Chicken Cordon Bleu 2

Found on Mel's kitchen cafe

I have made a couple different recipes for this (as always!), and really like this one, and it was a hit with my family too (which is always a plus!).  They had a really great tip too on this website... they said, "Thankfully Cook’s Country came out with a clever version of how to stuff this classic dish and it peaked my interest. The shredded swiss cheese is rolled up in ham slices and then gently tucked inside a pocket cut into the chicken."  I didn't shred my cheese, but used cheese slices and just rolled those up in the ham and then stuffed them inside the chicken.  It worked great!


Note: To make sure the cheese doesn’t leak out of the chicken while baking, use large (at least 8-ounce) chicken breasts and chill the stuffed chicken breasts in the refrigerator before breading. (I didn't chill mine, and it still turned out fine)

Make-Ahead Tip: The breaded chicken can be refrigerated covered for up to 1 day.

*Serves 4 to 6

25 Ritz crackers
4 slices hearty sandwich bread, white or wheat(I wanted this part to be quick so I used store bought italian bread crumbs)
6 tablespoons butter, melted (I didn't use butter, but used olive oil instead)
8 thin slices deli ham (about 8 ounces)
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
4 thick boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds total), see note
Salt and pepper
3 large eggs ( I realized as I was making this that my hubby used the last egg for breakfast! So I omitted this)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the crackers and bread in a food processor until they are coarsely ground. Drizzle in the melted butter (or olive oil) and pulse (I just mixed mine with a spoon) to incorporate together. Transfer the crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the crumbs are lightly browned. Transfer the crumbs to a shallow baking dish (a pie plate works great!). Leave the oven on.

Top each ham slice with about 1/4 cup shredded cheese (Or if you have slices, roll these up in the ham). If your ham slices are too small, shingle two ham slices on top of each other to create a larger slice and roll the cheese up in that. Roll tightly and set aside. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Cut a pocket in the thickest part of the chicken breast and stuff each pocket with 2 (I only used 1) ham/cheese rolls. Pull the top flap of chicken over the rolls and press to seal (you can use a toothpick to gently secure the pocket edge, if you like). Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the stuffed chicken, covered, for at least 20 minutes. (I forgot this step, but it worked fine)

In another shallow dish or pie plate, beat the eggs (or if you don't have eggs, just mix olive oil, enough to dip the chicken in on both sides, and mustard) and mustard. Place the flour in a third shallow dish. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Working with one stuffed chicken breast at a time, coat the chicken lightly with flour and then dip in the egg mixture, covering both sides. Dredge the chicken in the toasted bread crumbs, pressing lightly to help the crumbs stick to the chicken. (The breaded chicken can be refrigerated covered for up to 1 day.)

Transfer the chicken to a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven until the bottom of the chicken is browned, about 10 minutes. Move the chicken to a middle rack in the oven, reduce the temperature to 400 (you don’t have to leave the chicken out of the oven while the temperature adjusts, just put it back in the oven and then reduce the temperature), and bake until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through (160 degrees on an thermometer), about 25-30 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Cook’s Country April/May 2010