What do you do with leftover ham? Because we had quite a bit left over from Easter, and ham sandwiches only go so far. I had been talking to someone recently who was raving over the Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich from Schlotzsky's, which is a sandwich chain available in Texas, among other places. The idea of Chicken Cordon Bleu intrigued me, mainly because I haven't ever tried it before. I didn't actually have a recipe, but based on what I have heard, it's pretty much ham and swiss cheese stuffed into a breaded chicken breast.
I had previously made a Rachael Ray recipe that involved thinly sliced steak, rolled around a filling of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. I took that technique and applied it to this dinner, using thinly pounded chicken breasts and wrapping it around a filling of diced ham mixed with breadcrumbs and thyme (no cheese, for Bryan-safe reasons).
Most of the time, recipes recommend dipping foods into an egg wash before breading- the egg gives the breading something to stick to. I don't use egg washes (again, for Bryan-safe reasons), so I usually just make do with a very thin breading. This time, though, I decided to try something tricky. I remembered a Sandra Lee recipe for Baklava which called for butter-flavored cooking spray as a shortcut for melted butter (brushed between phyllo layers). So I sprayed my Chicken Cordon Bleus with butter-flavored cooking spray before dipping into the breadcrumbs- and it worked great! A new recipe and a new technique- I'm pretty pleased with myself this week. =)
I had previously made a Rachael Ray recipe that involved thinly sliced steak, rolled around a filling of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. I took that technique and applied it to this dinner, using thinly pounded chicken breasts and wrapping it around a filling of diced ham mixed with breadcrumbs and thyme (no cheese, for Bryan-safe reasons).
Most of the time, recipes recommend dipping foods into an egg wash before breading- the egg gives the breading something to stick to. I don't use egg washes (again, for Bryan-safe reasons), so I usually just make do with a very thin breading. This time, though, I decided to try something tricky. I remembered a Sandra Lee recipe for Baklava which called for butter-flavored cooking spray as a shortcut for melted butter (brushed between phyllo layers). So I sprayed my Chicken Cordon Bleus with butter-flavored cooking spray before dipping into the breadcrumbs- and it worked great! A new recipe and a new technique- I'm pretty pleased with myself this week. =)
Recipe- No recipe, but inspired by a number of sources, including Rachael Ray, Schlotzsky's, and Sandra Lee.
Modifications- Made a cream sauce for the non-allergic family to use.
Reactions- Generally a success. The lone dissenter was Claudia, who simply didn't want to try.
Notes- I think this recipe is a keeper, although the quality of the ham definitely improved the dish.
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