Which is why I am so attracted to it. I consider it the gauntlet that has been thrown down before those who think themselves reasonably good cooks. I long to make it taste good, exude juice and succulence, and attract the appetite of the most persnickety eaters. (Of course, that last bit won't happen, because I have not gone gluten-salt-fat-yeast-soy-dairy-wheat-meat-allium free.) I have cooked chicken breast sous vide, simmered it, and stir fried it. I have sauteed it, baked it, and fried it. I've beaten it with a mallet, stuffed it, smothered it, and drowned it in a brine. So yesterday, I decided to go a little retro on it, and make a chicken cordon bleu. The things I like about stuffing chicken breast with a filling are the flavor the filling brings to the meat, and the pretty presentation that results.
slicing open the breasts like a book and pounding them thin isn't an exact science--
the tears and irregularities will disappear with cooking
oops, I forgot the mustard, which I realized when I prepared to bread the rolls,
so I added the mustard to the beaten egg wash used to coat the rolls
A great hint for holding rolled chicken breast together is to roll them in plastic wrap, twist the ends tightly to create a cylinder, and place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set up. No toothpicks required.
plastic wrap helps to make uniform rolls
breading setup--flour, seasoned with salt and pepper,
beaten egg, and panko breadcrumbs mixed with a bit of melted butter,
thyme, salt, and pepper
the stint in the freezer makes breading very easy
I like to cook chicken breasts at fairly low temperatures, in this case 325, which doesn't do much for browning, so I browned the rolls off in a lightly oiled skillet prior to baking them in the oven. An alternative would be a short run under the broiler to brown the tops.
about a minute a side over medium heat browned things up nicely
in my beloved mineral pan
about 30 minutes in the oven produced lovely, well-cooked chicken--
though a little cheese oozed, it didn't affect the final dish
cordon bleu, served here with a little chicken jus, and
green beans with mushrooms and garlic
I made the jus with a bit of chicken demi-glace, white wine, a little water, and a bit of agar agar to thicken it slightly and give it a silky body (salt and pepper, as well, of course). Both the demi-glace and the agar agar are a couple of my favorite shortcut ingredients that I always have on hand.
This old-school dish was delicious, moist, and tasty.
That looks good, Great job on the recipe
ReplyDeleteI made this recipe last night for company and everyone loved it. They all agreed they'd never had such a tender chicken breast. It was moist and delicious - just as advertised - and goobled up in no time! The trick about wrapping the rolled breasts in plastic wrap and sticking them in the freezer for thirty minutes worked like a charm. I can see using that technique with other chicken breast preparations. Thanks, Curious, for put a fresh twist on a classic dish!
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