France – Chicken Cordon Bleu

Each week I try to have at least one nice dinner where we can all eat together and not be in a rush.  We generally are all home and eat at the same time, but often someone’s hurrying off somewhere or bathtime is approaching.

I decided this week to make our French dinner our fancy one, and we served chicken cordon bleu.

This isn’t difficult, and it tastes great – but it calls for ingredients we don’t always keep on hand, and it makes a mess getting it ready for the oven – but after that, it’s easy as pie.  Well, easier, maybe.

Here’s my easier American version:

–  Slice open boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

–  Lay a thin slice of ham inside and top that with a slice of Swiss cheese.  Fold the chicken closed and secure it with toothpicks.

–  Give the chicken a bath in melted butter and then dredge it in seasoned bread crumbs.

–  Lay on a greased baking sheet (I lined mine with foil for easier clean-up) and bake at 350F for about an hour.

Next, we made a simple bechamel sauce to go with it.

– Melt two tablespoons of butter.  Stir in two tablespoons of flour.

– Slowly pour in milk – maybe a cup? – and stir slowly over medium-low heat until sauce is thickened.

– Add shredded cheese of your choice to taste.  Swiss would be yummy! but we were out, so we used cheddar.

– Pour over your cooked chicken.

Our finished plates looked like this:

Voila!  Chicken cordon bleu!  


We all liked this dish.  I used to stuff chicken with cheese and broccoli often but quit doing that when the kids came along since it’s a bit more labor intensive.  This was so popular, though, that I may have to start doing it again!

Do you stuff your chicken?  With what??

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