A comfort food that I remember having as a kid and absolutely loving is chicken cordon bleu. This might not be a comfort food to some of you but for me it is. Unfortunately I can’t really remember the last time I had it or made it. There is a foggy memory out there in which I purchased one of those pre-made frozen processed chicken cordon bleu and really disliking them. I remember mushy, salty and icky, which is probably what prompted the avoidance of such a wonderful meal. I had asked J what he would like for dinner and he suggested this forgotten entrée.

 

My mom used to make this with either Swiss cheese or mozzarella cheese and always some sort of ham. I can remember the house filling with the aroma of ham and cheese and getting excited to come to the table to eat.

 

Ingredients

 

  • 4 chicken breasts skinless and boneless
  • 4-8 slices, depending on size of ham, bacon or prosciutto (I used honey ham since it was in the fridge)
  • 4 slices of Swiss, emmental or gruyere
  • ¼ cup flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup bread crumbs (panko or whatever you like)
  • I added a small blend of Italian seasoning and garlic to my breadcrumbs but you can leave it plain as well
  • 2 eggs beaten

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Lay chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and using the flat side of a meat tenderizer (or the bottom of a frying pan) pound the chicken to ¼ inch thick. Remove top sheet of plastic and lay down a slice of ham and cheese tuck in sides of chicken if you can and roll like a jelly roll, secure with toothpicks or twine.

 

Line up 3 bowls, one with flour, one with egg and the last with breadcrumbs. Season flour with salt and pepper and breadcrumbs with herbs if you like.

 

Lightly roll your chicken in flour patting off excess, dip in egg, and finish in the breadcrumbs. Place of parchment lined baking sheet. Bake chicken for 20-30 min or until no longer pink and starting to brown. Cheese will probably be oozing out from the side.

 

I stuffed mine a little too full so it was hard to roll them up and looked more like pockets but I don’t think is anything wrong with too much ham and gooey cheese.

 

 

I am sorry Chicken Cordon Bleu about forgetting you all these years. You are in fact delicious and memorable.

I love that this is savoury, salty, and possibly sweet from ham and has a yummy texture from the breadcrumbs and creaminess of the cheese. I probably could have eaten several of these but luckily I didn’t and forced myself to eat green beans and rice as well.