Chicken Cordon Bleu...

This is a
super easy
Chicken Cordon Bleu
recipe.

With a quick Parmesan Dijon Cream Sauce.
Did you know Chicken Cordon Bleu originated in Switzerland in the 1940's?
The earliest reference was in a Swiss cookbook in 1949.

The French term
"Cordon Bleu"
translates to
Blue Ribbon.
Did you know Switzerland has a 7 million population and is known for being neutral in most political arenas?
Do you know what else Switzerland is famous for?

Chocolate!!!

Cheese fondue!

Uhhhh,
Swiss bank accounts.
Dear banks of Switzerland,
I am not of the wealthy. Unfortunately we will never have the opportunity to get to know each other better.
Regretfully,
Angie

Swiss watches!
The best in the world apparently.

And of course Swiss Army Knives.

Who wants to ski the Alps??!!

Geneva, Switzerland!!
Clara Barton established the American Red Cross in 1881 in Washington DC after having seen and been involved in the International Red Cross while visiting Europe years earlier.
But what does all this have to do with Chicken Cordon Bleu?
Nothing really, but OH!! I wanted to make sure to mention that I've made Chicken Cordon Bleu a few times before but it was
very time consuming!
Pounding out chicken breasts will turn me into an extremely unpleasant person...I DO NOT like pounding chicken breasts...it's messy and gross and I can never get them pounded out evenly.

Here's the fixins for this tasty dish.

By the way, I bought Frick's sliced ham...really tasty...I think this package was $5 or so.

This organic Provolone is made locally here in Kalona, Ia.
A family who has purchased several vehicles from us gave us this along with many other Farmer's Creamery goodies. Super awesome is what that family is. Top notch!

let's start this recipe by spraying the pan.

Halve the chicken breasts lengthwise...no pounding here,
just be careful.
Now slice up the ham to fit the chicken breasts and slice up that cheese.

Make sure to eat some of that ham and some of that cheese too...as an appetizer duh...this whole cooking thing really works up an appetite.
True words.
Melt up the butter and and mix in the bread crumbs...
I always use whole wheat bread crumbs.
Now sprinkle that bread crumb mixture on top of the layered chicken/cheese/ham breasts.
Just do it for Pete's sake.
I don't have a picture because apparently I photographed the quick version of this recipe. As opposed to the hundred million super boring pictures I usually take of every.single.step.
Anyway, stick the pan in the oven and bake for
30-35 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, LET'S GET STARTED ON THE PARMESAN-DIJON SAUCE and melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and make a rue.
Rue.
Rue.
Really?
They couldn't come up with a more interesting word?
Rue?
Anyway add the milk and the chicken bouillon to the fabulously riveting rue.

Rue
???
???
I just looked it up!!
I've been spelling rue wrong...totally wrong....
it should be roux. R-O-U-X.
Looks a lot less bland that way doesn't it?
Anyway, add the Dijon and the Worcestershire
into the
R - O - U - X.

Now add in that lovely shaved Parmesan.

This is the Parmesan I use.
It's like candy.
C - A - N - D - Y.
Candy.

And this is what the Parmesan-Dijon Cream Sauce will look like.
Easy enough eh?

let's pull that chicken out of the oven. I always use a meat thermometer, so I pulled it out at 160 degrees and tented it for a bit.

do you see that gooey cheese?
I don't either but I know it's there cuz I put it on!!!

So plate a Chicken Cordon Bleu up,
don't be shy!!

the buttery bread crumbs,
the smoky provolone,
that salty ham,
all layered on the top of a juicy chicken breast.
And that sauce is so flavorful, full of nutty Parmesan with the nice compliments of Worcestershire and mustard.

Okay, I'm not waiting for the rest of you to plate up, Ima dig in RIGHT NOW...
out of my way camera.
Okay, so here's the recipe.
Remember, this is the EASY WAY of making Chicken Cordon Bleu.
It came from a cool cooking blog I stumbled upon called Mel's Kitchen Cafe.
Printable version is on the right hand side.
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu From www.melskitchencafe.com Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com *Serves 6 INGREDIENTS: For the Cordon Bleu: 3 large chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half length-wise (to form two thinner chicken breast cutlets) 12 slices deli ham 1 cup bread crumbs 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1/3 to 1/2 pound thinly sliced swiss cheese *Angie's note: I used provolone For the Parmesan-Dijon Cream Sauce: 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup milk 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese DIRECTIONS: Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and melted butter. Set aside. Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the 9X13-inch dish. Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham and top with 2 slices of swiss cheese, shingling across the chicken breast to make sure the entire chicken breast is covered with ham and cheese. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the chicken. Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through completely, the cheese is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden. While the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly, while cooking the flour/butter mixture for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking quickly. Stir in the chicken bouillon granules and salt. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the sauce has bubbled and thickened, remove from heat and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Keep the sauce warm until the chicken is finished baking. Serve each chicken cordon bleu portion with warm sauce. Make Ahead Instructions: Assemble the chicken, ham and cheese according to the recipe. Store the prepared bread crumb/butter mixture in a resealable plastic bag or other container. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and store it and the bread crumb mixture in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours. When ready to bake, sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and bake according to the recipe, adding anywhere from 5-15 extra minutes since it was refrigerated prior to baking. Make the sauce while the casserole bakes or make it ahead of time, let it cool, and store it covered in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, reheating over low heat and whisking to recombine before serving. | |
Oh wait, wait! Don't leave yet...I wanted to show you a couple things....
Looky what I got!!!!
A new coffee maker!!! For Christmas!

That didn't make sense I know.
So Goodness and GreatGuy bought me a new coffeemaker. Now I just have to take it out of the box and figure out how to work it.
And with Kohl's cash, I bought that new Oster blender and that nice Cuisinart immersion blender up above!!!

My current one, shown here, well, we've had it since our wedding day...
THIRTY FREAKING
YEARS AGO!
Other than the minor leaking issue, we've had no problem with it. It's a little loud and rattle-y but then so am I. Have you met me?

I just found it in my trunk.
Isn't it cute??!!

And lastly,
here's a not very good picture of some lovely art work by Jack Frost the other morning. I know it just looks like crap from this picture, but it really was quite lovely.
Okay kids, that's all I have for today's geography lesson on Switzerland, with some riveting chicken talk and artsy fartsy Jack Frost stuff mixed in. Is fartsy a bad word? We were never ever allowed to say that word growing up. Ever! My mom reads this blog so I'm sure she would be appalled with my use of this word.
Hey Ma, Ima say it..........fart.
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.
Hmmmm, forty nine is way too old to be grounded,
right???