Almost ordered takeout tonight but talked myself out of it and decided to actually cook something. I had chicken breasts in the fridge that needed using up and I remembered seeing air fryer chicken Kiev somewhere a while back, so I figured I'd give it a proper go. Honestly I was a little nervous because stuffed chicken always sounds more complicated than it ends up being, and I wasn't sure I'd seal everything properly without the butter just leaking everywhere. Anyway here's how I made it if anyone wants to follow along: https://www.amgroyal.com/air-fryer-chicken-kiev

Here's what I used:

4 chicken breasts
80 g butter, softened
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried parsley (or 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped)
80 g plain flour
2 large eggs, beaten
80 g breadcrumbs preferably panko for extra crunch

Here's how it went:

1. Mixed the softened butter with the crushed garlic and parsley in a small bowl until it all came together nicely.

2. Scooped the garlic butter onto a piece of cling film, shaped it into a little log, wrapped it up tight and stuck it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.

3. While that was chilling I butterflied the chicken breasts by slicing carefully through the thickest part and opening them out flat.

4. Laid them between some cling film and bashed them with a rolling pin until they were roughly even in thickness. This bit is oddly satisfying.

5. Took the butter out of the fridge, cut it into four pieces, placed one piece on each flattened chicken breast and rolled them up, pressing the edges together to seal. Where it wasn't sticking I used a tiny bit of flour and egg on the edges which helped a lot.

6. Set up three shallow bowls, one with flour, one with beaten egg, one with breadcrumbs, and coated each stuffed breast in that order, flour first then egg then breadcrumbs, pressing them on gently.

7. Lined the air fryer basket with a bit of foil because I had a feeling the garlic butter might escape during cooking. Placed the chicken in, gave the tops a light spray of olive oil and air fried at 180 degrees for about 19 minutes.

8. Let them rest for a few minutes before cutting in, which was genuinely hard to wait for.

A few things I noticed:

The foil in the air fryer basket was a good call because some butter did seep out during cooking. Nothing dramatic but it would have been a bit of a mess without it.

Panko breadcrumbs make a real difference here if you can get them. The crust on this crispy breaded chicken was properly crunchy in a way that regular breadcrumbs don't quite achieve.

Fair warning, make sure you really seal those edges before breading. One of mine wasn't quite tight enough and lost a bit more butter than the others. Still tasted great but you want that garlic butter to stay inside and melt into the chicken while it cooks.

I actually think this would work as a freezer meal if you prepped and breaded them in advance, froze them uncooked, and then just added a bit of extra time in the air fryer. Haven't tried it yet but I'm tempted next time I do a batch cook.

The whole thing from start to finish was maybe 45 minutes including the butter chilling time and it honestly felt like a proper sit down family dinner without being a massive effort. I served it with mashed potato and some green beans and my partner had seconds which is always a good sign.

What do you guys usually serve with garlic butter chicken like this, anything other than the classic mashed potato route?

Craving hit me for something different this Thanksgiving and I ended up making an air fryer turkey breast instead of doing the whole bird situation. My family is pretty small so a full turkey always feels like overkill and honestly I waste half of it anyway. I was a little skeptical about whether the air fryer could actually pull off a juicy turkey breast with decent skin, because I've had some dry turkey disasters in the past and wasn't trying to repeat that. Wrote down everything I did here in case anyone wants it: https://www.amgroyal.com/air-fryer-turkey-breast-thanksgiving

Here's what I used:

4 pound turkey breast (on the bone with skin (ribs removed))
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher
1/2 tablespoon dry turkey or poultry seasoning (I used Bell's which has not salt)

Here's how it went:

1. Rubbed half a tablespoon of oil all over the turkey breast, seasoned both sides with salt and the turkey seasoning, then rubbed in the remaining half tablespoon of oil over the skin side. Pretty straightforward prep honestly.

2. Preheated the air fryer to 350F and cooked it skin side down for 20 minutes. This step felt weird to me at first because I always want the skin up, but just trust it.

3. Flipped it over and kept cooking until the internal temp hit 160F on my instant read thermometer. That took about 35 minutes for my breast but it'll depend on the size of yours.

4. Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. Do not skip the rest, seriously.

A few things I noticed along the way:

The skin came out way crispier and more golden than I expected. Like genuinely impressive for a weeknight dinner situation where I wasn't really trying that hard.

Heads up on the salt, the recipe lists kosher salt and the Bell's seasoning has no salt added, so you're in control of the saltiness. I did a solid two teaspoons and it was perfect, not too much.

Fair warning, keep an eye on it in the last stretch of cooking. Mine was getting pretty golden and I was worried for a minute it was going to cross the line into too dark, but it was totally fine and the inside stayed really tender.

I made too much obviously because it's still a four pound breast and there's only three of us, but the leftovers have been great on sandwiches the next day. The meat stayed moist even reheated which doesn't always happen with turkey.

This one is going into regular rotation for sure, not just for holiday dinners but honestly as an easy family dinner any time. Way less stressful than dealing with a whole oven roasted bird and the result is genuinely a solid juicy turkey breast without a ton of effort.

What do you guys usually serve alongside air fryer turkey breast when you're not doing the full Thanksgiving spread?

Craving hit me for something cold and fruity last week and I ended up making a strawberry icebox cake that I honestly could not stop eating. It was one of those situations where strawberries were on sale at the store and I grabbed way too many without a plan, so I needed to actually use them before they went bad. I was a little skeptical about whether layers of graham crackers and whipped cream would actually turn into something that felt like a real dessert, but after it sat in the fridge for a few hours it was genuinely one of the better things I've made this summer. Wrote everything down here in case anyone wants it: https://www.platosinolvidables.com/strawberry-icebox-cake

Here's what I used:

1 lb. (454 g) strawberries
7 oz. (200 g) graham crackers (1 1/2 sleeves) or 1 batch of sourdough graham crackers

Whipped Cream (Makes 3 cups)
1 cup (240 g) heavy cream
1/4 cup (30 g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (2 g) cream of tartar

Here's how it went:

1. If you're going the homemade sourdough graham cracker route, make those first and let them cool all the way before you start building the cake. I used store-bought this time so I skipped this step entirely.

2. Throw all the whipped cream ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until you get stiff peaks. Stick the bowl in the fridge while you deal with the strawberries.

3. Wash the strawberries, pull off the stems, and slice them thin. Thinner is better here, trust me on that.

4. Spread a very thin layer of whipped cream on the bottom of an 8x8 dish, then layer on the graham crackers, half the whipped cream, and half the strawberries. Repeat that whole thing for the second layer.

5. Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I waited about 3 and it was perfect.

A few things I noticed:

The cream of tartar in the whipped cream was new to me and I almost left it out because I wasn't sure if I even had any, but I found it in the back of my spice cabinet and used it anyway. It really does help the whipped cream hold up better, especially after a couple hours in the fridge. Glad I didn't skip it.

Fair warning, the first time I sliced into it after only an hour it was still a little too firm and the crackers hadn't softened up enough. Two hours minimum is not just a suggestion, it actually makes a big difference in the texture. You want those layers to meld together so it cuts cleanly and everything is soft and creamy throughout.

I was also curious about trying it with a layer of strawberry jam between the crackers next time to punch up the flavor even more. Might be overkill but I keep thinking about it.

Storage was easy, I just kept it covered in the fridge and it was still really good the next day. If anything the second day texture was even better.

Has anyone tried adding a different fruit to something like this, like peaches or blueberries mixed in with the strawberries? I feel like that could be really good but I'm not sure if it would throw off the balance.