Saturday, August 21, 2010

Chicken Cordon Bleu - What Is It And How To Make It

By Christine Szalay-Kudra

Chicken cordon bleu is not a difficult dish to make. In fact, it is quite simple if you have a good recipe to follow. If you enjoy stuffed poultry dishes, you will really like this one. This recipe is centuries older than the Cordon Bleu cooking school, which is in France.

A lot of people think this recipe is French but nobody knows whether it is, or whether it was created by chefs in the United States who were trying to replicate a European style stuffed poultry dish.

The History of Chicken Cordon Bleu

"Cordon bleu" means blue ribbon. During the sixteenth century, King Henry III initiated an order of knights to fight for Catholicism.

This group of knights would wear a Maltese cross around their neck, suspended by a blue ribbon. They gathered for enormous feasts, cooked by skilled chefs, and the blue ribbon became associated with fine cooking.

How to Make the Best Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cordon bleu is chicken or veal wrapped around Swiss cheese and ham. A lot of cordon bleu recipes also feature a breadcrumb crust. The easiest way to make this recipe is to make a layered dish with the meat underneath and add the cheese and ham near the end so it warms and melts. You can bake this type of recipe, rather than fry it, making it ideal if you are watching your weight.

Another preparation method, if you want to know how to cook chicken cordon bleu, is to cut the meat open by making a hole, push the cheese inside it and wrap the ham around the outside. Finally wrap it in breadcrumbs and cook it. However, the most common and authentic way of making this dish is to butterfly the bird, pound it flat, then wrap the ham and cheese inside. Dip it in breadcrumbs and fry, bake, or grill it.

Classic cordon bleu has a Swiss cheese and ham filling. You can use Gruyere, Provolone or even mozzarella cheese. The ham can be prosciutto, cured ham, or bacon. Feel free to add some spinach or fresh basil leaves too, for some extra color and flavor and perhaps a chopped sun dried tomato or two.

The chicken should be pounded to a quarter inch thickness for the best results and you might like to sprinkle some salt and pepper on it before adding the filling. Roll it up and secure it with toothpicks. To get the breadcrumbs to stick to the meat, you should mix them with a beaten egg and roll the meat through this mixture.

How to Serve Chicken Cordon Bleu

You can serve your creation with a creamy sauce or a mustard sauce. There are lots of different kinds of sauces you can choose from actually or you can simply serve it by itself.

Rice or potatoes are a nice accompaniment for this boneless chicken recipe and you can serve any vegetables you like on the side. This recipe is a great one for a dinner party because it looks appetizing, is easy to make and there are different variations.

About the Author: