CHICKEN CORDON BLEU with PARMESAN CREAM SAUCE

Are you like me and always looking for an easy to prepare but delicious dinner suitable for picky eaters and dinner guests alike? This just might be the recipe for you.

I can’t believe I’ve never tried this before. I’ve known about it for as long as I can remember. Why haven’t I tried it? Who knows! All I can say is that I was really missing out on something wonderful.

INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts
Ham, thinly sliced (I used Black Forest from the deli)
Swiss cheese, sliced
1/2 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Begin by preparing the chicken breasts. Butterfly the chicken breasts by cutting horizontally without cutting all the way through. Lay them open and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and with the flat side of a meat mallet, pound the chicken until it is an even 1/2 inch thick. This will ensure the meat cooks evenly.

To each chicken breast add a layer of ham and a couple of layers of Swiss cheese. (I like a lot of cheese.) Roll up in a jelly roll type form and seal with a toothpick until time to bake.

Prepare a breading station. In the first bowl prepare your seasoned flour. In the second bowl, you will have your beaten eggs. The third bowl will contain the Panko breadcrumbs. You could make your own breadcrumbs but I prefer Panko for the texture it gives.

Lightly batter the chicken rolls in the flour, dip in the egg, and dredge in the Panko breadcrumbs. Place in a shallow baking dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare the Parmesan sauce. In a heavy saute pan, melt the butter and add the flour, cooking for 2-3 minutes to eliminate the flour taste. Add the garlic powder, Worcestershire Sauce, and milk, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and add the cheese, stirring until it is melted. When ready to serve, spoon generously over the chicken.

I may have added too much cheese to the sauce. Confession time, I added more than the 1/2 cup listed. It should have been a thinner consistency, but it was still delicious. This was a good “do as I say, not as I do” lesson. There are times when less is better.

Also, if you are wondering why the chicken looks so yellow? It’s not the camera, even though artificial lighting can produce that, it’s our eggs! We raise our own hens and the eggs I used were collected this morning. The yolks are SO orange, it changes the color of everything I cook.

If you really wanted to make this dish special, you could substitute prosciutto for the ham and gruyere for the swiss cheese….YUMMM!