Chicken Cordon Bleu

Enough cannot be said about Chicken Cordon Bleu.  I enjoy serving dishes that appear to be fancy, but are still budget friendly.  Once again this is a relatively inexpensive dish and yet utterly scrumptious.  Once you have your gluten-free bread crumbs (see recipe in prior posts) your dish is a snap to create.

My husband, Michael adores cheese, any cheese. Therefore anything with cheese in the recipe is a definite hit for him. As our 14 year wedding anniversary date creeps up on us, I dedicate this dish for Michael. This is a cooler weather meal that you can serve with pasta, potatoes, or with rice pilaf. You can drizzle a little creamy, wine sauce over the top or just eat the roulades as they are. Any way you serve them you will be enthralled with the crispness on the the exterior and the warm gooey texture on the inside that together makes a perfect compliment.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts skinless and boneless

• 6 thin slices Black Forest Ham

• 1/2 pound Swiss Cheese slices

• 1/4 cup Featherlight flour (see recipe in prior posts)

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 cups seasoned gluten-free bread crumbs (see recipe in prior posts)

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

• 2 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil (to drizzle on top)

• 2 eggs

• Extra-virgin olive oil (to coat the baking dish with)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

.

Lay the chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness.

Remove the plastic wrap and lay 1 slice of ham neatly over the top to cover the breast and lay a slice of Swiss cheese over the ham. Squeeze the log gently to seal and twist both ends tight to form a nice log.  Place a toothpick in the end to keep the roll tight. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Season the flour with thyme, salt and pepper. Place the bread crumbs on a plate.  Beat together the eggs and season so the flour, the eggs and the crumbs are all seasoned. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, dip in the egg mixture and gently coat in the bread crumbs.

Lightly coat a baking pan with olive oil and carefully transfer the chicken rolls or roulades onto it.

Drizzle the tops of the roulades with olive oil to help to make the exterior become brown with a light crispness.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and cooked through.  Make sure the chicken juices are clear.

Slice into pinwheels and serve.