Chicken Cordon Bleu and Dijon Red Potatoes

If the Katie of 15 years ago could have predicted that I would eat such a variety of cuisines, much less cook them for the masses, she would have been shocked. Back when I first started cooking, my meals were, to put it plainly, plain and boring. I ate very much like the traditional Pittsburgher that I was-a lot of meat and potatoes, and very few vegetables. Granted this may have not had anything to do with where I grew up, but I can say that I didn't have nearly as complex as an appetite as I do now.

Having said that, sometimes you just want to eat something that takes you back in time. This week I cooked just that. This plate is lacking in color, and probably nutritional content, but the familiarity was right on point.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Dijon Red Potatoes (serves 6)

 

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/4 pounds)
• 1 TB dijon mustard
• 3 slices (1 oz each) deli ham, cut into halves
• 3 slices (1 oz each) Swiss cheese, cut into halves
• 1/4 dry bread crumbs

Potatoes

• 1/3 cup dijon mustard
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 6 medium red skin potatoes (about 2 pounds) cut into chunks

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all potato ingredients (sans potatoes) in a bowl. Then toss potatoes in mixture, coating evenly. Place potatoes in a lightly greased baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the potatoes are cooking, place chicken between 2 pieces of waxed paper and pound to 1/4 inch thickness using flat side of meat mallet. One way to cut time is to buy the thin, scalloplini style chicken breasts they sell in the store. Either method works.

Brush 1 TB dijon mustard on each chicken breast and then layer 1 slice each of ham and cheese over mustard. Roll up each chicken breast from short end, secure with a toothpick. Spray tops of chicken rolls with cooking spray and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Once potatoes have cooked for 45 minutes, decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken rolls in baking pan, cover with foil and bake 10 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 20 minutes until cooked fully.

As a side note, I tend to like my potatoes very tender and almost brown/crispy around the corners so I end up cooking the potatoes for the full time by themselves (45 minutes) and then for the 30 minutes the chicken is cooking. If you were making them by themselves, I think about an hour at 425 degrees would be sufficient.