Chicken Cordon Bleu is a French-inspired poultry dish that was developed by chefs in the United States in the effort to imitate stuffed meat dishes from Europe. Cordon Bleu which means “blue ribbon” in French has chicken, cheese such as Gruyere or Swiss, and prosciutto or ham as the basic ingredients. As crust, many chicken cordon bleu recipes include breadcrumbs. Chicken Cordon Bleu most often appears in a rolled presentation, with the chicken pounded flat and the ham and cheese wrapped up inside. The tightly rolled Chicken Cordon Bleu can then be dipped in breadcrumbs and fried, grilled, or baked.
This chicken dish has been popular in the Philippines for years now. It has been my favorite since the first time I tried it at a wedding reception in the late 90’s. I like it so much that I made it part of our wedding menu and my eldest daughter’s baptism menu as well. Chicken Cordon Bleu is certainly a dish your family will love! With the tender oven baked chicken and a soft cheesy core, you will find this chicken dish irresistible! It may be a bit time consuming to prepare, but there’s really nothing difficult about it. You can prepare it ahead of time, so time won’t really be a problem! :)
Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
- 5 chicken breasts, split into two
- 4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup regular bread crumbs
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp Herbes De Provence
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 5 Tbsp olive oil
- 10 slices deli ham, sliced thinly
- 10 slices Swiss cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a bowl and mix with olive oil. Set aside.
- Mix regular and panko bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese, herbes de provence, and 2 tsp garlic powder. Set aside.
- Wash and clean chicken breasts. Pat dry and cut each breast into two pieces.
- Place a chicken piece on a cutting board. Lay a plastic wrap over the chicken piece and pound with a mallet to about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Be sure not to pound too hard because the meat may tear or create holes. Do the same thing with all the chicken pieces.
- Season each chicken piece with a bit of salt/pepper and the remaining 2 tsp garlic powder. Be careful not to over salt the chicken as it is quite thin and the cheese and ham are also salty.
- Roll chicken, making sure you tuck the sides in as much as possible to prevent the cheese from oozing out too much while baking. Secure the roll with toothpicks.
- Dip each chicken roll into the melted butter and olive oil mixture, then roll it in the breadcrumbs and Parmesan mixture. Make sure all the sides are well coated.
- Place in a casserole dish or plate. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to ensure that the breadcrumbs stay put on the chicken.
- Preheat oven to 375F. When ready to bake, place each chicken roll on a rack on a dripping pan, making sure you don't overcrowd them.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. The time depends on how thinly you pounded the chicken.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool down a little. Remove toothpicks. Slice and serve with rice, bread rolls or salad. * I made a sauce for it using about a cup of milk, 1/2 cup drippings, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper, herbes de provence and cornstarch.
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