Cordon-bleu - My son loves it, so does the French President

Chicken cordon-bleu is the kind of regressive dish I love. It puts me in my direct comfort zone!
I guess maybe it's the same for you. Our childhood memories come straight back, the school's cafeteria not great, the meat overcooked, the fries too soft, the spinach downright disgusting.
I suggest that you make a clean sweep of all that!
You will learn how to make a cordon bleu worthy of its name. How to revisit it if you wish. You'll find that after trying my recipe, you'll make it regularly.

Jump to:

• Where does chicken cordon bleu come from?
• What was used to make it?
• How to make it crispy?
• What about the plating?
• What side dishes can I serve with it?
• 📖 Recipe

Where does chicken cordon bleu come from?

For the record, it's a bit fuzzy, even the name itself is fuzzy. However what I can tell you is that it is a dish invented in the USA at the end of the 60s. And that it was probably imagined by mixing schnitzel (breaded veal cutlet) and chicken Kiev.

What was used to make it?

You can make it like me with chicken breast. But you can also imagine it with veal, pork or turkey escalope.
Of course the other two main ingredients are not to be neglected either.
First of all the white ham, which you can replace with :

• turkey or chicken "ham",
• beef jerky
• prosciutto or Serrano,
• even chorizo

Then the cheese. You can use :

• Comté cheese
• mature or smoked cheddar
• raclette cheese
• Ossau-iraty sheep cheese
• Fourme of Montbrison (blue cheese)
• and just about all cheeses made from cow's or sheep's milk.

How to make it crispy?

As often, you will have to bread it.
I like to bread it with English breading, flour, egg, breadcrumbs and a little twist. But you can replace the traditional breadcrumbs with Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs).
I make it home-made by mixing not too strongly bread.

What about the plating?

You can if you want to make it in the traditional way, in the shape of a slipper. To know by cutting the chicken breast and adding your ham and cheese and then closing it.
Or if you want to give it a more sophisticated look, you can form it into a ballotine. It's a little more technical but it's more sophisticated.

What side dishes can I serve with it?

Without any hesitation, French fries! Potatoes, sweet potatoes, raw vegetables or polenta.
Or pasta such as risoni or shellfish, that works very well too.
Without forgetting a small green salad to balance this dish somewhat.

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📖 Recipe