Hot Cordon Bleu Sandwiches

Chicken Cordon Bleu......

I love this stuff.  My husband makes the best, which is a recipe here on the website. (I will link at the end).  I was at the grocery store a couple of days ago and found a huge mega section of fresh bakery items on clearance.  You know what I did, right?  You guessed it, swooped up a bunch of rolls and buns and tossed them in the freezer.

I have been on a bit of a sandwich kick lately.  I just would be happy with a sandwich for every meal.  Perhaps it is the fresh tomatoes I can top each one with, or maybe it is the unfortunate carb addiction I have.  Either way, if my husband has to eat another sandwich he will probably fall over!  In order to disguise said sandwiches, and being hungry for the cordon and the bleu, I decided to make one of my favorite dishes into a a hot sandwich.  Ask me how soon you should make these.  Go ahead, ask me.

You can't get to the kitchen fast enough!  These are SO very good.  In fact, they turned out 100 times better than my best expectations  I can't wait for you to try them, all cheesy, and toasty and resting right next to a bowl of soup!

Fall, it's the most wonderful timmmeeeeee of the yeeeaaaarrrr!

3 large chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces (or strips)
1 T. Italian seasoning
3 T. butter
2 heaping T. flour
2 cups milk
6 oz. Swiss cheese
pinch of salt
1 lb thin sliced deli ham
6 rolls of your choice

In a large skillet, add in chicken and Italian seasoning, stir and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small saucepan melt the butter, add flour and let it cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.  Add in milk, salt and whisk.  Let the mixture begin to simmer and thicken, then add in your cheese.  Mix until completely melted and remove from heat.

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Lay the rolls out and drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Place in the preheated oven for 3-5 minutes until toasted.  Remove.

Place a spoonful of chicken on the roll, top with 2-3 pieces of ham, cover the top with a ladle of swiss cheese sauce.  Do this with all of the sandwiches.  Place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with a delicious Garden Caprese Salad!

ENJOY!

If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy:
Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cheesy Chicken Gnocchi

 So....as my husband and I sit in a popular Italian chain restaurant, eating soup and bread sticks like tomorrow may never come, he says to me, "OMG, you need to make this soup into a casserole or a real "dish".  And that my friends is how this happy accident began.

.....Fast forward 2 days, he keeps asking me to make this.  Admittedly I have 2 packages of gnocchi in the cupboard.  I have everything else I need to create his own personal heaven.  I decide that today is THE day.  I turned on my fave music, put on some lipstick and off I went.  End result? Complete FAIL!   However, that is now how this story ends.  While it was a complete fail as far as a copycat, sort of, not really version of the soup, it turned out to be a pan of cheesy, chickeny, gnocchi-ee goodness and I do not for one second feel bad that it "didn't turn out".  I feel so "unbad" I am sharing it with you!

This will feed a crowd, and I can't imagine anyone not liking it.  If you groove on making your own gnocchi, get on with your bad self, I purchased mine.  If you make it, make sure to tag me on Instagram or Twitter!!  Snapchat me!!


2 pkg. gnocchi (mine were 17.5 oz. each)
4 T. butter
2 large chicken breasts, cut into small cubes or pieces
1 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1 T. dried parsley
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, melt your butter.  and add your chicken and carrots.  Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked all the way through.  Add in flour and stir well, let it cook for about 1 minute.  Add in chicken stock, while still on medium high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, when it has begun to thicken add in heavy cream, parsley, and all of your grated cheeses.

Stir to combine,remove from heat and let sit.

Bring another large pot of water to boil.  Follow the direction on your package of gnocchi.  If you are making them homemade, you are a better person than me, so you will know how to cook them!  When the water boils, chuck them in and the second they float they are done.  Make sure to get these out right away.  They will be going in the oven for a very short time and you don't need them overcooking.

So as I was saying, when they are done, use a slotted spoon or spider and scoop them out, let them drain and toss them in the pot with the sauce!  Get them all in, gently stir to combine and pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish or pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn to broil and let it get golden brown on top!  That cheese and butter get a little crusty and it is heaven!!

