Has anyone here made old-skool chicken cordon bleu from scratch? At home, in culinary school, at a job inside a professional kitchen … ? Watched grandma make it? Links to fave YouTube maybe?
I’ve grasped that a chicken breast is pounded flat, then rolled around the ham’n’cheese filling, then breaded … then pan-fried, deep-fried, or baked, depending on whom you ask. But I’ve only ever eaten the frozen premade kind, and I haz questions:
Should I do a flour-egg/milk-breadcrumb coating, like for traditional pork chops, or something else?
Should I (attempt to) slice the chicken boobie in half the long way 1st for a thinner cutlet, or use the whole thing?
How do I keep it shut? Pin with toothpicks, then remove before serving?
I’m pretty good in the kitchen, but my style leans heavily towards cooking by intuition. I suspect that this a scenario where close attention to the recipe details will make/break me …
I make ‘sort-of’ chicken cordon bleu. I say ‘sort of’ because I usually have thighs, and usually don’t have breasts. And I use ham and Swiss instead of prosciutto and Gruyere because that’s that I tend to have. Otherwise, I prepare it as in this recipe.
When you make the rolls, roll them tightly in plastic wrap. I take the ends of the plastic wrap in hand, and roll the chicken roll so it is very tight. I let it rest while I’m preparing the coating, or longer than that. It seems it helps to keep the rolls from coming undone.
This. The last sentence is a little confusing. Don’t mix the flour or the crumbs into the eggs. Just season the eggs with salt and pepper. I don’t, but I do season the bread crumbs as quoted, and I do mix the butter into them.
I’ve never made that specific dish, but I’ve done a lot of breading and frying. It’s usually “flour-egg-breadcrumbs” in that order for just about everything. A thinner cutlet is usually better, until it’s too thin, of course. Close with toothpicks and keep track of them (three in, three out, as Dung Beetle says). You probably don’t need enough oil for full immersion. I’d use just an inch or two and turn it over at the halfway point to continue frying on the other side.
ETA: Flour, egg, breadcrumbs. Separately, and in that order.
Gosh, it’s been a while, but I should make it more often.
I butterfly the chicken (slice parallel to the table) leaving it attached on one side and then pound flat.
Season with salt and pepper. I believe the recipe I used called for a little mustard to be spread inside the chicken, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary. Fill with cheese and ham. (I’ve also done this with cheese and cooked broccoli.)
I use prosciutto and provolone, usually with some parmesan also. I do dip and bread them sometimes, but mostly just dust with flour and bake. You need to pound out the meat well so it will be large enough to wrap a decent amount of filling. You can also use a whole breast and make a large version. The hard part of wrapping is to get the ends closed up so the cheese doesn’t run out.
You can also just use two pieces of chicken or just fold over and form it as a sandwich instead of rolling it.
I’ve made it multiple times, easier than you can imagine. I actually recommend making extra as long as you are going through the effort. My biggest suggestion is to prepare them the night before and leave them on a paper towel slightly covered in the fridge until cooking time the next day. It will help dry them out a bit more and get them crispier rather than gooey (which are still delicious).
Oh and bread crumbs are the way to go. Have some egg and bread crumbs ready to go for patching any areas that fall off en route to the pan.
I make what I call Cordon Blanc - the way it comes out, it’s only good enough for third place.
I have made it two ways, with the large Costco chicken breasts. Neither way uses coating.
The first way: slice the breast into two thin pieces, then put ham and Swiss (or Jarlsberg) on it, then fold it over and use a toothpick to close it.
The second way: slice the breast into two half-breast “blocks”, then cut an opening into the side of each one, stuff with cheese and ham, and close with a toothpick.
Rather than coating, I season them with Penzey’s spices; my go-to ones are Northwoods and 33rd & Galena.
~Take the BREAST and slice the flaps(which will be the bottom) to make longer,bcuz after you wrap it snuggly around the HAM&SWISS roll, that’s how it’s kept together!
~Since the BREAST is naturally MOIST,you only need to press it into a plate of breadcrumbs(I love to use MOUTH~WATERING ITALIAN breadcrumbs)
~Best to use thin sliced HONEY♡HAM & thin sliced BABY♡SWISS!Slightly overlapping & alternating,(a slice of ham,a slice of cheese,ham then cheese,ham,cheese etc.)Then roll it up and wrap the already coated chicken breast around it♡
~350° for 40-45mins. in a shallow metal(aluminum)pan lined with foil for easy clean-up!
~♡~BON APETITE!!!~♡~
Well, thanks to everyone’s advice - and the linked video - I felt brave enough to try it tonight. Delicious!!
Critiques: I rolled them freehand, and used thinly sliced ham and provolone. Mostly, I didn’t wanna splurge on prosciutto if it would get “lost” but consensus is that this upgrade is almost mandatory.
I should have used the Saran Wrap method to roll 'em up, since they weren’t quite as tight as I’d like.
Oh, and I added a slice of pepper jack on top for the last 5 minutes of baking. That touch is a keeper.
I didn’t season the chicken itself much, but added a liberal shake of the Hot “Slap Yo Mama” seasoning mix to the flour. Perfect!! Just a kiss of heat.
I’m making this again using my own self-criticisms (don’t throw the damn Saran Wrap away after pounding - use it to roll!) and as I was prepping, my I.T. Guy wandered by and asked if there was any way to incorporate bacon into this dish.
I can’t offhand think of anything, since wrapping it in bacon would disturb the crumb coating, right?
I may simply drape a slice or two across/between them like a slackline to bake at the same time, but that’s not really melding the two in any way. Anyone got any ideas?
