How to Butterfly a Chicken Cutlet
A cutlet is a thin piece of meat from the leg or rib sections. To "butterfly" a cutlet is to cut it almost all the way through horizontally, into two equal halves, so that when you open the cutlet up it resembles the shape of a butterfly. Butterflying a chicken cutlet is a necessary step for many recipes such as chicken kiev and chicken cordon bleu. Starting with this step first will allow you to pound out the chicken cutlet to a workable thickness for rolling up the poultry and its ingredients. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Rinse your chicken cutlets in warm water and pat dry with paper towel. Place a large piece of waxed paper onto your cutting board and lay the chicken on top of it flat side down. You can trim off any fat from the edges of the chicken at this point.
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Place your fingertips or palm firmly on top of the chicken cutlet, holding the knife in your other hand. Starting on one side, make a horizontal cut through the chicken using a sawing motion. Cut the chicken cutlet almost all the way through, stopping just 1 inch from the other end. Cut the chicken cutlet evenly in half to create two equal-size pieces.
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Open up the butterflied chicken cutlet. If you are pounding the cutlet out to prepare a dish such as chicken cordon bleu, place another piece of waxed paper on top before using your meat pounder. This will help to eliminate mess and provide a surface to pound on, instead of directly into the chicken. If you do not have a meat pounder, you can also use a rolling pin for this task.
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