The Yummiest Chicken Cordon Bleu...Eva!

I'm about to admit to you that I watch PBS. 

And not for Sesame Street or something else legitimate.

My husband and I are a wee bit obsessed with these two cooking shows...America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.  

Have you seen them?  They make some really interesting, yummy recipes.  And they explain things like the chemistry behind why you should use one cut of meat over the other.  And charts that show where exactly the meat is coming from.  Charts!  And step by step instructions and tips on how and why a recipe works.

It's really a novel of a concept compared to something you would find on Food Network.  Now I love me some Food Network, but these shows actually test dozens upon dozens of recipes before they come up with the best one.  And I believe them.

Last night I made their Chicken Cordon Bleu.  It was to die for!  It had a Ritz cracker crust (delicious!) along with yummy slices of ham and Swiss cheese which combined to make a fantastic flavor.  And it could not have been easier.

Now I'm not much for stuffing chicken breasts.  You usually have to flatten them out with a meat mallet and then roll them up.  Which in my experience usually creates more of a mess than a masterpiece.  But these, these little bundles are genius!  All you have to do it a cut a slit in the chicken and insert the rolled up pieces of ham/cheese and you're done.  Easy peasy! 

I must share!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

25 Ritz crackers

4 slices of hearty white bread (I used Italian)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

8 thin slices deli ham 

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs. total)

3 large eggs

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 cup all purpose flour

Instructions:

1.  Make Crumbs:  Adjust oven racks to lowest and middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees.  Pulse crackers and bread in a food processor until coarsely ground.  Drizzle in butter; pulse to incorporate.  Bake crumbs on rimmed baking sheet on middle rack, stirring occasionally, until light brown, 3-5 minuets.  Transfer to shallow dish.

2.  Stuff Chicken:  Top each ham slice with 1/4 cup cheese and roll tightly; set aside.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Cut pocket in thickest part of chicken and stuff each breast with 2 ham-and-cheese rolls.  Transfer chicken to plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.  (Apparently this is so the chicken time to seal up a bit on itself.  This helps keep the ham and cheese inside the chicken and not oozing out on your baking sheet when you bake it)

3.  Coat and Bake:  Beat eggs and mustard in a second shallow dish.  Place flour in third shallow dish.  One at a time, coat stuffed chicken lightly with flour, dip into egg mixture, and dredge in crumbs, pressing to adhere.  Transfer chicken to a clean baking sheet.  Bake on lowest rack until bottom of chicken is golden brown, about 10 minutes, and then move baking sheet to middle rack and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Bake until golden brown and chicken registers 160 degrees, 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes.  Serve.

Y'all.  Make this.  Trust me.  Delicious!

I will say that the amount of flour/Ritz mixture I threw away was crazy.  It doesn't use nearly as much as it calls for.  I know it's easier to coat with more mixture there...but I think next time I would make 1/2 of what it calls for.  It hurt my hear to throw away that many Ritz crackers.