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CHICKEN CORDON BLUE

INGREDIENTS:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves           2 large eggs, lightly beaten
12 thin slices Deli Ham                                          12 thin slices Swiss cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley                                         1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for sauce                         1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground              2 teaspoons fresh diced thyme leaves or dry
1 teaspoon paprika                                                 1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)                            2 cups chicken broth
Onion powder (to taste) optional                            Garlic powder (to taste) optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lay chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or a  freezer bag and using flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken breast pieces to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Salt and pepper each chicken breast and sprinkle with chopped parsley.  Place two slices of Deli ham and 1 slice of Swiss cheese on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges.  Roll each breast up tightly like a jellyroll starting at the long side and secure with toothpicks.  Season the bread crumbs with salt, black pepper, thyme and paprika and spread onto waxed paper or a flat pan.  Dip each chicken breast into the beaten eggs and evenly coat with the seasoned bread crumbs.  Spray a 13x9x2 baking dish with no-stick cooking spray, Pam or equivalent  and arrange chicken beast  with the seam side down and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

Combine chicken broth and wine in a non-stick skillet and bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  In a separate bowl, mix flour and whipping cream and slowly add to the broth and wine mixture and cook until thick.  If necessary, add more chicken broth to thin. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Add onion and/or garlic powder to taste if desired.

Remove toothpicks from chicken and cut into pinwheels.  Pour the white wine sauce over chicken and serve while warm.  Serve with a side of home made mash potatoes and green vegetable of your choice.

Note:  If using small chicken breast,  you will only need 1 slice of Swiss cheese per chicken breast but the chicken breast that I used were on steroids or something and needed the extra slice of Swiss cheese to cover them.  Also, you can use only 4 chicken breast instead of 6 and use the same amounts of other ingredients listed above.  You need very thin slices of Swiss cheese, otherwise you can't roll the chicken breast very tight...I learned on this one.

Historical information concerning this recipe:  Chicken Cordon Bleu is a French-inspired poultry dish, although evidence suggests that Chicken Cordon Bleu was actually developed in the United States by chefs imitating other stuffed meat dishes from Europe. The name of the dish is clearly of French origin – Cordon Bleu means “blue ribbon” in French, and in French culinary tradition, the Cordon Bleu is awarded to food or chefs of particularly high quality.

This recipe is fairly generic on the web and our Adcock Family Traditions Cookbook circa 1997 has a very close recipe to this one.  This is a good representation of French style cuisine with the white wine sauce even if an ole Southern boy prepared the dish.....grin if you must!