Chicken Cordon Bleu Bundles

I got this recipe from my college best friend’s mother. When I was in college, she fed me a lot; she was an incredible Italian cook! After I got married and had my daughters, I told her one day that I didn’t know what to make for dinner and she gave me this recipe. I knew I couldn’t duplicate her Italian recipes, but this recipe I could duplicate. I guess she knew that as well because she never gave me her lasagna recipe!

I make this recipe frequently for my family. I like to serve them with mashed potatoes or even better, garlic mashed potatoes (just drop a couple of peeled garlic cloves in with the potatoes while they are boiling,) and a steamed vegetable. These leftover chicken bundles also make great snacks.

These chicken bundles can be prepared and then put in the refrigerator while you “run around town” or you can cook them and then reheat them. These reheat very well in the microwave.

Ingredients

2-2 ½ lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breast – cut and pounded into cutlets*

2 eggs – beaten with 1 tbsp of water

1 ½ cup of seasoned bread crumbs

4 oz. or ¼ lb. of smoked turkey or baked ham – cut into ½ inch cubes or pieces. Since I use deli turkey, I use pieces of sliced turkey

1 cup cheddar cheese – I used the shredded, orange cheddar in a bag

First thing to do is to make cutlets out of the chicken*. Then beat the eggs and water together in a shallow bowl. Put bread crumbs into another shallow bowl. Dip the chicken cutlet in the egg – only one side of the chicken – and then put the cutlet in the breadcrumbs to coat the chicken – again only one side, the side of the cutlet with the egg on it. While the cutlet is still sitting in the breadcrumbs, put about 1-2 tablespoons of the cheese and about the same amount of the turkey or ham in the center of the cutlet. Pull the sides of the cutlet into the middle of the cutlet to cover the cheese and turkey/ham and then put this “bundle”, open side down, in a baking dish. At this point you can refrigerate the bundles and cook them later while you drive around town to all your children’s activities.

When you are ready to cook them, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Do not overcook. When you check the chicken after the 30 minutes, notice the turkey/ham will make the chicken turn pink where the chicken touches the turkey/ham. Do not confuse that for undercooked chicken. These bundles are best if they are not over cooked because then they are moist.

To reheat, cut a bundle in half and microwave 1 bundle for 30 seconds at a time until it is warm or microwave 2 bundles for 1 minute at a time until it is warm. I have never tried freezing these because there are never any leftovers, but my guess is they would freeze well. Just wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

*Directions to make chicken cutlets: Cut the breast into cutlets by cutting the breast in half and then I cut the thicker half horizontally. Pound out the  chicken to ¼ inch thickness by placing chicken between plastic wrap and use a mallet or rolling pin to pound it.