I started with some pre-pounded chicken breasts (the Perdue Fit & Easy). I browned them (and cooked them through, because really, they're so thin) in a pan with a little olive oil, and seasoned them with salt and pepper. Then I removed them to a cookie sheet on some aluminum foil, and made the sauce in the same pan.
I started with a roux, with just a little butter and some flour added to the pan until it is combined (when it balls up and smells a little nutty. Can't wait to see what searches bring up THAT phrase).
Then I added some wine (nothing measured, of course), about enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Remember the salmon with dill sauce? Well, I had some leftover sauce, and I added it to the pan (or you could just add butter, dill, sour cream or milk, lemon juice and chicken stock to taste). If your sauce is too thick, you can thin it out with some chicken stock. If it is too thin, you can put some flour in a Pyrex cup, add some of the warm sauce (a few tablespoons) to the mix, whisk it, then add that back to the pan. But let your sauce come to a full, gentle boil before you judge the thickness: that's when the flour roux really kicks in.
Separately, I put the chicken breasts in the oven with some prosciutto and sliced ham (you can use either, I just happened to have both since we'd had company that week, and I was stocked up on pork products. Because when you come to my house? You generally get meat). Then I topped it with swiss cheese and melted it all together. You can do this while you're making the sauce, if you're super efficient.
Take the chicken out of the oven, pour the sauce on top and serve with asparagus and French bread. Why? Because it's "Frenchy." (Then, if you're a fan of "Better Off Dead," you can serve it at your holiday dinner with "Franch fries... AND, Franch dressing... AND, Franch bread. AND, to drink... PERU!")
Yum. That is my kind of French-y. I love the idea of "open-faced" because that is what would traditionally turn me off about making cordon-bleu and the like...the pounding and rolling (whoa, and you thought you would get some weird hits with "balls up" and "nutty") but this seems much less labor-intensive, not to mention healthier.
ReplyDeletePounding, rolling, nutty, balls up... Love it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I applaud any reference to Better Off Dead.
Looks absolutely delicious! I'm going to try this for sure...I love cordon blue. :)
ReplyDelete[...] or so of light butter, then added a tablespoon or two of flour, until it balls up (I start a lot of sauces this way). Then you slowly start adding cold milk, and whisking until it is heated through and creamy, then [...]
ReplyDelete