I love to cook , but when your audience is as difficult as my dear husband and children, it is difficult to cook for them.

Why? Because they have specific tastes and likes.  So when the dish you prepare is not on their list, they are careful. They ask questions, they taste and make comments ( positive or negative) Since two of my closed family members have very limited palate, I have to justify why I am presenting them with new recipes …

See Cooking for me is an escape. I read cookbooks and magazines and dream how they will taste, and how I can serve it as such or change it. So as you would expect, everyweeek at our house is a different week. If the meals often stay the same for my husband and daughter, it varies quite often and is rarely the same for my son and myself. Theo is like me, he likes to try things. New food, new spices, new tastes.

Today, though, I did not feel like cooking two meals so I just went with a classic: Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Did you know that the recipe is not even French;-)

“Chicken Cordon Bleu is a relatively recent American creation, drawing upon techniques from both chicken Kiev, and similar schnitzel dishes. The earliest reference to Chicken Cordon Bleu in the New York Times is dated to 1967, while similar veal recipes are found from at least 1955.The term “Cordon Bleu” is translated from French as Blue Ribbon. The chicken dish should not be confused with the cooking school of the same name” Wikepedia.

For this dinner, you will need the following:

Ingredients: 6 potatoes cut in the length in 8 wedges. Parmesan, olive oil, 4 chicken breast, 4  proscuitto slice, 4 slice of swiss cheese, cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Skin the potatoes and cut them in 8 in their length. In a plastic bag, place all the ingredients. Add  the sliced potatoes in the bag, and shake them to coat. Place them on a deep flexi pan or a silpat and abke in the oven for 15 minutes at 425. Turn the potatoes 7 minutes in the cooking so all sides of the potaoes will be crispy.

For the chicken cordon bleu. Butterfly the chicken breast, place 1 slice of proscuitto and 1 slice of cheese and close the breast with toothpick as shown.  Melt 1 Tbsp of better in a frying pan, and saute your chicken breast until it becomes golden, turn and saute the other side. When the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the pan. Add the cream to the pan and stir to clean up the pan of all the brown pieces. Bring to boil until the sauce has reduced  and has become thicker. You may also add  2 Tbsp of scotch to add flavor.

To serve, place the potatoes on the plate,  cut the breast of chicken in half, remove the toothtick and drizzle the sauce over it.

This dish is quite simple and quick to fix, but you might want to substitute low fat cheese and skip the cream for a mucher lighter version.

Bon Appetit!