsley

Panko (bread crumbs work too)

Eggs

Flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Using a paring knife, cut into each chicken breast along the side to create a small pocket, making sure not to cut through the chicken

Take butter, garlic, and chopped parsley and mix together and stuff into chicken pockets.  Secure with toothpicks if needed.

Create an assembly line with flour, whisked eggs and panko crumbs.  Cover the chicken in light flour then dip in eggs before coating with panko crumbs.

Place both chicken breast in a baking pan and put in the oven for about 30 minutes.