Chicken Cordon Bleu

From time to time I bring out a recipe that is not commonly thought of, and this past week was one of those times. The dish this past week was chicken cordon bleu; chicken stuffed with ham and swiss cheese, truly delicious. The recipe itself is really easy to make, a bit messy, but easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 3 large skinless chicken breasts
• Salt
• Pepper
• 6 slices of thinly sliced deli ham of your preference (virginia, honey, baked)
• 12 slices of Swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp water
• 1 tbs thyme
• 1 tbs of olive oil

First start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Now get your chicken ready. Start by laying down some plastic wrap, then place your chicken breast, then another piece of plastic wrap. You do this to prevent chicken juices from flying around your kitchen. 🙂
With your meat mallet, using the flat side, pound out each breast until about 1/4 thick. Now be careful not to tear the chicken as it can easily be accomplished. The breast will probably double in size. Continue this process for each breast.

Remove each breast from the plastic wrap and season with salt and pepper. Lay two pieces of cheese on the breast, two pieces of ham on top of the cheese, then two more pieces of cheese. Roll up each breast into a roll, or log if you will, folding in whatever you can with the chicken to form somewhat of a seal.

Now you need three bowls, one for the beaten egg with water, one for the flour, and one for the panko bread crumbs seasoned with the thyme. Add some olive oil to the panko, and mix well.

Take your flour and thoroughly dust each breast, then put in the egg mixture (this is where it gets messy), then carefully roll in the breadcrumbs and place in your baking dish. Repeat this process with each breast.

Bake in the oven for roughly 25-30 minutes. The outer coating should be golden brown. Remove from the oven, and let cool for a few minutes. Cut into large slices and serve with garlic mashed potatoes. Trust me, this one is worth it.