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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Oven French Fries

Oven French Fries Header

I don’t know about you, but one side dish Aaron and I could eat always and forever are french fries. From fast food to handmade, french fries are a delicious way to prepare potatoes. In case you haven’t noticed a trend on this blog, we’re potato obsessed. These oven french fries combined flavors we never would have paired together and resulted in my favorite recipe so far (I’m pretty sure Aaron’s too.) They would also go great with the Pittsburgh Ham Barbecue Sandwiches that we made last week!

 

It’s also another “guest” post. Marguerite noted below that she got this recipe from Madaline, who was a long time friend of her’s. Here’s what she had to say:

Oven French Fries Recipe

One thing we have found in cooking through Marguerite’s cookbook, is that both Aaron and I like paprika much more than either of us realized. It has been one of the main spices we’ve used in quite a number of dishes, and it is something we both really enjoy. Now salt is really what makes any french fries, good, am I right? But the addition of the paprika and the parmesan cheese really create a much more exciting set of flavors for these oven french fries. Also, butter. ‘Nough said.

Oven French Fries

The thing Aaron enjoyed about making these fries is that it didn’t require any special equipment, or having cooking grease to fry them in. And, to be honest, I think he really liked the idea of being able to make the fries any shape and size he wanted.

Oven French Fries

In the end, both that unique, “homemade” fry look, and the delicious flavors I mentioned before, made these oven french fries a huge success with both of us. We have already made them several times, and plan on making them any time we need to finish off a bag of potatoes! Not so good for our waistlines, but who cares?

Oven French Fries Recipe

Oven French Fries
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 15 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 15 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Oven French Fries
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 15 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 15 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Slice raw potatoes 1/8" thick.
  2. Melt butter and dip each potato slice. Shake excess off and place on a cookie sheet.
  3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, and parmesan cheese.
  4. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes (or until tender) at 375 degrees.
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Basil Burgers

Basil Burgers

A flavorful burger in the middle of winter? Why not!

As excited as we are to try these again in the summer, these basil burgers were a great meal to enjoy on a cold, Chicago night. We also live in an apartment and have no outdoor space to grill, so trying these in the summer won’t make a huge difference.

Here is what Marguerite had to say:

Basil Burgers Original

Last week I mentioned we hosted our parents for a “try our blog food” dinner. Technically, my mother hosted and we cooked because we live 500ish miles away from our parents and needed a place to host while we were in town. In addition to the zucchini bread, the basil burgers were on the menu for the main course. Again, total hit. That was a huge compliment especially from my dad who is the grill master.

Basil Burgers

These burgers have a nice hint of basil which compliments the onion flavor. Neither Aaron nor myself is a huge fan of heavy onion, but paired with the ground beef and turkey it packed a positive punch.

The addition of parmesan cheese “made it” for Aaron. He loved how that flavor worked with the basil and felt like it added that something special to the burgers.

I loved how the basil burgers were 50% beef and 50% turkey, making them just a little leaner and  healthier.

Basil Burgers

When we made these for ourselves, we cooked them in a skillet on the stove. For our parents, we used my mother’s George Foreman grill. We also have one at our place, but forgot to use it until after dinner was ready. Both methods of cooking worked well and there wasn’t a noticeable difference in the flavor, however the grilled burgers had a more consistent texture. Which is to say they were less charred on the outside. If you prefer a more blackened burger, go for the skillet!

Basil Burger

Again, I have a feeling we’ll be throwing this recipe into the regular dinner rotation.

Basil Burgers
Print Recipe
A simple yet flavorful burger recipe.
Servings Prep Time
8 Burgers 20 minutes
Cook Time
10-15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
8 Burgers 20 minutes
Cook Time
10-15 minutes
Basil Burgers
Print Recipe
A simple yet flavorful burger recipe.
Servings Prep Time
8 Burgers 20 minutes
Cook Time
10-15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
8 Burgers 20 minutes
Cook Time
10-15 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: Burgers
Instructions
  1. Combine and mix well the following ingredients: Egg, onion, parmesan cheese, basil, ketchup, garlic, salt, and pepper.
  2. Add the ground beef and ground turkey and mix well.
  3. Cook.
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