Chicken Cordon Bleu

One of my favorite meals as a child was Chicken Cordon Bleu. I just loved the sauce. J had requested that I repeat some meals once in a while (instead of having something new every night). This is a meal I first made when I was living in the apartment and first learning to cook. The picture above is J's plate. Mine had more broccoli, less rice, and a smaller piece of chicken, unfortunately it didn't photograph well, so this is the best we have.

When I was living in the apartment I was just as much of a recipe junkie as I am now, except I didn't know about all the wonderful resources on the net. I also didn't have as many cookbooks (not that I have too many, 44, now, but I have run out of room and I can't buy many more until we either move or rearrange the house.). In those days I spent most of my time using allrecipes.com. At the time I adored the site. Now I have tried branching out more and have become more of a foodie, I don't use it as much. I am a little more selective about my cooking these days as well. Every once in a while I still go back and use one of the really great recipes I found there or I find something I had really meant to try but most of the time I am spending my time reading and browsing through the wonderful world of food blogs. I only discovered they existed last year. I don't think I really thought about how blogs could have a theme. I just thought people were using them as an online type diary, which I thought was a little juvenile and lame to put your diary online for all to see. I don't know how I stumbled onto a food blog, nor do I remember the first one I found (it might have been 101 Cookbooks). At any rate I was completely hooked.

This is one of my favorite recipes from allrecipes.com. I have a few others I really enjoy but I think I've made this 3 or 4 times now (which is really saying something). I have modified the recipe somewhat and I still wish I had my mom's because I think her recipe tasted the same without the bouillon cube which I would prefer not to use in the future. I served this with steamed rice and broccoli.

Chicken Cordon Bleu (adapted from allrecipes.com)

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 slices Swiss cheese
2 slices ham
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cube chicken bouillon, crushed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 cup half and half

1. Pound chicken breasts. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
2. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10-30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
3. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened. Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter and pour sauce over the chicken. Serve with steamed rice, with extra sauce on the rice.