Chicken Cordon Bleu

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It's always nice when I can make a meal that satisfies the taste preferences of every palate living in my house. Chicken cordon bleu is just such a dish.

It's fun, it's fancy, but the home run is all in the secret sauce. My standard recipe calls for lots of extra secret sauce for two reasons:

#1. That volume of liquid keeps the chicken from burning on the bottom and sticking to the pan during cooking.

#2. It makes a mean gravy for my mashed potato side dish! Or rice, or whatever.
Ingredients
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
6-12 slices ham*
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tsp paprika
1/2 cup butter
1 and 1/2 cup unsweetened white grape juice
3 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2 Tbs flour
1 and 1/4 cup half and half

Directions
Cut 12 pieces of baking string, each about 12 inches long. Set aside.

Place chicken breasts one at a time inside a freezer bag and pound the heck out of them until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Fold the cheese into quarters and hide inside folded pieces of ham. This will help keep the cheese inside the chicken when it's cooking. Use the cooking string to fold the chicken up. Tie to secure. Trim extra length.

Mix the flour and paprika in a bowl. Coat all six of your cute little chicken packages liberally with the flour and paprika.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the chicken on all sides. Add juice and bouillon to the pan. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35-40 minutes. Transfer chicken to a warm platter.

Strain liquid through a regular kitchen strainer/colander to catch any globs of cheese that have escaped. Put the clean drippings back into the pan.

Mix flour with the half and half. Whisk this new concoction into the skillet with the remaining drippings, juice, and bouillon. Simmer, stirring often until sauce is thickened and "floury" taste has disappeared, approximately 5 minutes.

While your sauce is simmering, cut strings off the chicken and get ready to plate your meal.

Serve the sauce on top of the chicken. Use additional sauce for potatoes or rice -- you won't be sorry!

*It all depends on the size of the ham. The little medallions in most lunch meat containers are pretty small, so I use two if that's the route I'm taking.

Comments

Unknown said…
wow, your recipe makes this dish looks so simple to make. and I love the final dish. I'd definitely try this one out. Allow me to share this to my yummy recipes pinterest board.

- Prasad
April 14, 2014 at 7:55 PM
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