Chicken Cordon Bleu

So now you know my secret that sometimes I get bored with recipes, and sometimes I get stuck.  When this happens I like to ask Rob if there's anything he'd like for me to make that he hasn't had in a while.  Most of the time though he's so open and flexible to whatever I make that this doesn't work too well.  Occasionally I get a helpful response though, like the other day when he said he wanted Chicken Cordon Bleu.

*sigh*  I despise making Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Don't get me wrong I like eating it!  But I have remembering-to-defrost-the-chicken-ahead-of-time issues.  And then there's the whole pounding it out super thin, which I hate doing because raw chicken juice splatters everywhere and it's just a big mess for me.  Oh and the assembly of this....  Ack!!  Slippery raw chicken, recently beaten to death, topped with a just as slippery piece of deli ham and a usually less than flexible slice of Swiss cheese.  I end up using about 53 toothpicks just to get the thing to stay put, but then how am I supposed to get the breading on around all those picks poking out??

Yeah, do NOT love making this one.  But I love my husband and he really doesn't request dishes that often so, dang it, I'm going to make this.  I wonder if I can adapt this though to something that isn't going to drive me insane just in putting it together....hmmmmm.....  I've got it!! 

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Recipe from Jeanna's head

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4-5 thin slices of deli ham
1/2 cup (ish) shredded Swiss cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (ish) flour
2 eggs
1 cup (ish) Panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp EACH butter and olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Start a skillet heating over medium-high heat.  Stack the ham slices together and roll into a log.  Slice up the "ham log" so you end up with little ribbons of deli meat (yes, like a chiffonade); set aside.  Create a pile of shredded cheese next to the ham and have 3 toothpicks handy.

A meat chiffonade!

2. Using a sharp paring knife, cut into the side of each chicken breast, but NOT all the way through, making a nice stuffing space (use your fingers a little to gently stretch the space bigger if you like).  Put a little of the ham and cheese inside the chicken and close it with a toothpick.  Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

Endless possibilities for that pocket...

Stuffed full of meat and cheese

See that one little unobtrusive toothpick?

3.  Setup breading station: pour flour into a shallow dish or plate.  Beat eggs in a separate dish.  Pour Panko into a third.  Season the chicken, flour, and Panko with salt and pepper.  Coat each chicken breast in the flour (shaking off the excess), egg, and then Panko.  If you like an extra crispy coating, repeat the egg and Panko steps.

Breaded chicken anxiously awaiting the skillet

4.  In the hot skillet, melt butter and oil together.  Add the breaded chicken breasts and brown on each side.  Transfer pan to oven and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Look at that crispy, golden perfection....

This variation on the usually rolled chicken dish is sooooooooooooo much easier for me to handle.  And with only using one little toothpick, I'm not creating a lumpy breading nightmare for myself either!  Yeah, I can do this. :)

[I have to interject at this point that I've really fallen in love with using Panko breadcrumbs.  For YEARS I have subconsciously resisted using Panko because it's a bit more expensive.  Plus all these chefs on TV keep making these "crispy" coatings using regular crumbs so the fact that I haven't been able to do it yet just means I'm doing it wrong, right?  Yeah.  If you like a great crispy crust, spend the extra pennies and get the Panko.]

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Gavin asked for thirds. ;)

Swiss Family....Chicken

If cooking were a genetic trait, you could say that I got hit with the Cooking Gene from both sides.  My mom loves to cook and play with new recipes, new flavors.  My dad loves to bake.  Bread (in the breadmaker) and pies especially.  Put the two of them together and you get a girl like me: totally, completely, utterly obsessed with food.  Thanks Mom and Dad! ;)

Now that I have a home of my own and I'm possibly passing that gene on to my own son (and his soon-to-be brother), I find I'm getting nostalgic about recipes.  Not only do I need to make sure my 3-year-old eats a balanced meal, but I'm also drawn to the comfort foods I grew up with.  One of our favorites, especially my brother's, was Swiss Chicken.

Swiss Chicken wasn't always called Swiss Chicken.  Even now that name sounds weird to me...like I'm forcing something unnatural on a favored dish.  We always called it Baked Chicken.  Wow, can a name be any more generic?  But after my mom submitted the recipe for a family cookbook, she re-christened it Swiss Chicken and that's how I try to refer to it now (still feels weird though).

Swiss Chicken is easy with a capital E.  All you really need are five little ingredients.  Not kidding, just five: chicken, cream of chicken soup, some kind of liquid, Swiss cheese (duh), and croutons.  At this point though you're either bored with my list or intrigued.  If you're bored, stick with me a little longer please!  You can have oh-so-much fun with such a short list of flavors. 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup liquid (water, chicken broth, or my personal favorite, WINE. I've tried all three liquids and wine packs the most flavor punch in my opinion)
4 slices Swiss cheese (or if you can find shredded go with that instead. I think shredded melts better and creates a more well-rounded cheese sauce.  If you go shredded, you'll want about 4 oz)
1/2 box croutons, crushed**

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Put chicken breasts in a shallow baking dish and cover with cheese.  Mix together soup and liquid.  Pour on top of the cheesed chicken.

 

Behold the power of cheeeeeeeeeeese

3.  Sprinkle crushed croutons on top of soup mixture.

4. Cover dish and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  I love to eat this with rice and broccoli.  This cheese sauce on top of rice and broccoli is absolute Comfort Heaven!

Total hand's on time: about 10 minutes. Seriously. 


**Oh croutons....now here's where you can have some fun!  For years I've always picked up the box in the salad dressing aisle (whatever's on sale), beat out my frustrations on the poor bag and then dumped half on the chicken.  But a few months ago I had an epiphany.  My husband likes bread.  I like to make bread, but always end up with leftovers that go stale or moldy and nobody wants that.  Why not make my own croutons when I need them??  Genius!!

So here's what I did... I took the leftover half loaf of Rosemary Bread that I'd made last weekend and cubed it up.  Toss the cubes in a bowl with some extra-virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper. 

Spread the cubes out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for...um, well, a while I guess.  I admit I didn't time it exactly.  When I could smell the cubes, I kept an eye on them until they reached a level of brown-ness I liked.

Keep them in an airtight container, or take a rolling pin to them and use on top of Swiss Chicken or whatever else your heart desires. :)