Enjoy friends!

Gougeres

My husband is more hooked on cooking shows than I have ever been.  I have just not ever been a HUGE fan of them, accept Anne Burrell.  She is the epitome of passion in the kitchen to me!   Anyway, Geo was watching some Internet cooking show and these "gougeres"  were prepared.  He thought they looked amazing, found the recipe that was used and I adapted mine from that (Food and Wine).  I took out the nutmeg, I suppose that is a HUGE no-no in the French cuisine world but I did it.  I make the rules in my kitchen after all, right?  I also think nutmeg is completely overrated and if I see it go into one more cream sauce I am going to turn inside out!

These are easiest to describe as little savory cream puffs with cheese.  How can that be bad?  I envision these cracked open and filled with a little chicken salad, or caramelized onions or something of that sort as an appetizer. 

I hope you enjoy, these are easy, but so impressive and delish!

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
large pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated ( you can definitely substitute just plain Swiss here)
black pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. F.  Lay 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil.  Add the flour and stir it in with a spoon until a smooth dough forms and the dough starts pulling away from the sides.  It should take a minute or so. 

Transfer your dough into a bowl.  Let cool for 2 minutes.  (I put mine into my stand mixer bowl).  Beat your eggs in, one at a time.  Make sure each egg is COMPLETELY incorporated before adding the next egg.  Add cheese, a good pinch or grind of pepper and mix again until it is incorporated. 

Place your dough into a pastry bag.  Cut the tip of the bag so you have about a 1/2 inch diameter opening.  This isn't like, written in stone, so just eyeball it.  Pipe about a tablespoon size amount of dough,  Make sure they are about 2 inches apart.  Bake for approx. 22-25 minutes.  Let cool a couple of minutes before serving!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Hey guys!!!  It is 2 days before I turn 39.  This is NOT easy.  My husband is concerned already about a year from now when I am about to turn 40.  He is sure we will be spending it in my padded cell.  We might be, I mean, might as well bring 40 in, in a memorable way. 

Anyway, this Chicken Cordon Bleu is so easy.  It is one of the first meals my husband cooked for me.  It is a favorite of me, Cody and George.  We use to have it on special occasions mostly.  We used to make it the "real" way.  Pound the chicken thin, lay the meat and cheese on top, roll it up, blah, blah blah.  Cody would LOVE for George to double Ziploc the chicken, let him put a newspaper on the kitchen floor and whack at it with the meat mallet.  Ya know, a boy with permission to hammer stuff until it is paper thin?  Yea, loved that.   However, recently we started doing it this way, just because it seemed easier and less time consuming.  You might have to use your fingers to make the opening a bit wider, but I promise it works beautifully.  As long as you seal up those ands well with flour, egg and breadcrumbs, it is all good!  We love it and hope you do too.  As you can see it is gorgeous AND delicious. 

Now these ARE fried for a minute.  They in NO way are greasy.  You just have to brown up that breading and we prefer doing it the old fashioned way.  We don't eat this often so I don't mind frying and then baking them off.  If you don't roll like that, you can try just baking them all the way, but I have no idea how they will come out.  We have always used regular dried Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, but this time we used seasoned panko and loved it!!

I have written this out, perhaps in a bit of an unconventional way.  All of the ingredients are in BOLD PURPLE lettering.  Maybe I should change it to red so you can see it better.  Ok, done, it is now bold and red.  Anyhoodle, enjoy this Chicken Cordon Bleu made easy!

Here is what you will need:
6 large chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
6 slices Swiss cheese
12 thin slices of ham

Before anything else, make your meat and cheese rolls.  Sandwich your cheese between 2 slices of ham, roll into a tight log.  Do this with all of the meat and cheese so that you have 6 meat/cheese rolls.  Set aside and prepare chicken.

Take your chicken and stand it on end, place a long thin knife on top and pierce all the way to the bottom, in the center of the chicken.  When you reach the bottom rotate your knife, making the whole big enough for the rolls to slide into.  Repeat with all chicken, slide 1 roll into the center of each and place on a platter.

