Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Chicken eats bacon


Chicken cordon bleu is delicious. Everyone knows that. I don't even like cheese and I like chicken cordon bleu. I went to this magical place called Aldi yesterday and bought A LOT of food. Aldi deserves its own post. So, let's just continue with my dinner creation from last night.

I didn't, however, get any ham, which is essential to chicken cordon bleu. So, I improvised. I had bacon. Turkey bacon. 






































I trimmed the hell out of three chicken breasts (I hate any chewy, fatty parts on chicken), sliced the breasts lengthwise in half and tried to find a meat pounder. No such luck. I'm coming to realize that my kitchen supplies are rather unsatisfactory. Maybe I should start a list with all the things I need... I like lists. 
Since I don't own a meat pounder, I had to improvise. Improvising meant wrapping a baking pin in Plastic wrap and using it to flatten out the meat. 
Now for the chicken cordon bleu-ish fillings. First comes the cheese. Mozzarella cheese is what I had on hand.
To top that off I used bacon, tomatoes, and chives. 

Whatever you do, do not look at my sausage fingers. Yes, I'm insecure about my fingers. Big deal. 

That's me. Making dinner. 
Ok, back to the chicken. 
Roll it up. Chicken, cheese, bacon, chives, and tomatoes! 
Get some tooth picks and stick them in the chicken to make sure it doesn't fall apart while in the pan. 


Roll the chicken breast wraps in the flour, paprika, and salt and pepper mix. 
Heat the oil and butter in a large pan or pot and place the chicken roll ups in the fats once they are combined. 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Let the chicken fry in the pan for about 4 minutes and then carefully turn each piece over, using tongues and a large slotted spoon. 
Let the chicken sit in the pan for another four to five minutes and then transfer to a baking pan and put in the oven for about 20 minutes. 
If you feel so inclined you can use the scrapings in the pan or pot that you used to fry the chicken to make some gravy. I did. Gravy with pan scrapings, red wine, some cornstarch, cream and fondor (magic german seasoning). It was quite tasty. But I forgot to take a picture...

While the chicken is in the oven, prepare your sides. I made some green salad.
And some homemade dijon mustard and honey vinaigrette.


And some rice with italien herbs.

But I'm pretty sure this would also be delicious with any other kind of vegetable (asparagus, broccoli, squash, corn, roasted peppers...) and some crusty (garlic) bread. 

Guten Appetit!



Chicken Cordon Bleu-ish Wraps

- 3 chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise

- Grated Mozzarella cheese

- 2 roma tomatoes

- Some chives

- About 6 to 8 pieces of turkey bacon

- Toothpicks

- 3 tablespoons of flour

- 1 tablespoon of paprika

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

- 3 tablespoons butter

- 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Pound the trimmed and lengthwise halved chicken breast with a meat pounder until flat. Be careful not to break the meat or pound holes into it. (I'm convinced the meat pounder was invented to give women a domestic anger management tool.)

Sprinkle some grated mozzarella cheese on the chicken breasts, top each with a slice of bacon and a few pieces of chives. 

Cut the tomatoes in quarters and place on the bacon and chives. 

Carefully roll up the chicken breasts and fix with toothpicks to hold in place.

Mix flour, paprika, and salt and  pepper on a large plate and cover each chicken wrap in the mix to cover the chicken. 

Heat the oil and butter in a large pan or pot and place the chicken in the fats. 

Fry the chicken for about four to five minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Turn over the chicken as described above and let sit for another four to five minutes.

Transfer the chicken into a baking dish and put into the oven for about 20 minutes. 

Serve warm with vegetables or salad and bread, pasta, or rice. 

Enjoy!  


2 comments:

  1. i used to love chicken cordon bleu, but as i got older i thought it was too much meat+cheese...the tomatoes and scallions are a genius addition! it looks super great and i love your salad dressing container thing.

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  2. Thank you! I just got REALLY excited when I saw your comment. The salad dressing container is from the pampered chef. It has a bunch of different dressing recipes on it as well. I've never actually made any of them but it's quite convenient to store dressing in the fridge. Oh, and I love your blog! All of it.

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