Chicken Cordon Bleu

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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

6 thoughts on “Chicken Cordon Bleu

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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