Golden Chicken Cordon Bleu

Pounding... strike that, tenderizing a chicken is not the best way to "win friends and influence" new neighbors.  I was making a lot of racket with this one, and I'm sure they were wondering what was going on on the other side of the wall.  Then I think I made them all jealous with the delicious smells wafting through my front door when it was done.  I should have shared... that would have made some true friends... but alas, I was quite stingy... this one is "highly-labor-intensive" in my opinion.  People will try to tell you that is't not, but they are probably lying... just like the girl who whips up the cute ruffly dress for her daughter and tells you it was "SO EASY!" and it's almost like she's trying to rub in your deficiencies.  Nope, I'm going to be honest... anytime you have to layer and roll something up (particularly inside the tenderized breast of a chicken) and it involves carefully placed toothpicks, that automatically bumps it to a new level of difficulty in my book.
All that being said, it was quite scrumptious.  I took this one on because
A. I happened to have all the ingredients.  Swiss cheese doesn't show up in my kitchen often.
and B. I remembered learning to make it at a women's activity, and the lady was trying to tell everyone it was "SO EASY!" and I went home and told my hubby, "Well, I will never make that again!  Way too much work!"  And I just kind of wanted to see if I could actually do it.  Silly, I know... but I did it.  DELICIOUS enough that it might, just might make it off my "one-time-fix cooking bucket list." :)

*I doubled this recipe.  I felt like there was a lot of the flour mixture though- I had extra, but I guess that is better than being short, right?  I used a whole package of chicken, and I put the left-overs (including the wild-rice) to great use... stay tuned and I will tell you how.

Golden Chicken Cordon Bleu

Swiss cheese (3/4 ounce each)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 egg

2 tablespoons 2% milk

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I added dried parsley and salt)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Flatten chicken to 1/4-in. thickness; top each with a slice of ham and cheese. Roll up and tuck in ends; secure with toothpicks.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt, paprika and pepper. In another bowl, whisk egg and milk. Place bread crumbs in a third bowl. Dip chicken in flour mixture, then egg mixture; roll in crumbs.

In a small skillet, brown chicken in oil on all sides. Transfer to an 8-in. square baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. (I used a meat thermometer and it took mine at least 40-45 minutes) Discard toothpicks; drizzle with butter. Yield: 2 servings.

Nutritional Facts1 serving (prepared with reduced-fat butter) equals 501 calories, 23 g fat (9 g saturated fat), 172 mg cholesterol, 728 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 49 g protein.

(Taste of Home)