Chicken Cordon Bleu
This recipe is perfect for the A.D.D.er who thrives on hyperfocused multi-step processes. It begins with thinly sliced chicken breasts and progresses to a rolling, flouring, egg coating, bread crumb covering and frying process that is topped off with a sauce making and baking process. None of these steps are complicated…but there are many of them.
To make this an enjoyable cooking experience, queue up your favorite music CDs, turn up the volume and get ready to spend about 2 hours cooking. (With experience you’ll be able to cut this time in half.) The recipe below is very forgiving so precise measuring is not required. The suggested quantities will make enough for six people (two pieces per person).
INGREDIENTS
- 12 Thinly sliced chicken breasts
- 1/2 lb. virginia ham or some other flavorful ham
- 1/2 lb. swiss cheese (mild, not pungent)
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 1 package of fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup of white wine
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup unseasoned (plain) bread crumbs
- Olive Oil (for frying)
DIRECTIONS
To make sure that you don’t forget any of the steps involved in this dish, it makes sense to set up an assembly line.
1. Set up the right side of the assembly line (see below). On the right is the ham and swiss cheese, to the left is the sliced chicken breast.
2. Set up the left side of the assembly line (see below). From the right you have the flour which has been mixed with the garlic salt and black pepper. In the middle are two beaten eggs. On the left is the bread crumbs.
3. Here is a view of the full assembly line. You will start at the far end (where the ham, cheese and chicken are located) and move to the left. We are now ready to begin.
4. Place one piece of cheese on top of one piece of ham and roll it up.
5. Place this ham-cheese roll on a chicken breast and roll up the chicken breast. You should have something like this:
6. Roll this in the flour.
7. Roll this in the egg.
8. Roll this in the bread crumbs.
9. Each piece needs to be fried to a golden brown. It is up to you if you want to roll all of the pieces and then fry them or fry them one at a time.
10. Place all of the fried pieces in a large tray.
11. In a large bowl mix the two cans of cream of mushroom soup with the fresh mushrooms and white wine. Then cover the chicken with this sauce (see below).
12. Bake the chicken for about 20 minutes at 350 F. oven.
Note: Some variations, as noted at What is Chicken Cordon Bleu?, can be to substitute prosciutto for the ham or gruyere cheese for the swiss cheese. You might also want to add a small container (16 oz.) of sour cream to the sauce.
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Well, my my. You are certainly branching out here at Jeff’s ADD Mind.
You made that with your own little hands, Jeff?
Yup! That’s my cooking. I have a whole bunch more to come. And if you want to share a recipe or two…email it to me and I’ll post it.
This new design allows me to integrate all the aspects of, well, my A.D.D. mind. All those items that are not A.D.D. related but which I have an interest in, will now appear on the site. In addition, I was getting a bit tired of the previous design.
Great.
Holistic Jeff’s Mind.
g
In all its glory for all the world to see!
Jeff,
Thanks for the assembly-line pictures to go with this recipe–those are very helpful and make the process a little less intimidating. I have to ask you, though: Is distraction time built into that two-hour time estimate or not?
Y’see, I have this little problem: I can hyperfocus, but I can’t do it in the bleeping KITCHEN! For me, hyperfocus is for my craft projects and my writing. The kitchen OTOH is where I tend to daydream, which means I spend twice as long as anyone else not only cooking, but on other kitchen-related chores such as washing the dishes. So purely as a matter of self-preservation I have learned to routinely double all cooking time estimates.
Sometimes it makes it that much worse if the original cook is also ADD and especially ADHD. I have a number of ADHD friends who cook by instinct and who can hyperfocus in the kitchen–and they do things FAST! Again as a matter of self-preservation, I have learned NOT to be in the kitchen at the same time they are, if the situation can possibly be avoided. I don’t want them tripping over me, after all!
What works best for me is to do as much prep work as possible a day or so before I do the actual cooking. A week more, and sticking it in the freezer until I’m ready to serve it, is even better. With this dish, I’m assuming that the rolling, breading and frying can be done ahead of time, leaving only the baking for the day you’re actually planning to serve it.
Can it also be frozen at that point? I hope so, because then it would definitely work for me.
–Linda
Those two hours definitely have a bit of “distraction time” built in. When I cooked for a large party of people I cooked up a tray or two of this (among other things) and refrigerated it for several days. I don’t like to freeze things since it tends to kill some of the the tenderness (and juiciness) of the chicken and the dish itself will be lost.
