Chicken Cordon Bleu

I noticed the "Food" section on my blog is looking rather puny. I always find my recipes online (I own 2 dusty cookbooks) and really appreciate when people share something they made that was just delicious. I've been in a cooking rut where I cook the same five things for dinner and I'm trying to climb out! I think that by sharing some of my successful, and maybe not so successful recipes I'll be encouraged to continue to try new things. I almost never follow a recipe, I usually look up 10 recipes of the same thing and then combine different ingredients and directions from each one. If you read the recipe you'll see what I mean.

Being completely opposite from your spouse in some areas can be just great! Being complete opposites when it comes to taste in food is not something I would suggest. Mark and I are definitely living on different levels of the food pyramid. Occasionally Mark will venture to my side of the food pyramid filled with vegetables and hippy food, and once in a while I'll journey to his side to enjoy chips or something smothered in cheese, but my stomach always hates when we go to visit. We're learning to compensate and alter recipes so we will both like them, and also to try new things. Awww the wonderful things about being married that no one ever tells you about (I will share more of these later).

After a very long introduction I will now share what was on the menu for tonight's dinner.

Chicken Cordon Bleu and Roasted Red Potatoes

Photo courtesy of Google Images. I was very busy trying not to ruin the meal and didn't have time to get out my camera. 

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 6 slices Swiss cheese
• 6 slices ham
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese
• A few shaky shakes of garlic salt

Directions

1. Pound the heck out of the chicken breasts. This may make your neighbors angry, especially if you live upstairs. Disregard complaints and continue to finish with step 1 as soon as possible.

2. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. If you don't have toothpicks (which I didn't), just pray the chicken doesn't become impatient and decide to unfold itself. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.

3. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. You could use chicken broth or something if you're afraid of white wine, but it adds a really sweet flavor that I love! Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

4. Remove chicken. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Add cream cheese and garlic. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken.

We had roasted red potatoes with this and it was just tasty! Now that I think about it, it's the exact meal we had at our wedding dinner minus the asparagus. But that is a very good side dish to go along with it too!