Perfect Chicken Cordon Bleu

I had been away for the weekend and left The Husband with a supermarket list:

• Milk
• Yogurt
• Something for Monday night’s dinner

When I came home on Sunday night, he had prepped chicken cordon bleu for Monday. Seriously. The man puts me to shame sometimes.

But it was a terrific idea to do the prep the night before. All that was left for me to do on Monday night was to add breading, pan fry and bake. And I have to say, this was the most perfectly breaded item I’ve ever made. I’m deeply proud of it.

Ingredients

• One large boneless, skinless chicken breast per person, pounded thin
• Prosciutto slices to cover the chicken (size varies)
• Shredded gruyere cheese
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten in a wide bowl
• Panko bread crumbs
• Butter for frying

Instructions

The Night Before

Take your thinly pounded chicken breast and layer prosciutto and gruyere over it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roll tightly and store seam side down, covered, overnight.

The Day Of

About 45 minutes before dinnertime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Arrange your prep station as follows: a paper plate or cutting board covered with all-purpose flour; the bowl of beaten eggs; a paper plate or cutting board covered with a generous helping of panko bread crumbs.

Remove your chicken from the fridge. First, dredge in flour to coat. Then dip into the eggs, to coat. Finally, dip the eggy chicken into the panko. Set the chicken roll-ups aside until all are breaded.

In an oven-safe skillet, melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown on all sides.

Insert the skillet into the oven. Check the temperature at the 10-minute mark, although it will likely take closer to 15 to reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.

Plate and serve to rave reviews.

Results

“Wow, it’s like a pinwheel in here!” said the Tiny Kitchen Assistant. “That’s pretty cool! And it’s not like I’m going to complain about having two kinds of meat in one dinner, especially if one of those meats is ham. Mmmm, ham!”

The Husband commended me on my excellent breading and pan frying skills. Usually I leave half of the breading behind in the pan, but this time I went a little hotter than usual and everything stayed together just fine.

Tags: chicken, main dish, make-ahead, oven, Recipe, stovetop

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