Marguerites Cookbook

A cooking blog all about making vintage recipes from a cookbook we inherited from our grandmother

Inside-Out Chicken Kiev

chickenkievheader

There’s no question that the most numerous type of recipe in Marguerite’s cookbook is desserts, and we’ll get back to another one of those next week! But first, a recipe that is most likely the second popular in the book—a chicken recipe. This inside-out chicken kiev was a delicious twist on a classic!

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

Chicken Kiev Recipe

You may notice a few differences between Marguerite’s recipe and our version below. The main difference is the title. We knew that a typical chicken kiev usually has the butter and spices stuffed and cooked on the inside, which was not a part of Marguerite’s recipe. So we decided to rename this recipe ‘inside-out chicken kiev.’ Aaron was almost as excited about the catchy new name as he was about the dish itself!

insideoutchickenkiev

Some other changes we made included minimizing the cook time from Marguerite’s and substituting dried ingredients for fresh ones. We make some type of chicken recipe about once a week and usually only cook it for up to 30 minutes. So when we read how long Marguerite wanted us to cook this recipe, we thought: That’s crazy! And so Aaron’s mother fielded yet another recipe-related phone call from us. We seriously call her 3-4 times while making these. Seriously. She agreed with Marguerite on the cooking time, but the thought of overly dry chicken still made us cringe. We’re glad we went with our guts and cut the cook time. Sorry Marguerite and Mercedes!

inside out chicken kiev

This inside-out chicken kiev smelled great while it was cooking, which made waiting for dinner time to eat it torture! I really liked this chicken recipe. I’ve liked almost all of the things we’ve been making lately, actually. The combination of the spices on the chicken made it incredibly flavorful. A whole bunch of butter slathered on it doesn’t hurt either. As Marguerite’s mother always said “If it calls for one stick of butter, then two will make it twice as good!” Okay, Paula Deen. Aaron also liked this inside-out chicken kiev. But, as I’ve mentioned before, he likes everything.

inside out chickenkiev

We hope you try this simple recipe with your family. We think you’ll enjoy this inside-out chicken kiev as much as we did!

Inside-Out Chicken Kiev
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Inside-Out Chicken Kiev
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt butter in shallow dish.
  3. Mix bread crumbs, cheese, and spices (salt, garlic salt, oregano, and basil.)
  4. Dip chicken in butter, then crumb mixture.
  5. Place in casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
  6. Mix apple juice, onion, and parsley.
  7. Add to leftover butter.
  8. When 30 minute cook time has passed, pour apple juice mixture over chicken and bake 2 to 3 minutes more.
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Homemade Meatballs

Homemade Meatballs

As you may recall, my Italian heritage requires me to love all things pasta related, that includes spaghetti and meatballs. These homemade meatballs were very easy and I liked how plain they were (a real “shock” to those of you that know me personally.) But honestly, the nice plain flavor is not too overpowering, making these a great candidate for being added to any pasta dish, sauce, and the like.

Homemade Meatballs

Here is what Marguerite had to say:

Homemade Meatballs Recipe

You may have noticed, Marguerite’s original recipe called for a quarter pound of veal. We decided we did not want to go through the hassle of finding or paying for veal. As you may recall, we had issues with this earlier. Also, while some may think veal has a discernibly better flavor, both Aaron and I felt it was not necessary to include in this recipe. Veal-Schmeal! We just edited the amounts of each remaining meat to keep a decent ratio of beef to pork, as well as making sure to keep the total amount of ground meat to one pound. Make sense? If not just read the recipe below.

Homemade Meatballs

Marguerite’s recipe says that this amount of ingredients will make 16 meatballs. Our cooking of this recipe did not yield that many, however, we made some of ours way too large! Most of the ones in these photographs are an average size, but we (Aaron) did make a few monster meatballs that ended up larger than desired.

Homemade Meatballs

As mentioned above, they were a little plain. Not something I would serve on their own as an appetizer, but something to add to some pasta and sauce. Perhaps with her meatless spaghetti sauce, which we previously made? We will have to try them together sometime and get back to you.

The meatballs also reminded me of my mother’s meatloaf, and some insight into this recipe from Aaron’s mom proved that to be a valid thought. She told us that her dad, and Marguerite’s husband, Jim, liked meatloaf. The ingredients in this recipe were incredibly similar to the meatloaf that Marguerite would make for Jim, particularly the three different kinds of meat.

Homemade Meatballs

Aaron liked making these meatballs because they reminded him of making homemade meatballs with his mom. She had a different meatball recipe of her own, and if you want to hear about that recipe in the future, you should subscribe to our monthly newsletter! In contrast to these homemade meatballs, it’s very much an “eat on their own as an appetizer” recipe. Aaron thought these meatballs were yummy, but he is getting increasingly tired of all the finely chopped onion in these recipes, particularly because the Marguerite he remembered couldn’t stomach onions anymore and didn’t but them in anything she was planning on eating! I also make him do all the onion chopping…

 

Homemade Meatballs
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
16 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Servings Prep Time
16 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Homemade Meatballs
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
16 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Servings Prep Time
16 Meatballs 30 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: Meatballs
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into balls.
  2. TIP: If meatballs tend to stick to hands as they are formed, add more breadcrumbs.
  3. Place in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.
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Salmon Balls

Salmon Balls

Like I said a few posts ago, if there is food everyone likes some version of, it is probably potatoes. Baked, mashed, fried – you name it – they’re delicious. So any recipe with potatoes in it is bound to be good. The salmon balls were no exception.

