Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Chicken Cordon Bleu...My 300th Post!


There are so many options for ingredients for stuffed chicken. My favorites include Spinach, Red Pepper, and Gruyere and Boursin Chicken. Surprisingly, I have never made Chicken Cordon Bleu, so why not give something new a try on a random Monday night?

Even better, let's celebrate my 300th blog post with a yummy new dish!!

I invited my parents over to join Jon in being my test subjects. I won't make you scroll to the bottom of the post to see the results - everyone loved it and cleaned their plates. It was very simple, clean, and classic tasting.

I knew the basics of making this dish - pound out the chicken, layer with ham and Swiss cheese, roll, bread, bake. But to get the flavors and seasoning right, I followed the instructions and basic ingredients in this Tyler Florence Recipe. My adaptation is below.

Ingredients
  • 4 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness, maybe even less. Be careful not to tear the chicken.
  • 4 slices deli ham
  • 4 slices Swiss cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • Flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 c breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • Updated November 2011: I also add a touch of Dijon mustard mixed with just a bit of minced garlic to the inside of the chicken before layering with the ham and cheese. If you don't have Dijon, sprinkle them with dry mustard.

Directions

  • Season inside of chicken with salt and pepper and a touch of thyme
  • Layer with ham and cheese, roll tightly and secure with a toothpick. I then transferred them to the fridge until I was ready to cook them an hour later.
  • In three consecutive dishes, put: flour mixed with some salt and pepper, egg beaten with 1 tbsp water, breadcrumbs mixed with some salt, pepper, and the thyme
  • Coat chicken in flour, dip in egg, then roll in the bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Bake on 375 for 40 minutes, turning the broiler on for the last minute.

Here is the chicken right out of the oven -

What a nice spiral once cut!

When thinking about this recipe, I thought that it needed a sauce, so I turned to this recipe on the blog Le Petit Pierogi.

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped (I used 2, pressed)
  • 1/2 cup half and half (I used about 3/4 c)
  • 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
  • Splash of white wine
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Shredded Parmesean cheese (I used about 1/3 c)

Making the Sauce

  • Melt butter in small saucepan or skillet.
  • Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add a splash of white wine and cook another minute or two.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together half and half and cornstarch then add it to the wine/butter mixture. Keep whisking everything in the pan until thickened and smooth.
  • Add salt, pepper and a little bit of shredded Parmesean Cheese.
  • Drizzle over Chicken Cordon Bleu just before serving.

By this point I was so ready to eat that I didn't put too much effort into the picture, but you get the idea of what the sauce looked like -

Again, we all loved this dish. The flavors were so simple on their own, but together were the perfect combination in this classic French dish.

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9 comments:

  1. So simple, yet so delicious! The sauce looks AWESOME!

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  2. Congrats on 300 posts! Your chicken cordon bleu looks incredible - yum!

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  3. Your chicken cordon bleu looks delicious, but the sauce takes it to a whole new level!
    Conrgrats on your 300th post!

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  4. congrats on 300 posts! looks tasty!

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  5. That chicken cordon bleu looks so good! I like the sound of covering it in a sauce.

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  6. That looks amazing, I will be adding that to my list of things to make.

    Karen

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  7. I made this over the weekend and it was FANTASTIC!
    Congrats on your 300th post!

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  8. thanks for linking this one in, Mary Ellen. Have a lovely weekend.

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