Chicken Cordon Bleu...My 300th Post!

There are so many options for ingredients for stuffed chicken. My favorites include Spinach, Red Pepper, and Gruyere and Boursin Chicken. Surprisingly, I have never made Chicken Cordon Bleu, so why not give something new a try on a random Monday night?

Even better, let's celebrate my 300th blog post with a yummy new dish!!

I invited my parents over to join Jon in being my test subjects. I won't make you scroll to the bottom of the post to see the results - everyone loved it and cleaned their plates. It was very simple, clean, and classic tasting.

I knew the basics of making this dish - pound out the chicken, layer with ham and Swiss cheese, roll, bread, bake. But to get the flavors and seasoning right, I followed the instructions and basic ingredients in this Tyler Florence Recipe. My adaptation is below.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness, maybe even less. Be careful not to tear the chicken.
• 4 slices deli ham
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 c breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Updated November 2011: I also add a touch of Dijon mustard mixed with just a bit of minced garlic to the inside of the chicken before layering with the ham and cheese. If you don't have Dijon, sprinkle them with dry mustard.
  

Directions

• Season inside of chicken with salt and pepper and a touch of thyme
  
• Layer with ham and cheese, roll tightly and secure with a toothpick. I then transferred them to the fridge until I was ready to cook them an hour later.
• In three consecutive dishes, put: flour mixed with some salt and pepper, egg beaten with 1 tbsp water, breadcrumbs mixed with some salt, pepper, and the thyme
• Coat chicken in flour, dip in egg, then roll in the bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake on 375 for 40 minutes, turning the broiler on for the last minute.

Here is the chicken right out of the oven -

What a nice spiral once cut!

When thinking about this recipe, I thought that it needed a sauce, so I turned to this recipe on the blog Le Petit Pierogi.

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped (I used 2, pressed)
• 1/2 cup half and half (I used about 3/4 c)
• 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
• Splash of white wine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Shredded Parmesean cheese (I used about 1/3 c)

Making the Sauce

• Melt butter in small saucepan or skillet.
• Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
• Add a splash of white wine and cook another minute or two.
• In a small bowl, whisk together half and half and cornstarch then add it to the wine/butter mixture. Keep whisking everything in the pan until thickened and smooth.
• Add salt, pepper and a little bit of shredded Parmesean Cheese.
• Drizzle over Chicken Cordon Bleu just before serving.

By this point I was so ready to eat that I didn't put too much effort into the picture, but you get the idea of what the sauce looked like -

Again, we all loved this dish. The flavors were so simple on their own, but together were the perfect combination in this classic French dish.

Wine Braised Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms

I have not been good about menu planning the past few weeks. Once my travel schedule gets busy, I end up planning day by day. This results in a lot of meals where I just make things up as I go along, but based on my past few meals, this usually works for us.

So last night was another night of grabbing what I had to pull together dinner. My main ingredients were chicken breasts, asparagus, crimini mushrooms, shallots, garlic, wine, and chicken broth. I decided to brown the chicken, cook the veggies, and then braise the chicken in the wine and broth.

Ideally I would have served this over Herbed Polenta, but Jon isn't a fan so I stuck with noodles.

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt, pepper, dried thyme, paprika
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1-inch long pieces (remove ends first)
• 1/2 c white wine
• 1 14.5 oz can low sodium chicken broth

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a large saute pan
• Season chicken with salt, pepper, dried thyme, and paprika; add to pan. Cook until golden brown, approximately 5-6 minutes per side. Remove from pan and keep warm.
• Add shallots and garlic to pan; saute 2 min
• Add mushrooms; saute 2 min
• Deglaze pan with half of the wine, scraping up brown bits
• Add asparagus and stir
• Add the rest of the wine and the chicken broth and bring to a simmer
• Return chicken to pan, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

This was absolutely delicious. It was extremely fragrant while cooking, and the flavor was just as good - light and fresh.

Filet Mignon Au Poivre

Filet Mignon Au Poivre - steak with pepper, peppered steak

I have had this dish in restaurants several times, and have seen a few different preparations. Some have featured pepper encrusted steak with a dark brown pan sauce, some have come without sauce (my least favorite), and others a creamy-peppery sauce.

I browsed recipes online until I came across this one on the Epicurious web site. As soon as I read that it was a recipe that has been Gourmet Magazine's go-to recipe since 1953, I knew it was the one I had to try.

Ingredients (I cut this in half)

• 4 (3/4- to 1-inch-thick) boneless beef top-loin steaks, 8 to 10 oz each (I used filet mignon)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/2 cup Cognac or other brandy (We didn't have cognac or brandy, so after doing some research on substitutions for cooking, I used white wine)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 200°F. (Since I continued to cook the steaks in the oven, I preheated it to 400)
• Pat steaks dry and season both sides with kosher salt.
• Coarsely crush peppercorns in a sealed plastic bag with a meat pounder or bottom of a heavy skillet, then press pepper evenly onto both sides of steaks.
• Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) over moderately high heat until hot, about 3 minutes, then add oil, swirling skillet, and sauté steaks in 2 batches, turning over once, about 6 minutes per batch for medium-rare.
• Transfer steaks as cooked to a heatproof platter and keep warm in oven while making sauce. (I transferred the steaks to another skillet and put them in the oven to continue cooking)
• Pour off fat from skillet, then add shallots and half of butter (2 tablespoons) to skillet and cook over moderately low heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until shallots are well-browned all over, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add Cognac (use caution; it may ignite) and boil, stirring, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add cream and any meat juices accumulated on platter and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook over low heat, swirling skillet, until butter is incorporated.
• Serve sauce with steaks. I served them on top of mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and with a side of roasted asparagus.
  

