Chicken Cordon Bleu

So for all of you lovers of this tasty dish, I guarantee you this meal is neither hard to make nor expensive.  I know that we all generally think of this dish associated with weddings and therefore on a fancier note, but this honestly makes quite the perfect Sunday dinner, anytime of the year.  This past weekend my friend Adrian came over and I taught him how to make this tasty creation, but with a Kirsten twist (shhh the secret is always in the sauce).  We also enjoyed some absolutely wonderful desserts that he picked up from Lutz Bakery just down the street from my place on Montrose, if you are on a diet or are easily persuaded to eat too many sweets, I do NOT suggest stopping in here.  The aroma alone will "have you at hello". 

Chicken Cordon Bleu

 preheat oven to 425 F

•  4 good size chicken breasts, (butterflied and pounded out thin with meat mallet)
• 1 cup italian bread crumbs (or seasoned panko bread crumbs)
• 3 cups flour
• 2 large eggs scrambled
• 1 cup milk (maybe more)
• 1 lb deli ham sliced thick (smoked is the tastiest)
• 1lb baby swiss sliced
• 2 cups mayo
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup of fresh basil
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine (pinot grigio is my favorite)
• 1/2 cup of butter melted
• salt and pepper

1. In pie plate or good size bowl add together your italian bread crumbs and flour, mix well
2. in separate pie plate or good size bowl add together your eggs and milk.
3. take your chicken breast (make sure that when you use meat mallet you thin it out as much as possible but without creating holes in the chicken, the more holes the greater the likelihood that your innards will melt out) and dip in egg mixture, then transfer to flour/bread crumbs.  Really only one side has to be well drenched.  Return same breast to egg mixture and again to bread crumbs.  Set breast on plate/platter with side with majority of bread crumbs face up.  Repeat with other four breasts, and make sure to lay them so that they do not lie on top of each other (if they do, the bread crumbs will get mucky and fall off).
4. now take one of your breasts and flip it so bread crumbs are counter-side down.  Take three peices of ham and lay them so they overlap eachother horizontally.  Then take two peices of swiss and break them into small enough peices to place in middle of ham.  Fold up ends of ham onto the swiss (sort of like wrapping a present), and roll the ham so the cheese is snugly inside.  Basically you want to create a casing for the cheese with the ham so that when it melts it stays within the confines of the ham and therefore within the chicken.
5. Now place ham/cheese bundle on chicken breast, best if it is placed so it is close to the center of the chicken breast but still fully on one side of the butterflied filet (this makes it easier to roll).  Now take the other side of breast and roll it over the ham/cheese bundle.  Tuck edges in/under so as to secure everything to the best of one's ability.  You can then use a few toothpicks to make sure things stay secured (make sure to remember to tell you guests about the toothpicks, or take them out before serving).  Also if it now looks like you have some cracks in your breading, add some more breadcrumbs at this point so that you don't see any of the actually chicken)
6. Place into a 9 X 13 glass pan that has been greased with some of the melted butter. 
7. Repeat process with the rest of the chicken.  Once all the chicken has been rolled, lightly spread/dab the butter over the outsides of the breasts (using a pastry brush), soaking it into the breadcrumbs (this will get your cordon bleu's crispy without frying them). Lightly salt and pepper the tops of chicken.
8. Place in oven at 425 for at least 30 minutes, may want to go longer in order to give a more crispy golden brown coating.
9. While breasts are cooking, using a food processor or blender puree together your mayo, sourcream, garlic, and basil.  Make sure there are no chunks.  The sauce should be a light to medium green color and smooth.
10. Now in a small or medium saucepot, pour in the blenders contents.  Bring up to temperature over medium heat, do not let burn, stir every so often.
11. Once hot all the way through, turn up heat to high, bring to a boil stirring constantly so does not burn on bottom.  Add your 1/4 cup of white wine, stir for 2-3 minutes, then bring down to simmer over low heat.  At this point add salt and pepper to taste. Take off heat and put lid on pot, place to side.  (You may want to reheat a little later before serving, but better to take off heat so it doesn't burn/over cook).
12. Once chicken is golden brown, take out of oven and place on plate/platter.  Let sit for couple minutes, then serve with the sauce drizzle (or drenched) over the top of it.

**I like to make broccoli, cauliflower, or mixture of the two with this meal because the cordon bleu sauce tastes excellent atop this as well. Also serve this with a nice dry white wine, will bring out the flavors of your meal! (even though I still will of course drink red with mine)

Often the sauce is placed inside the chicken but I like doing it this way for two reasons: 1)  sauce may run out of the chicken breast and although everything will still be tasty, will not look nearly as good, and 2)  this way you can use as much sauce as you like, and trust me you will want to put this on everything!