Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ignore my messy kitchen table in the background. 

Usually I have a little trouble with meats (unless it's basic grilled chicken or spare ribs), mainly due to fear of giving myself food poisoning. And since I'm usually only feeding myself...oh well. Here, however, I managed to successfully cook it to its full delicious potential. Mom was surprised to hear I made this since I'm not a big ham person...but I'm ok with it cooked into things. I also managed to set off my fire alarm making this. Twice. It's really sensitive, even when NOTHING IS BURNING. Ugh. Awkward. Good thing I don't know most of my neighbors. Another note: remember to remove the toothpicks before eating. Don't ask why I know what an essential step this is.

Ingredients:

(Adapted from skinnytaste.com 's recipe)

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (really however many you want)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup of egg whites
• 1 tbsp of water
• Italian-style breadcrumbs
• 6 slices deli-sliced ham (I got the cheapest sale one, naturally)
• 6 slices/7-8 oz. Swiss cheese, sliced (You can buy them sliced, or get it cheaper in a block and slice it yourself, as I did. Definitely would have been easier if pre-sliced)
• toothpicks (don't eat them though)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Slice chicken breasts into VERY THIN cutlets. Pound them to make them even thinner, if you didn't cut thin enough. I CAN'T EMPHASIZE THINNESS ENOUGH. It really helps with the rolling later.

Most of these were honestly wayyy too thick

• Spray a cookie sheet with cooking oil.
• Cut each piece of cheese into squares/rectangles (so it nicely fits on chicken cutlet). Place on chicken cutlet.

• Place layer of ham, then another layer of cheese on top.

But more neatly than this, it was my first one

• Here comes the tough part: rolling the chicken. Pick an end and roll with it (as tightly as you can) (pun intended). Secure with a toothpick or 4, depending on if you made it too thick, as I did several times.
• Repeat with rest of cutlets.

Yea...some are nicer than others

One of two actually successful and pretty ones

Look at that beauty

• Whisk eggs/egg whites and water to make an egg wash. 

No worries, the funfetti in the background will be used soon

• Dip chicken cutlet rolls into egg wash, then bread crumbs.

• Bake in oven 25-30 minutes.
• Turn on the broiler for ~3 minutes to brown bread crumbs a bit. (This is how I set off the fire alarm the first time. Opened the broiler and whatever heat it emanated angered the fire alarm. Second fire alarm was set off b/c while trying to fan the alarm the first time, I left the chicken in for another minute or two, and got it a little charcoaled. Alarm #2 goes off b/c of this. This is my life)

See, they're not even that browned!!

• Remove toothpicks before eating, and serve!

Prep: 25 minutes

Yield: As many chicken cutlets as you made.

I served it with a side of my tri-color rotini pasta salad.

I also had leftover egg wash & breadcrumbs & poorly cut chicken cutlets, so I used them to make just regular breaded chicken cutlets: recipe here.

Four-Cheese Mac and Cheese

This was a lovely mother-daughter Mother's Day mac and cheese making experiment. Also an attempt at finding the elusive 4-cheese mac and cheese recipe I am still on the hunt for (this is not it, but it's very good). This also taught me that if you want your food browned, that's what a broiler is for...and where/how to use my broiler. (Press the broil button on my stove.)


Ingredients:

• 1 box pasta (I'd go with elbows, penne, etc.)
• 3 tbsp + 1 tsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk (I used skim.)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 8 oz. Gouda cheese, grated
• 4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 oz. Swiss cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2/3 cup plain panko bread crumbs (I used just plain Italian bread crumbs b/c they were on sale)

Directions:

• Coat 1 or 2 9x9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. (I used two b/c my mom and I split up the two between ourselves)
• Bring large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions.
• Drain & transfer to bowl.
• Heat 3 tbsp of butter in a medium-size saucepan until melted.
• Add flour, whisking to blend. Gradually add milk, whisk until smooth.
• Bring to a simmer over heat, stirring.
• Add onion powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer 3 minutes then remove from heat.
• Stir in Gouda, cheddar, Swiss, and 1/4 cup Parmesan until cheeses are melted and sauce is smooth. (My grater wasn't that good so it took a WHILE to grate it all...get your mom to do it like I did, or do it before you start cooking)

• Mix into cooked pasta and pour mixture into prepared dish(es).

• Separately, melted 1 tsp of butter.
• Stir in bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Divide evenly over pasta.
• Broil 3 minutes or until browned. (I broiled it in the toaster oven for ~20 min til it was browned).
• EAT!!!

Prep: 20 min (basically grating the cheese)

Yield: 12 servings

Tri-Color Rotini Salad

My own personal revamping of a combination of several recipes I found. I'd suggest mixing in really whatever veggies your heart desires, the amount of each being adjustable as well. However, this is what I used and it was quite delish. 

Ingredients:

• 1 box tri-color rotini 
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 tomato, diced 
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 6 oz. Swiss cheese, cubed (A lot of recipes use mozzarella but this was YUM)
• ~6 oz. Italian dressing (I killed what was left at the end of the bottle...it's really lightly covered with no glop at the bottom with this, but you can add more)

Look at that pasta cooling

Pretty!

Directions:

• Boil pasta according to package directions. Let cool.
• Dice/cube vegetables.
• Throw pasta and veggies in a large bowl. 
• Pour Italian dressing.
• Mix & serve! 

Prep: ~20 minutes (Took me longer, but I'm a little obsessive with the dicing)

Yield: I'd guess a week's worth of lunches. I'm only on day 1 today.