Food For Friday: Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

This recipe for Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu is a lighter, homemade version of a popular dish.  It's a perfect warm comfort food for the cooler days of fall and the cold days of winter.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
shredded Swiss cheese (could also substitute Gruyere)
8-12 thin slices of deli ham
2 tsp. thyme
1/4 cup flour
1 cup bread crumbs (I used homemade bread crumbs that I chopped in the food processor)
1 tsp. olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup half & half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken breasts between two layers of plastic wrap and place on top of a cutting board.  Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently flatten the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.  Be careful not too pound too hard and create tears or holes in the chicken breasts.  Remove the top piece of plastic wrap.

Pile a small handful of the shredded Swiss cheese in the middle of each flattened chicken breast.  Top with 2-3 slices of deli ham.  Leave a 1/2 inch margin on all sides to help seal the roll.

Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll it up from one end to the other,tight like a jelly roll.  Squeeze the roll gently to seal.  Don't worry if a little bit of the filling peaks out after you roll up the chicken breast.

Prepare the ingredients for the breading.  Season the flour with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and spread out on a plate or in a flat dish.  Place the half & half and the eggs in a bowl and beat them together with a fork.  (I was out of eggs, so I improvised and used just the half & half.  It worked just fine!)  In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, thyme, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and olive oil.  Line up the ingredients in the order of flour, half & half mixture and breadcrumb mixture.

Roll the chicken in the flour to coat, dip both sides in the egg mixture to coat well, and then roll in the breadcrumb mixture until coated.  Place in a glass baking dish coated with nonstick spray.  Repeat with the remaining 3 rolled chicken breasts.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until the breading is slightly browned and the chicken is cooked through.  (Juices should run clear.)

We served our Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu with roasted organic fingerling potatoes.  Spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and place potatoes on it.  Spray potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary and/or thyme.  (Dried rosemary and thyme work fine as well.)  Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and fork tender. 

I adapted the Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu from a recipe posted on My Sweet Savannah.