Chicken Cordon Edam

A really big meal! This morning Fern was still talking about how good it was, that is a first! I started out just getting some chicken but while I was shopping I thought it would be nice to have something a bit different.  I had Edam cheese in the fridge and if I got some ham I could make a variation on cordon bleu. I've been pounding the chicken flat lately anyway so it was just an extra step of rolling up around some ham and cheese. (of course it's never that simple)

I started with peeling potatoes to mash and getting them ready on the stove.  The carrots and broccoli were going in the steamer. Once the starch and vegetables were prepped I went back to the chicken.  I pounded the breasts flat in a plastic bag to about triple in size.  (The heavy clear bags from the produce section work great for this.)  On each breast I laid two pieces of deli counter ham. (it was too much, I'll use only one next time.) Then a nugget of Edam cheese and rolled up the chicken around it all. In another plastic bag I put 1 tbsp of flour, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder,  1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper.  (I put the seasoning in the mortar and pestle to remove lumps first) I put a rolled up breast in the bag and held the breast from outside the bag and shook the bag. This worked surprisingly well and didn't unroll the chicken. I had an egg well whisked to dip the chicken in. Then in another plastic bag of Alpine Bread crumbs the final coating went on the chicken. I had two slices of ham left over so I put them down on the baking sheet and sat the breasts on top. Finally, so the bread crumbs would brown nicely I sprayed oil on the bread crumbs.

I buy Alpine Bread and never finish a loaf.  The second half of the loaf goes stale and I take some croutons off it.  When it's completely dry I break it up and put it in the food processor to create whole wheat panko that is full of flavor. Any favorite bread can be substituted.

I turned the heat on under the potatoes and steamer and put the chicken in a 350º oven.  It will take 35 minutes to cook. That left me with nothing to do for a few minutes so I got a beautiful tomato and my V cutter. I cut all around the tomato to produce two zigzag tomato flowers.  I put grated parmesan on top and put them in the oven during the last 10 minutes of the chicken.

I had some leftover parmesan grated so I got out my silicone sheet and made two small disks of cheese. I put this in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the chicken.  The steamed vegetables were done so I ran them under cold water to stop cooking and poured out the boiling water.  Just before the chicken was done I put the steamer pot back on the burner with a little oil so the butter doesn't burn.  I took the chicken, tomatoes and cheese disks out of the oven. The vegetables went into the steamer pot with some xv olive oil on top. I tossed the vegetables in the pot to warm them up while the plates warmed in the oven.

I plated the chicken and the potatoes opposite.  I didn't make a sauce because I wanted crunch on the chicken.  On one side were carrots and the other broccoli.  Tucked in beside the broccoli was the roasted tomato.  I stuck the parmesan cheese disk in each potato pile and called Fern to dinner. He came into the kitchen and just said, "Wow!"