Saturday, October 25, 2008

Friday Feast: Part IV

We had some technical difficulties at the Lanford Chateau yesterday, but I did have all intentions of posting last night.
I made one of my favorite dishes. It's actually my mom's recipe, with a little variation.

The key element to getting Chicken Cordon Bleu right is making sure the chicken is flat enough. I'm told that some butchers will flatten a chicken breast for you. And you could probably butterfly it for the same result. But I prefer to perform the delicate act of flattening. It's therapeutic to whack a chicken breast. Repeatedly. And I don't even own a fancy-schmancy meat tenderizer mallet. I just use a canned good from the pantry. Fun times.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Four flattened boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Four slices of ham
Four slices of thick-cut cheese
(I like Provolone, Mozzarella, Swiss or Mont-Jack best)
Bread crumbs
3/4 stick of melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
As we mentioned before, flatten a chicken breast. Wrap one slice of cheese in a slice of ham.
Place the ham and cheese in the center of the chicken breast and fold, as neatly and tightly as you can. All the cheesy goodness will escape while baking if you don't! Use toothpicks to secure the chicken breast. Typically, I use four toothpicks. It doesn't matter how many you use. Just keep a mental note of how many - so you can find them all after baking. Nothing tasted better than Baked Toothpicks Cordon Bleu.
Brush each breast with melted butter and cover with bread crumbs.
Place the chicken open-side up on a baking dish.
Bake for about 40 minutes.

Oh, and don't be alarmed when you cut into the chicken for the first time.
There's pink ham in the center, remember?



Golden Parmesan Potatoes
Six large baking potatoes
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt butter in the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan.
Wash and cube potatoes. Place all ingredients into a large ziploc bag.
Shake well - make sure all the potatoes are coated evenly.
Arrange potatoes in the pan on top of the melted butter.
A single layer works best, but it's not the end of the world if some overlap
.
Bake for one hour.


Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz chocolate chips
2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.
Stir dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add slowly to butter mixture, beating well.
Stir in chocolate chips, nuts & oats.

Now, chill out.
Put the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Drop cookies by the spoonful onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake for about 12-14 minutes.
Cool on wire rack and wait for them to cool.
Listen to me! It's not fun if you burn your tongue and then can't taste the cookies!

2 comments:

phaedra said...

I'm really enjoying your recipe posts! Keep 'em coming!

Anonymous said...

skye
I tried the parmesan potatoes and they were delicious. I would like to see you compile a recipe book in the future. I'm looking forward to Friday!