Chicken Cordon Bleu, East Ukrainian Village, Chicago
One good thing about having some time off is that I can cook more. Last night I made Chicken Cordon Bleu. I was kind of nervous about making it. I thought it’d be really tricky and I haven’t worked with meats that much. And I HATE touching raw meat. But this time I tried to forget I was touching raw chicken while I rubbed spices on the meat and rolled and dipped it. Then I thought it’d all fall apart, but it didn’t.
I was nervous about using a Cooking Light recipe for something that is known to be so rich and fattening. I read the reviews online and made a couple modifications – italian breadcrumbs instead of plain breadcrumbs, provolone in the place of the mozzarella – and it turned out excellent. Oh, also, I never use sodium-free anything. Ketchup, chicken broth, it always tastes like crap.
Chicken Cordon Bleu
From Cooking Light
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
5 teaspoons butter, melted
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and paprika in a medium shallow bowl; set aside.
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper. Top each breast half with 1 slice of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Roll up each breast half jelly-roll fashion. Dip each roll in chicken broth mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down, in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until juices run clear and tops are golden.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 rolled chicken breast half)
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 297(30% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 4.4g,mono 3.6g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 45.5g; CHOLESTEROL 125mg; CALCIUM 94mg; SODIUM 619mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.8g
Marie Meyer, Greensboro, North Carolina
Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2005
mmmmmmmmmacro-licious.
the worst is touching ground beef when trying to make a burger. because your hands get all fatty and stuff. yuck!
Go to the drugstore and buy yourself a box of disposable latex gloves and keep them in the kitchen. I use them all the time for handling chicken and beef and whenever I am chopping hot peppers.
oohhh.. good idea, dave. i must have washed my hands about 2 dozen times while making the chicken yesterday. it grosses me out! but gloves might do the trick.
RACHELLE,
maybe you found yourself as a chef.
The recipe looks great
Rachelles Ukranian Restaurant
It has a nice sound to it.
Wicker’s Park look out
We use gloves at work on everything we use pertaining to meat.
Great information Dave.
What”s for dessert.
we didnt have dessert, but i did put some herbed brie in the mashed potatoes. i forgot to mention that. thanks!
rachelle! that looks so good!