Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Wow! It's been ages since I posted on this blog. Well anyway, I would like toshare another dish that was a hit to my family. I found it online and it's called, drumroll please......

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU (THE EASY WAY) !!!!!

I have been thinking of trying to cook this dish the normal way but just thinking about the steps and the rolling of the chicken and all of that makes me so tired already. ( I know I'm so lazy sometimes!) So, while finding an easier way to cook cordon bleu, I found this recipe! 

It was so easy!

  I just had to thinly slice the chicken. Lay the pieces on the pan, lay the ham on the chicken followed by the cheeseand then top all of it off with buttered bread crumbs.

                   Put it in the oven and voila!

          Yummy in our tummy! :)

I didn't make the exact cream sauce in the recipe. I only used the first five ingredients for the sauce and it still tasted great :)

And now for the recipe..

*Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:

For the Cordon Bleu:
3 large chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half length-wise (to form two thinner chicken breast cutlets)
12 slices deli ham
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 to 1/2 pound thinly sliced swiss cheese

For the Parmesan-Dijon Cream Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and melted butter. Set aside.
Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the 9X13-inch dish. Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham and top with 2 slices of swiss cheese, shingling across the chicken breast to make sure the entire chicken breast is covered with ham and cheese. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the chicken.
Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through completely, the cheese is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden.
While the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly, while cooking the flour/butter mixture for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking quickly. Stir in the chicken bouillon granules and salt. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the sauce has bubbled and thickened, remove from heat and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Keep the sauce warm until the chicken is finished baking.
Serve each chicken cordon bleu portion with warm sauce.

Make Ahead Instructions: Assemble the chicken, ham and cheese according to the recipe. Store the prepared bread crumb/butter mixture in a resealable plastic bag or other container. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and store it and the bread crumb mixture in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours. When ready to bake, sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and bake according to the recipe, adding anywhere from 5-15 extra minutes since it was refrigerated prior to baking. Make the sauce while the casserole bakes or make it ahead of time, let it cool, and store it covered in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, reheating over low heat and whisking to recombine before serving.

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Enjoy!

Happiness from Chicken Breast Bulgogi

Today's Adventure: Chicken Breast Bulgogi

     Last week, I was telling my mom about a Korean fastfood place that me and my family tried and she mentioned something about my sister's girlfriend cooking the best korean bulgogi. I didn't have any idea what the dish was. So I searched on the internet and found out what it was, in layman's term, Korean barbecue. I vowed to try cooking it. I searched for a recipe that was doabe. I didn't want to try something complicated and with too exotic ingredients. So I found one that I liked which had chicken thigh/drumstick fillet, sesame oil, soy suace, onions, onion leaves, salt and pepper and when it was time for our grocery shopping, I was looking for chicken thigh and drumstick fillet but they ran out. So I settled for breast fillets and was hoping to find a bulgogi recipe that includes chicken breast. We then looked for sesame oil and unfortunately, the store didn't have any. So I just got a pack of sesame seeds. I was hoping that they would do. When we got home, I searched for a chicken breast bulgogi recipe and I found one !!! Not too much surprise there. We can find almost everything on the internet.

     So earlier today, I was reviewing the recipe and I saw that I couldn't just scatter the sesame seeds in the dish because I was going to marinate the chicken. I really wanted to cook the dish as near to the recipe as possible to get a more authentic flavor. So I searched for a method on how to make my own sesame seed oil. I found one that didn't need too much work on this page, I chose the third option and I did it!!!! 

     That isn't even the highlight. When my son had a smell test, he loved the aroma from when I was frying the chicken, and he got excited already. When he did a taste test, he wanted to eat his lunch right away!

     That! made me happy =D Oh the simple joys of being a mom. :)

     What was your day's highlight?  Did you try a new recipe? =)