Chicken Cordon Bleu

Tony got the cutest Father's Day gift Sunday from our 2 youngest (Eli, 10 & Rhett, 6).  They brought home a DVD from church that their leaders put together for Father's Day.  It was an interview style set-up with one of their leaders asking them questions about their Dad.  It was HILARIOUS!!  They asked what was one thing that your Dad is good at, and then asked them to name one thing that your Dad is not good at.    Eli thought about it for a while and his answer was that "My Mom's never left us alone with my Dad for like more than a day because I think she doesn't think he's too good at cooking because we usually end up getting something store-bought."  Hahahaha!!  Totally crack me up!  Just shows who does most the cooking around our house.  (Although Tony does make a pretty awesome Omelet!)

Well, guess what?  Tony's going to be home with those 2 youngest all week long.  My oldest son is at Scout camp all week and Kyla and I are headed to girls camp today until Friday.  Guess they're going to have a lot of "store-bought" food!:)  

But at least they're last meal before all that "store-bought" stuff was a good one.  Actually, a GREAT one.

I've got a Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole recipe on here, and it is delicious and all, but this one today is THE REAL DEAL!  The addition of the mustard in the egg wash is perfect.  Gives it that little bit of tang that made this dish.  They really are pretty easy to throw together, so don't be scared and jump in...you'll love them!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

PRINT RECIPE

1 sleave Ritz crackers

4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread (homemade or store bought)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

6 slices ham (not too thin, you don't want them tearing when you roll them up)

2 cups shredded swiss cheese

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard

3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place crackers and bread in a food processor (or blender in my case) until they are ground into coarse crumbs.  While still processing, drizzle in the melted butter until combined.  Place crumbs on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Stir the crumbs around at the half-way mark.  They should be nice and golden brown.  Place in a pie plate and set aside.

Turn temperature of oven down to 400 degrees.

Take chicken and cut length wise down the fattest part of the breast, do not cut through, just make a long slender pocket.  Place about 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese in the middle of a slice of ham and roll tightly.  Place rolled ham into the pocket of the chicken and make sure chicken covers all the ham.  Repeat with all 6 chicken breasts.

Place flour in a shallow bowl.  Beat eggs with mustard in another shallow bowl.  Take your chicken and cover in flour, then coat in the egg wash & then dredge in the cracker/bread crumbs.  Make sure the entire chicken is covered with crumbs.  

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet that has a small lip (you don't want the juices running into your oven).

Place chicken in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (should reach 160 degrees F).