Are you ready for a little gourmet freezer meal cooking? This classic French dish comes together beautifully as a freezer meal.
Cordon Bleu (Blue Ribbon) is actually very simple. Chicken, Ham, and cheese. The flavors are mild, balanced, and delicate. We like to make a smoked cheese mornay sauce to top this amazing freezer meal but that part is totally optional.
To make Chicken Cordon Bleu you’ll have to start by pounding the chicken. The goal here is to flatten your chicken breast without destroying the chicken itself. 1/4 inch thickness is a great goal to shoot for. We use a few high end meat tenderizers in our business. These 2 units do exactly what they are supposed to. I must admit that they are a little pricey but if you are looking for a cool new kitchen tool that will last a lifetime you should check out the Paderno World Cuisine 13-Inch Stainless Steel Meat Pounder or the Wusthof Gourmet Meat Tenderizer. I often get asked which one I like the best and truth be told that’s a tough question as they are both amazing! We’re talking the caddilac of tenderizers! I guess if I had to pick one I would pick the Paderno model. Not only is it a little cheaper but I like the design and the way it flattens meat. Just my 2 cents..
Once you’ve flattened your chicken breasts that hard work is almost over. All you have to do is add some ham, cheese, and roll them up. I secure mine with a tooth pick (just remember to take it out before eating).
To finish off your cordon bleu you’ll need to coat them in a nice bread crumb mixture. What I like to do is set up 3 bowls. The first bowl will have regular flour, the second bowl will have the milk and egg mixture, and the third bowl will have the seasoned flour and bread crumb mixture. Coat the cordon bleu in the regular flour, dip it in the egg milk mixture, then finally coat with the seasoned bread crumb mixture. Voila! Now you just want them to rest a few minutes so the breading sticks to the chicken.
It’s now time to give the delicious cordon bleu some color. I personally love my Lodge cast Iron 12 inch Skillet. If you are the proud owner of a lodge cast iron skillet then you already know what I’m talking about. We actually also have their 17 inch Cast Iron Skillet, which is the grand-daddy of them all!! We use these skillets to fry our cordon bleu. All I do is add a little oil (maybe an inch in the skillet) and heat my oil to 375F. Once I’m at the right temp I’ll fry till all the sides are golden brown.
At this point the chicken is just starting to get cooked. I’ll finish cooking all of my cordon bleu together in the over at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy this for dinner and the left overs can be frozen for an easy freezer meal for later.
Enjoy this video where I walk you through the whole process step by step.
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
- 10 large chicken breast
- 10 pieces smoked ham slices from the deli
- 20 slices swiss cheese
- 4 cups flour divided
- 2.5 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups milk
For the Smoked Mornay Sauce
- 5 oz butter
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 quart milk warmed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 8 oz smoked cheese grated
Instructions
- Place your chicken breasts between 2 zip lock bags and pound them as flat as you can with out destroying them completely. (Optional) season the flattened chicken breast with a touch of salt and pepper.
- Place a slice of ham and 2 slices of swiss cheese on each chicken breast and roll them tightly. Secure with a toothpick.
- Create a station with 3 mixing bowls. One will have 1/2 of the flour (unseasoned). One will have the milk and the eggs whisked together, and the third will have the rest of the flour all of the panko bread crumbs and the seasonings listed above (salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder).
- roll your cordon bleu in the unseasoned flour to coat well. Dust off. Then dip it in the egg milk mixture. Finally roll it in the seasoned flour and bread crumb mixture. Set on a tray and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Heat a skillet with some oil to 375F. Fry your breaded chicken till all sides are golden brown. This should only take a few minutes. REMOVE THE TOOTH PICKS
- After they are finished frying bake them in a preheated oven 350F for 25-30 minutes. Take the chicken out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy!!
Cooking the Mornay Sauce
- Warm your milk on the stove top in a pot. (this reduces the cooking time by half)
- In a separate pot on a medium heat whisk together the melted butter and flour. Be sure to whisk continuously as you cook for about 5 minutes to cook out the flour taste.
- Continuing to gently whisk the mixture as you add the seasonings and after another minute go ahead and add your warm milk.
- As this thickens up you can add your grated cheese and once it reaches a fluffy and thick consistency remove from heat and let it cool slightly.
To Freeze and Reheat
- Once your cordon bleu has cooled completely you can wrap each one in tin foil then cling film. Place your wrapped cordon bleu in a freezer friendly zip lock bag and freeze.
- The Smoked mornay sauce can be frozen in freezer friendly containers as well
- To reheat take out the cordon bleu, allow it to thaw, bake in a 350F oven for 20 minutes and serve hot
- To reheat the sauce, allow it to thaw and heat in a small sauce pan till it comes together and has a nice thick consistency. Serve hot.