Glad the pictures are helpful. It was a challenge getting it all lined up. I have a small kitchen.
Jeff,
This is a great idea you have of posting recipes! For me anyway. I’m the cook at my house. Hyperfocus is an understatement, when I cook…..and I don’t like to be “helped” when I am preparing and doing it the way I think will work(and taste)the best. I make sure everthing will be hot and ready at the same time. It annoys me when, for example, when the side dishes,dinner rolls,etc… are already sitting on the table(getting cold)and the main course is “about ready”.
I like this recipe you have, because it can be served with very few sides,or just bread….or even by itself. I will probably put some of my homemade salsa(I grow all the stuff)on it…after I put my portion on my plate…like I do on about everything I eat(lol). It’s too hot for most ppl.
Or maybe some pulled pork on the side…Gina!
Scott, I too hate it when everything is not ready at the same time. And if it is a steak that is getting cold…well…I really blow a gasket!
I like recipes that don’t require absolute precise measurement. A little more or less does not kill the dish.
Scott,
I am a sucker for a man who can cook. Pulled pork or anything else.
g
Re >>Hyperfocus is an understatement, when I cook…..and I don’t like to be “helped” when I am preparing and doing it the way I think will work(and taste)the best. I make sure everthing will be hot and ready at the same time.<>I make sure everthing will be hot and ready at the same time.<<
I TRY to make sure everything will be hot and ready at the same time…don’t often succeed, though. Any chance of you posting your salsa recipe here? I’m something of a wuss when it comes to chile, but I can always adjust it to my liking.
–Linda
Yep Jeff, me too! A good cut of ribeye(or any steak) needs to be room temp. and lightly seasoned before it even goes on the grill, I think. And to let it get cold after grilling…..no way bro! That’s one of the reasons I am the cook round here.
Gina! As you see, I did’nt forget about the pulled pork we all had fun commenting on, in past posts here. Shows my love of cooking and humor, I rekon.
Linda! Very easy to make…All ya need is:(excuse my spelling) Chinese purple peppers(ghost peppers),habinaro,red hot cherry,red and green jalapeno,red and green chili,red and green cayene,bell,hot and sweet banana,..<peppers. Green and red tomatoes. (I think thats everthing I had growing this year). ….Cut em all up,throw em in a pot, add some garlic salt,suger,and vinager, bring em to a boil, and let em “simmer fer a spell.” Get some mason jars and pour it in em, while it’s hot. I use it in many of my Mexican Food recipes (in moderation, for my families sake), and on the side, to spice up just about anything. The only promblem is, it can’t be duplicated, unless you can get to my garden and pick em. The Fed Ex guy gets lost every time he tries to find my house out here “in the stiks” though.:)
Precise measurements…? hahahahaha. Even if I’m making a store bought cake or something, I mainly just look at the pre-heat and bake time. Add a pinch of this and that or whatever. Thats the secret to success!
It just dawned on me, Maybe I could write a book; “Out of the Box Thinking meets Out of the Box Cooking”
Ha! Try it out on your blog, Scott.
I may do that Gina! The way I cook, reminds of the “Nail Soup”(I think that’s the name) story I read in grade school. Start with this, and then add whatever I have up in the pantry. The only prob. is, I risk hyperfocusing on cleaning out the cluttered mess of the up there, and everybody goes hungry that day.
Oh well, at least I will do something that needed Attn.
I think you mean “Stone Soup.”
Jeff,
I made your recipe last night! And I’m not saying this just to make you feel good, but It was GREAT! I took your advise, and put in a CD,cranked up the speakers,listened to some great blues, and the next thing ya know, I’m cookin’ and a rockin’. My wife and stepson said that this will another favorite meal to look foreward to, after they finished eating! I am going to make up a bunch of em, and roll each one in wax paper,put 2 of em at a time in freezer bags, so when one of us want a good easy meal, all ya have to do is take 2 of em out and put in a small pan, put some cream of mushroom on, and there ya go…A great dinner for yourself!
We all have different work schedules during the week, so Mon-Thurs. it’s fix your own dinner with whatever ya find in the frig.
That's fantastic! I'm glad it was a hit. They refrigerate – and reheat – quite well so there's no reason why you can't just cook up a whole tray and then reheat a few pieces as needed.
I have a bunch more recipes like this where you can cook up a large quantity and then have several meals afterwords. (According to the Upcoming Posts widget I added to the right-hand column of this page…the next recipe is Chicken Rollatini. It's one of my favorites.)