This is our family’s traditional New Year’s Eve dinner. Over the years, we’ve experimented with different methods for making these delicious little bundles. We’ve used toothpicks, and thread to keep them rolled up, and once I even tried cutting a cavity into the center of each piece of meat and sliding the ham and cheese inside. It all tastes good, but it’s a mess to make and to look at. Then my son, Richard, and his wife, Lindsey, developed this technique, and I couldn’t wait to try it! It works beautifully, and the results are not only stunning, they’re mouth-wateringly divine! Try it!
Thanks, Richard and Lindsey!
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Divide Swiss cheese into four 1 ounce rectangles. My cheese was sliced, so I stacked them up, then cut them.
Place one of the rectangles of cheese in the center of a slice of ham, and wrap it up to form a bundle.
Set the ham/cheese bundles aside.
Trim the fat from the chicken breasts.
Insert one piece of chicken into a plastic zipper bag, and removing all the air, seal it. Using the smooth side of a meat mallet, pound it out until it’s very thin, and about tripled in surface area.
When both pieces are flattened, cut each in half. (Using a sharp knife you can cut them while they’re still in the bag. It’s easier and less messy. Sorry, I failed to photograph that step.)
Cut 4 pieces of plastic wrap approximately 15-18 inches long. Place one piece of chicken on each piece of plastic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place a ham bundle in the center of each piece of chicken, then using the corners of the plastic, pull the chicken around the ham. Twist the plastic tightly.
Place the plastic-wrapped chicken on a plate in the freezer for 45 minutes. You don’t want them to freeze, but you need them to hold their shape.
While the chicken is in the freezer, prepare a breading station as follows:
Put crumbs in a pie plate. I make my own by processing crackers and BBQ flavored potato chips, but you could use panko or dry bread crumbs.
Whisk up one egg to make a wash.
Combine flour, salt and pepper.
Now you’re ready to bread the chicken.
When you unwrap it, it will hold it’s shape.
Dredge each piece in the flour, roll in the egg wash, then coat with crumbs.
Place the coated pieces back in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will make the crumbs set into the wash so they don’t fall off during the cooking process.
While they’re setting up, prepare your oil for a flash-frying procedure and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a 2 quart sauce pan, heat oil to medium high. This was the perfect setting for my stove.
Fry the pieces one at a time for 45-60 seconds per side. Turn them gently!
Remove them from the oil to a rack placed over a paper towel.
When they’ve all been flash-fried, bake them at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes.
While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce.
Combine cream of chicken soup, milk, sour cream, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan, and whisking constantly, heat. Don’t bring to a boil. Thin with milk, if desired. Serve immediately.
- 2 large chicken breast halves at room temperature (about ½ pound each)
- 4 slices deli ham
- 4 ounces Swiss Cheese
- 1 egg
- ½ cup flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup crumbs (use panko, bread crumbs, or my *SECRET RECIPE)
- 1-2 cups vegetable or canola oil
- Plastic wrap
- 25 buttery crackers and 2 cups BBQ flavor potato chips processed together into crumbs
- 1 can cream of chicken soup (10.5 ounce)
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Divide the cheese into 4 cubes or rectangles.
- Wrap a slice of ham around each cube of cheese.
- Place a chicken breast into plastic zipper bag, squeeze out the air, and seal the bag.
- Pound the chicken until it’s very thin, and more than twice its original size.
- Cut each piece of chicken in half.
- Tear 4 sheets of plastic into 15 inch lengths, and place a piece of chicken on each sheet.
- Place a ham bundle in the center of each piece of chicken.
- Pull up the corners of the plastic causing the chicken to cover the ham bundles. Wrap the plastic tightly around the chicken and ham.
- Place them in the freezer for 45 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper.
- In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork.
- Put the crumbs in a pie plate.
- When the chicken comes out of the freezer, dredge each piece in the flour mixture, roll in the egg wash, and coat with the crumbs.
- Place the coated chicken back in the freezer for 15 more minutes.
- Bring the oil to medium high heat in a 2 quart sauce pan.
- Flash fry the chicken, one piece at a time, for approximately one minute on per side, then place it on a rack to drip while you fry the others.
- Put the chicken in a 13 x 9 inch pan and bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes.
- Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan, and whisk. Stirring constantly, heat until hot, but don’t boil. You may add more milk if a thinner consistency is desired.
- Serve immediately.
Chiken Corden Bleu