We’re at the end of wild garlic season here in the UK and very luckily for me, I live close by to an area where you can forage for it, which is how I obtained the wild garlic used in this recipe. There’s obviously lots of things you can do with wild garlic, but my favourite is the classic chicken kyiv.

The first step is obviously to make the wild garlic butter, which will need to be made ahead of time, For this, use the recipe below, which makes 250g of butter. This will leave enough leftover for you to use later. It is particularly good melted over steak, or with fish.

250g unsalted butter, softened
flaky sea salt to taste
50g wild garlic leaves, finely chopped

Mash the butter in a bowl with some sea salt – start with ½ tsp, then taste before adding more. Stir in the wild garlic. Using a piece of baking parchment, roll and shape the butter into a log, then twist the ends to form a cracker. Chill until needed. You can freeze the log for a month and cut off slices as needed.

I cooked these in the air fryer (for the same time and temperature) rather than the oven and they came out perfectly. But as usual make sure you spray the breadcrumbs with plenty of oil or frylight to ensure that it goes crispy.

Recipe from BBC Good Food. Serves 4.

4 skinless chicken breasts
100g wild garlic butter, softened
50g plain flour, well seasoned
3 large eggs, beaten
125g panko or coarse dried breadcrumbs
sunflower oil, for frying
mixed leaves, to serve
lemon wedges, to serve

Slice a deep pocket in each chicken breast. To do this, insert a deep knife into the thickest end of the breast. Keep pushing down along the breast, about halfway into the fillet, being careful not to cut all the way through. Push your finger down into the hole to open it, then stuff with 25g wild garlic butter, making sure that it goes all the way into the pocket. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken breasts.

Line up three shallow bowls and put the flour in the first, the beaten eggs in the second and the breadcrumbs in the third. Dredge each chicken breast in the flour, then coat in the eggs and lastly the breadcrumbs. Dip each one in the eggs for a second time, then coat again in the breadcrumbs. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining stuffed chicken breasts. Cover the plate and chill for at least 1 hr.

When you are ready to eat, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Fill a pan 2cm deep with oil and set over a medium-high heat. Once hot, fry the kievs for 2-3 mins each side until golden brown, then transfer to a baking tray. Pop in the oven for 15 mins or until cooked through. Serve with salad leaves and a lemon wedge to squeeze over.