Thursday, January 21, 2010

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I'm so glad I saw Biz's chicken cordon bleu earlier today! I hadn't thawed anything for our dinner and Johnny's co-worker was coming over. I was afraid I'd have to go outside in rainy, freezing weather just to grab one or two items at the grocery store. After seeing this, I grabbed chicken from the freezer and knew I had leftover ham in the fridge and cheese from my mom's trip to Italy. Perfect!

5 thin sliced chicken breasts
1/2 cup provolone cheese, cut in slices
1/2 cup ham, cut in slices
salt and pepper to taste

To start, I layed out the thin sliced chicken breasts on a big cutting board. If you buy regular chicken breasts you could pound them out to be thinner to stuff and cook.

Next I took equal amounts of the ham and cheese and covered half of the chicken (widthwise) with them. I folded the other half of the chicken over and secured the end with a toothpick. They looked like little pillows!

The cheese I used was a provolone. My mom brought it back from Italy and the outside has a hard rind, but the inside is very soft and creamy. The flavor is so much better than American provolone cheese! Christo of Chez What? shared a few tips and knowledge about cheese with me after his cheese post yesterday! It's very interesting and informative if you get a chance to read it.

After seasoning the chicken with a little salt and pepper I put a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet. I seared one side of the chicken on medium high heat for about two minutes and then flipped it and put a lid on. I lowered the temperature to medium and cooked for about five minutes, flipped again and cooked another two minutes with the lid on.

I forgot to get a picture until I'd already started eating and cut into it! At least you can see the inside and the way the cheese melted beautifully.

Anything that fell out the sides I just scooped on top of the chicken. I could have been more diligent in securing all of the edges, but I'm lazy! Served alongside Harvest Grain Blend from Trader Joe's and fresh steamed broccoli.

10 comments:

live pura vida said...

I love that harvest grains blend! It's a good side dish for just about anything and can be flavored with all sorts of sauces.

Laura said...

I love this recipe! Quick fast and good. I love your blog Christina-it's great

What did the co-worker think?

Christo Gonzales said...

wow this cheese is more than I imagined - its beautiful and I can see how soft it is inside - you have one of those "prop" cheeses that you see in Italian Deli movies...lucky you!

Christina said...

Anne, this is the 2nd time I've had the harvest blend and we love it. I cook it using vegetarian bouillon instead of water.

Laura thank you! The co-worker loved it! Both him and J had two! Coming back for 2nds is always a win in my book!

Thanks again Christo! All the cheese talk made me want to break into it! It was perfect for this dish. All the flavors went beautifully together.

Anonymous said...

I noticed you haven't eat you broccoli yet... Look greati have made it before with ham slices not with larger pc of ham will have to try that next time.

Ally's Sweet and Savory Eats said...

Yum! Chicken cordon bleu is probably one of my favorite meals to order...but I've never made it myself! Now, I definitely need to try this one...it looks easy!

Shannon (The Daily Balance) said...

loooovin' that cheesey goodness! yumyumyum ;)

sophia said...

That looks crazy, Christina...crazy good! I'm loving that cheese, but you probably already knew I would. I've never seen provolone that didn't come pre-sliced, sad to say. Yum~

Anonymous said...

Hooray! So glad it worked out for you Christina - looks delicious!

Mmmmm.....cheese! :D

Simply Life said...

Wow this is so impressive and looks great!