Chicken Kiev with Dauphinoise Potatoes, Mashed Potato or Crusty Bread

Ingredients

• 4 chicken kiev
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Dauphinoise Potatoes:
• 2 ½ lb starchy potatoes (e.g. Maris Piper)
• 2 ½ cups gruyere cheese, or mozzarella, freshly grated at the time of cooking
• 1 ½ cups full fat cream
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• [NB: Alternatively, you can serve with mashed potato or crusty bread, both of which would cut your cooking time significantly.]

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4.
2. Start by preparing the dauphinoise potatoes (if you are serving these).
3. First, take the melted butter and place it in a jug along with the cream and garlic, mixing thoroughly until everything is combined. Then peel and slice the potatoes to a thickness of approximately 3 mm (or use a potato slicer). Now you are ready to create three distinct layers within a baking tray as follows:
4. Layer 1 - Spread ⅓ of the potato slices across the base of an oven dish (at least 1.5 litres in size, preferably slightly bigger), then pour over ⅓ of the cream mixture, scatter with ⅓ of the seasoning (i.e. salt, pepper, thyme) and top with a ⅓ of the cheese.
5. Layer 2 - As layer 1.
6. Layer 3 - As layers 1 and 2 but without the cheese (this will be added later).
7. Cover the oven dish with tin foil, or a lid if available, and pop into the oven until the potatoes in the middle are soft when tested with a knife (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes).
8. Once there is approximately 35 minutes cooking time left on the dauphinoise potatoes (i.e. when they have been in the oven for roughly 55 minutes), it is time to cook the chicken kievs. Place a large frying pan on the hob over a medium heat and add the oil. Fry the chicken kievs for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden (you may need to do this two at a time), then transfer to a baking tray and pop into the oven to cook for 20 to 25 minutes until fully cooked. [NB: Once the internal temperature of the chicken is 65 degrees C / 149 F then it is fully cooked - be careful to only pierce the flesh part-way through in order to prevent the butter from leaking out.].
9. Once the potatoes in the middle are soft, remove the foil / lid, top with the remaining cheese and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the top appears to be golden and the liquid mixture is bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
10. Finally, when the chicken kievs are cooked and the accompaniments are ready, serve together on warmed plates.