Very popular with children (and adults alike), cordon bleu is a recipe of Swiss origin. The advantage of cooking your homemade cordon bleu is that you can, in addition to customizing it endlessly, choose healthy ingredients.
The method for preparing cordon bleu
Ingredients
In the original recipe, the cordon bleu is composed of a chicken escalope, rolled around white ham and cheese. As for cheese, we usually use Gruyère, Comté or Emmental, which melt easily.
Mounting
The ideal is to flatten the chicken cutlet using a meat tenderizer, or a rolling pin, before starting the preparation. This will allow you to gain surface area, but also to be able to close the meat correctly around the ham and cheese, in a portfolio.
So we start by flattening our chicken cutlet, salting and peppering the inside. Place a piece of white ham on half of an escalope, add the cheese, and close everything.
English breading
Once the ingredients are assembled, you have to bread the whole thing in English style with breadcrumbs. It is this essential step in the traditional recipe which will provide this delicious “crust” to the cordon bleu.
To do this, roll each cordon bleu first in flour, then in beaten egg and finally in breadcrumbs. For a more resistant and thick crust, you can repeat the egg/breadcrumbs operation a second time, before browning in a pan in oil and/or melted butter.
You should know that the breadcrumbs directly absorb the oil, hence the high fat content of this dish. For less fatty cordon bleu, you can opt for cooking in the oven. In this case, a small spoonful of olive oil is enough before putting them in the oven for 25 minutes at 180°C/th.6.
Variations of homemade cordon bleu
Due to its simplicity, this recipe can be customized down to the smallest detail. You can replace the chicken with any type of meat, for cordon bleu with turkey, veal or even pork. The filling adapts just as easily to your desires, since it is possible to use all kinds of cheeses and cold meats (bacon, chorizo, ham with herbs, etc.). For example, for more indulgence, we make our cordon bleu with Echourgnac, with a little chopped parsley. Up to you !