Salmon Balls

Here is what Marguerite had to say:

Salmon Balls

The most difficult part of this recipe was definitely preparing the canned salmon. We had never worked with canned salmon before, and neither of us really enjoyed it. Getting the bits of skin and bones out was a long and messy process. Other than that, it was a pretty simple recipe with just a few ingredients.

Salmon Balls

As you can see, the salmon balls are not the largest. For that reason we feel that they are best served as appetizers before a meal. I really like salmon, it is one of my favorite fish. I thought the combination of salmon with breading tasted good, and like I said before, who doesn’t love potatoes in a dish? Aaron also enjoyed them, referring to them as “a simple version of crab cakes.” Next time we try these I would prefer to try and use fresh salmon, as we felt the canned salmon did not taste as good as fresh.

Salmon Balls

We hope the next time you are looking for an interesting yet simple party food or appetizer, you keep these salmon balls in mind!

Salmon Balls
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4-6 20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4-6 20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Salmon Balls
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4-6 20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4-6 20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Boil the water and add the instant potatoes.
  2. After draining, boning, and flaking the salmon, combine with the two eggs and salt.
  3. Stir the salmon mixture into the instant potatoes until fluffy.
  4. Shape into 4-6 balls (they will be sticky.)
  5. Roll the balls in bread crumbs.
  6. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
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Breaded Veal Cutlets

Breaded Veal Cutlets

As far as easy dinners go, these veal cutlets definitely make the list.

In an attempt to be real adults, we’re always on the lookout for “real” food to make for dinner. By real food we mean basically anything that isn’t EasyMac. This veal recipe is one to add to our regular dinner rotation and not just as part of our adventure in cooking through Marguerite’s book. Few ingredients, lots of flavor, and a quick prep time equate to a perfect meal for us and this veal brings it.

Veal Cutlets

Here is what Marguerite had to say:

IMG_0262

Another reason we love this recipe is because it could be very easy to try with other kinds of meats. Veal is pricey and we usually have other meats in our freezer for everyday use. Basically any kind of beef cut would compliment this recipe well, as well as chicken. Pork perhaps? We’ll have to try a few and report back.

Veal Cutlet Recipe

The preparation of the meat was very simple, which is a huge factor for us when making dinner every night. It was also super flavorful, despite the meat being a little tough. That, of course, had to do with the meat we selected, and not the recipe itself.  All-in-all, another success!

Breaded Veal

The only issue we ran into with this dish was actually finding veal cutlets. Hence why the meat we picked was so tough. We went to 3 grocery stores before we found anything, and even then the selection was not so fabulous. So if anyone is aware of a good butcher in the Chicago area, let us know!

 

Breaded Veal Cutlets

 

Breaded Veal Cutlets
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4 People 10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hr 15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 People 10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hr 15 minutes
Breaded Veal Cutlets
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4 People 10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hr 15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 People 10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hr 15 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: People
Instructions
  1. Salt and pepper veal to taste.
  2. Dip in skim milk then dip in break crumbs.
  3. Grease baking dish well with margarine and place veal in dish.
  4. Grease skillet well with margarine.
  5. Stew tomatoes with onion flakes, sugar, salt, pepper, and margarine.
  6. Put over veal and back for one hour and 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Cover tightly.
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Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This recipe was a great place for us to start in the cookbook. It was easy, fast, and great for these chilly nights. It’s basically a left-overs casserole, which is going to be a great thing to try again when we don’t feel like eating the same thing two nights in a row.

Here’s what Marguerite had to say about it:

Grandmas Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Isn’t her handwriting beautiful?

We were kind of confused for about two seconds until we realized the chicken needed to be pre-cooked. Thank goodness Aaron’s mom is just a quick phone call away to clarify. She explained Marguerite used this as mostly a left-overs thing. So we had to go through the extra step of cooking and slicing some chicken.

We chose to do a very basic chicken in olive oil in the oven, since we figured the casserole would provide tons of flavor.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

 

Modifications we made from the original: We choose to layer the cheese on top of the broccoli instead of adding it to the casserole mixture.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

The soup mixture left me (Shannon) feeling a little nauseous, as it did not look appealing when being mixed. Once cooked over chicken, however, it was amazing.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Overall, we really liked this one. It was comfort food and delicious. It would have tasted better if the entire bag of broccoli we used wasn’t almost all broccoli stems. Aaron especially love the extra kick from the curry powder.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4 15 (if the chicken is pre-cooked)
Cook Time
5-10 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 15 (if the chicken is pre-cooked)
Cook Time
5-10 Minutes
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4 15 (if the chicken is pre-cooked)
Cook Time
5-10 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 15 (if the chicken is pre-cooked)
Cook Time
5-10 Minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. If you're not using leftover chicken, cook two breasts to your liking and slice into strips
  2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (farenheight)
  3. Mix together soup, mayo, lemon juice, and curry powder
  4. Microwave the broccoli, arrange in a casserole dish
  5. Layer as much grated cheese on top as you want. In my opinion, the cheesier the better!
  6. Lay the chicken strips over the cheese and broccoli
  7. Pour in the mixture and spread into an even layer over the chicken
  8. Top with bread crumbs and bake for 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and hot
Recipe Notes

Marguerite recommends serving over rice. We had it by itself and it was delicious.

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