Don’s Chicken Cordon Bleu

I had this idea of a GOOD chicken cordon bleu. I haven’t made one of these in years (decades?) and I thought maybe I could take a shot with better prep and, of course, my air fryer.

My issue with previous cordon bleu’s was that they were flavorless, which is odd given the cheese/ham combo, and they were dry.

So, on recent travels, I thought about how I could improve upon it. The first was obvious, better seasoning on the initial prep, and a butter brush before rolling. Then cook through, but crisp at the end.

So I combined the two. After flattening the breast (I use a roller, a hammer is too sharp edged and tears the wrap) I brushed the breast with a mix of melted Irish butter, herb de Provence, minced garlic, fresh basil, fresh parsley and onion powder. And then put on a grind or two of black pepper.

Then I put on a couple slices of smoked black forest ham, topped with slices of baby Swiss cheese and cheddar cheese.

I rolled these up tight and wrapped plastic. Recipes call for this to go into the fridge for an hour, but I don’t want to cool down the center (thus having to cook longer, and drying out the outer layer). So I put them into the freezer for 15 minutes

I whipped up two eggs in a bowl and then made my bread crumb mix, and Italian bread crumb with added seasoning to my taste…more garlic powder, onion powder, this went into a separate bowl.

When the chicken roll was cool enough, I ran it through the egg, then the bread crumbs, I put this on a tray and brushed it with my original butter/herb mix from the beginning.

I placed these two rolls into my air fryer for 25 minutes at 270°, to cook evenly, then finished it with 8 minutes of 350° to crisp up the crust.

While it rested I finished up a pan seared garlic/onion green bean veggie. I also finished up a nice pan reduction to put on top, this was butter, onion, garlic, lemon juice and white wine, with a little sliced roasted red bell pepper. The cordon bleu needs some highlights, so this is the goal here.

The result was a very moist Chicken Cordone Bleu with a crispy crust, but not a dry exterior layer. And it really didn’t take long to do this recipe.

Now, I’ll try it with chicken thighs next, with a white wine cream sauce. And add a fine grated Parmesan cheese to the interior.