I could have eaten this sauce on its own!! It was perfectly peppery, creamy, and even sweet from the shallots. The wine we drank with dinner, Corison 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, also had hints of pepper and was the perfect complement to the steak and sauce.

This dish was also ridiculously easy. It was so easy that I'm not sure I want to pay $35 for it in a restaurant again, and that doesn't even include sides! Filet was on sale at the market this weekend, so for about $20 I was able to make 2 steaks, the sauce, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, and roasted asparagus.

What I liked most is that it didn't taste like an easy meal - I could definitely fool guests into thinking I spent all day in the kitchen making this one.

Now on to Monday and another work week - have a good one everyone!

Coq Au Vin

Coq Au Vin... a classic French dish of chicken and wine. I've never had it, have never seen in it person (only on cooking shows), but for some reason I really felt like trying it this week so I put in on our menu.

I browsed several recipes and read about it, and decided to follow this recipe. Since I have never made or tasted Coq Au Vin, I followed each and every step. Now that I've made it, I don't think I'd change a thing, although I may try using boneless breasts next time since I don't like the thighs or wings.

Ingredients

For Marinating the Chicken -

• 1 750-ml bottle French Burgundy or California Pinot Noir
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 large carrot, peeled, sliced
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled, flattened
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 6-pound roasting chicken, backbone removed, cut into 8 pieces - 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 wings with top quarter of adjoining breast, 2 breasts (I used a 4.5 pound chicken already cut into the pieces noted above).
  

For Cooking the Chicken -

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 ounces thick-cut bacon slices, cut crosswise into strips
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 large fresh thyme sprigs
• 4 large fresh parsley sprigs
• 2 small bay leaves
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 pound assorted fresh wild mushrooms (such as crimini and stemmed shiitake)
• 20 1-inch-diameter pearl onions, or boiling onions, peeled
• Chopped fresh parsley

I always get everything prepped before I start cooking - this pic is after my mess from prep was cleaned up and doesn't even show Monday's marinating prep or how many times I (Jon) needed to wash out the dish I was using for the chicken!

Directions

To Marinate the Chicken - (do this 24-48 hours before cooking)

• Combine wine, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and peppercorns in large pot. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes.
• Cool completely; mix in oil.
• Place chicken pieces in large glass bowl. Pour wine mixture over chicken; stir to coat.
• Cover and refrigerate at least 1 day and up to 2 days, turning chicken occasionally.

Here is how it looked as it went into the fridge..

To Cook the Chicken -

• Using tongs, transfer chicken pieces from marinade to paper towels to drain; pat dry.
• Strain marinade; reserve vegetables and liquid separately.
• Heat oil in heavy large pot (wide enough to hold chicken in single layer) over medium-high heat.
• Add bacon and sauté until crisp and brown. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to small bowl.
• Add chicken, skin side down, to drippings in pot. Sauté until brown, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to large bowl.
• Add vegetables reserved from marinade to pot. Sauté until brown, about 10 minutes.
• Mix in flour; stir 2 minutes.
• Gradually whisk in reserved marinade liquid. Bring to boil, whisking frequently. Cook until sauce thickens, whisking occasionally, about 2 minutes.
• Mix in shallots, garlic, herb sprigs, and bay leaves, then broth.
• Return chicken to pot, arranging skin side up in single layer. Bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pot and simmer chicken 30 minutes.
• Using tongs, turn chicken over. Cover and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes longer.

This is what it looked like at this stage -

Meanwhile...

• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat.
• Add mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 8 minutes.
• Transfer mushrooms to plate.
• Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet.
• Add onions and sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
• Transfer onions to plate alongside mushrooms; reserve skillet.

Then...

• Using tongs, transfer chicken to plate.
• Strain sauce from pot into reserved skillet from onions and mushrooms, pressing on solids in strainer to extract all sauce; discard solids.
• Bring sauce to simmer, scraping up browned bits.
• Return sauce to pot.
• Add onions to pot and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook until onions are almost tender, about 8 minutes.
• Add mushrooms and bacon. Simmer uncovered until onions are very tender and sauce is slightly reduced, about 12 minutes.
• Tilt pot and spoon off excess fat from top of sauce.
• Season sauce with salt and pepper.
• Return chicken to sauce to rewarm.
• Arrange chicken on large rimmed platter. Spoon sauce and vegetables over. Sprinkle with parsley.

I took this picture before spooning the rest of the sauce over the chicken -

I'm not going to lie - this was a lot of work. There was nothing difficult about it, but it was three hours of almost constant cooking. I'm crazy for doing this when it was 95 degrees out, but it was well worth it. Next time I'll make it in the fall or winter.

Jon and I usually eat spicy things, or dishes full of garlic, red pepper flakes, or even cayenne. So this dish wasn't what we'd define as "our" flavors, but I was extremely impressed. Jon had very low expectations when I explained the dish to him, and even he was impressed. We'll see if he has a comment to add... My comment to Jon is "thank you".... he kept cleaning up after me as I was cooking. Otherwise the kitchen would have been a mess!!! This recipe requires a lot of dishes.

I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to try something new, or someone who has a few hours to spend in the kitchen. Marinating the chicken for 36 hours was key, and I don't see any steps that could have been omitted.

Sides..

I kept the sides simple. I served buttered noodles (cooked egg noodles, then melted butter in a pan until it browned just a bit; poured butter over the noodles, tossed and topped with fresh parsley) and steamed green beans. I think mashed potatoes would be a nice side as well. Oh, and of course we had French bread!

I don't think I have ever had French food before, but I now have an appreciation for it and would like to try a French restaurant (maybe for our upcoming 5 year anniversary?). I loved the complex flavors that came out of such simple ingredients. Now I'm looking around for more French dishes to try! Recommendations always welcome!