Now to dredge the chicken and prepare for frying. 

Shallow Bowl #1 - Combine 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
Shallow Bowl # 2 - beat 4 eggs well.
Shallow Bowl # 3- 3 cups bread crumbs (seasoned panko OR regular dry Italian seasoned)

Cover chicken in flour mixture completely, dip into egg mixture and pay special attention to the ends where the ham and cheese can be seen since you will want that sealed well with bread crumbs.  Then cover heavily in bread crumbs.  Set aside until all are done. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a high sided skillet, add in 2 cups of oil (your choice), when the oil is ready (toss a bit of flour in, if it sizzles it is read) place 1 or 2 pieces of chicken into the oil and fry only long enough to brown it.  We aren't cooking it all the way through, just beautifully browning our chicken, about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Do this over a medium heat as to not burn the chicken.  Place until parchment lined baking sheet.  Repeat with all pieces of chicken.

Place in the oven for 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken breasts. 

When they are done, allow to rest 10 minutes before serving!!!

We almost always serve this with asparagas or green beans.  Sometimes a little side of pasta.  You do what you want, just make sure you do it soon!!

Your "my GOD why is turning 29..eerr 39, so difficult"chefwannabe

 

PS.  By the time you read this I will have turned 39.  My life will be OVER. LOL

Swiss Cheese Dip!

So, I was in the grocery store the other day.  Sometimes I shop that store as if it holds a single golden coin somewhere in the aisles of product.   I am obsessed with finding new things to try or to incorporate into a recipe.  I like new and exciting stuff, even if it is stuff I don't care to eat myself.

We are "picky" eaters.  I don't mean we are choosey about food, we call chips, dip, finger foods, "picky's".  My hubs is a chip and dip lovin' fool, and along with his love for all stinky feet cheese I knew it would be a hit.....

 

I was eyeballin' the specialty cheese case when I saw some cheese with a clearance sticker.  I was having a hard time getting to it as some managers were discussing rearranging right in the middle of the aisle. Why in billy heck they do this I have no idea.  It was annoying and each of the 3 times I tried to shoot for that piece of cheese I got, "Oh we are in the way aren't we?".  Hell yes you are, and you were in the way that last 2 times I tried as well.  Bleh.  Anyway, as I finally made my descent into the cheese case to grab that hunk of cheese a very nice woman named Fran asked me if I had ever tried the dip they make with that cheese at the holidays.  I told her I had not, and asked if she could give me the recipe.  She of course makes it with 5lb hunks of cheese so she sweetly gave me her approximated amounts for a small batch. I thanked her and went on my way, ready to make a delicious dip I would never even taste!

Now this being said, I feel like I prepared the dip wrong but I am going to share it anyway.  I feel like I should have put this entire mixture in my food processor.  My husband chimed in with, "maybe you should heat it and serve it hot".  Why do our husbands need to chime in?  HA!   In retrospect I would like to see this in the processor, but I imagine the taste is great either way, just maybe easier to get "all up on" a cracker if it was processed.

Admittedly I feel a little guilty, because this is so easy. I added to much onion for the hubs so now it is up to my sister to demolish the entire bowl.  I think it would be a nice touch to add green onion instead of chopped onion, for some color.  Here we go!

2 cups Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese
1/2 cup Hellman's (no miracle whip people)
1 tsp grated onion or 2 tsps minced onion
Pepper to taste

Shred cheese.  Add Hellman's and onion.  Mix thoroughly.  You can put this in your food processor and process until it is at your desired consistency or you can serve just as it is with crackers!


So here you go, easy, peasy, quick and cheesy!  I hope you enjoy it.  Might make a great 4th of July get together dip.  Something easy and different.  It will surely tempt the taste buds of everyone in your life who loves cheese that smells like......

Wishing you happy dipping!!  Let me know if you try it and put it in the processor or heat it!

Your "stinky feet and cheese loathing" chefwannabe

Chris