Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
- 6 boneless chicken breasts
- 3 slices cooked ham
- 3 slices Swiss cheese
- 6 Tbsp flour
- 2 tsp paprika
- 9 Tbsp margarine (or butter)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 chicken-flavor bouillon cubes
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in heavy plastic bag and flatten with meat mallet.
- Cut ham and cheese slices in half and wrap each piece of cheese in ham.
- Lay ham/cheese on top of chicken pieces.
- Fold chicken over ham/cheese to cover and fasten with toothpicks.
- Combine flour and paprika in shallow dish and use mixture to coat chicken pieces.
- In skillet, melt margarine over medium heat.
- Brown coated chicken in margarine (or butter) until browned on all sides.
- Add chicken broth and bouillon cubes.
- Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until fork-tender.
- Remove chicken to serving platter; cover and keep warm.
- Blend cornstarch and cream until smooth and gradually stir into skillet.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened; server over chicken.
Notes
I found this recipe in a cookbook that was given to me as a gift as a fairly new homemaker. The picture that accompanied the recipe looked amazingly delicious! When I read over the recipe, however, I was a little intimidated. It seemed pretty complicated. I don't remember the occasion that I first tried it, but the taste made it worth all the effort.
We have a family tradition that the "birthday person" gets to choose the meals on their birthday. This soon became the dish of choice. We usually fix it for our Christmas Eve dinner as well. Because of it is fairly complicated and is quite rich, we save it for special occasions. In our family, it is almost always served with chicken-flavored Rice-A-Roni and steamed corn. The rice serves basically as another place to pour the amazing gravy. Another "tradition" that has evolved with this meal, is for me to say that all the components are the same color. My kids tease me when I say it, but we have never added or changed any component so as to add color!