I was a little overly excited about the new HyVee grocery store that recently went up in Manhattan, KS. I was even more “overly excited” to make use of it. It's the closest thing around here to the type of stores I was blessed to live near in Oakland- Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Piedmont Grocers, The Berkeley Bowl ...all the specialty grocers that sell above average foods. With all these farmers and such out here in Kansas, you'd think they could do better than just HyVee and a bunch of Wal-Marts. I guess they’re just not the health nuts I was used to living around on the West coast. Sad!
This was my first in what I hope to be one specialty meal per week. I picked this recipe from a cookbook for bachelors. I made it just a little more exquisite that what the recipe was calling for. It called for skinless, boneless chicken which is what I used. It also called for slices of cooked ham. For a bachelor, or anyone on a tight budget, that means packaged lunch meat ham! I bought ham but in a moment of thrill at my preparing such a masterpiece, I accidentally used the prosciutto for each piece of chicken. Oh well! I also used a slice of baby Swiss per chicken. So, I got that part right! I coated the chicken breasts in 3 tablespoons of flour mixed with one teaspoon of paprika. I browned each side of the chicken in a saucepan. Once browned, I added roughly a 1/2 cup of chicken broth and a 1/2 cup of white cooking wine. The smell was the best part after the taste. It reminded me of those special dinners my grandmother used to cook in her Pacific Heights apartment in San Francisco. I was completely brought back to those evenings (normally Christmas, Easter, or random birthday dinners). I watched my grandmother cook those meals which she always served with peas and pearl onions no matter what the dish was. Anyone too young for wine were served milk or fruit juice in goblet shaped small laced edge drinking glasses. Just drinking out of what looked like a wine glass was enough to make a little kid feel adult-like.
Anyways, I used toothpicks to keep the prosciutto and Swiss in the chicken and simmered for 30 minutes.
The asparagus was easy. I used the gas oven though I could have used the toaster oven. I wrapped the prusciutto and Swiss (Swiss first) around three stalks each. I cooked each threesome for 15 minutes in a 450' preheated oven.
The sauce for the chicken cordon bleu was basic. I used the cookbook's recipe though I didn't realize I could have looked for a better one online. It was heavy cream mixed with corn starch. I simmered it until it was thick. It was bland and I didn't know what to use to give it some flavor. It didn't call for salt but I threw in a small amount. If I had found something to add to the cream sauce, I think it really could have complimented the chicken.
The chicken was very nicely tendered and juicy. I could taste the white wine flavor which wasn't overly strong. It was perfect. I'll certainly have this again, though I'll find another asparagus recipe. Not because I don't like prosciutto. Far from it! It's just a little too expensive!
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