 |
| Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese |
So yesterday I was scrolling around on Pinterest looking for easy leftover chicken recipes. I had left over shredded chicken that needed to be used up or go to it's rightful home in my belly in some sort of delicious way. Waste not, want not right!? Really not feeling the obvious cold chicken salad choice, and the produce in my house was a little lacking at the moment so soup wasn't gonna work either :/ Because really what is chicken noodle soup without some carrots or a chicken salad without crisp veggies of some sort lol?! I was trying to find something that really squawked at me to make for dinner and of course the choices were anything, but limited!!! Then I started envisioning what I had in my fridge and cupboards that could mesh into any of these dishes, and my choices become quite a bit more bleak lol...
I wanted something warm, hardy and comforting, but still easy and HEY....I just so happen to have shredded chicken, Swiss cheese slices, and sliced ham! WHALA!!! One of my ABSOLUTE FAV MEALS EVER is Chicken Cordon Bleu. I would probably eat it out of a boot, okay that's pushing it, but you feel my drift; that stuff rocks my boat in a very good way LOL. Normally, Chicken Cordon Bleu isn't made with shredded chicken, but this recipe has all the same yummy elements and is SUPER EASY so its a dinner winner for me and I hope you enjoy my simple twist on these great classics! Extra Bonus: minimal dishes and clean up required here, your welcome folks hehe!
Sorry for my horrible kitchen mood lighting! It's good for relaxation, energy costs, and not feeling like your in a hot seat, BUT NOT SO HOT for pic taking lol! I'm working on it though folks so bear with me kapeesh
As you can sort of see (lol) I have about two cups of shredded chicken, a stick of margarine, sliced ham, thick white bread (from the future hubbies bakery) and Swiss cheese slices. Not too many ingredients, not to complicated.
I placed four slices of precooked ham in with the leftover (fully cooked) chicken in a frying pan and poured about a half cup of the leftover broth (I made in my last post) in the pan. This was mainly because I didn't want the chicken to be dry and chalky, but you could use a little olive oil, butter, or any other liquid agent you prefer (FYI my broth is purdy good though and it helps unite the dish lol) I also sprinkled a little lemon pepper seasoning, Italian blend seasoning, and red pepper flakes on the meats for a little extra umph! But you can keep it pretty basic or add whatever seasonings your lil taste buds desire to suite the family's likes or dislikes, I know how that goes, my fella is a bit of picky eater at times. It'll be delicious whatever way you decide to go about it! All I'm really doing is heating the meats up on medium/low heat so we don't have a mixed up temperamental sandwich. We don't want the outside to be hot while the inside is like the arctic lol.
Once the meat is nice and warmed up (it's already cooked so it should only take a few minutes to heat), I removed the chicken from the frying pan back into the leftover chicken container and mixed in approx. 2 tablespoons of mayo (or use enough to lightly coat the chicken amount your using) and I squeezed a tiny squirt of basic yellow mustard in and gave it all quick stir. This gives the borderline dry chicken even more moisture, creaminess, extra flavor, and will help hold it all together better! Otherwise, your probably going to have a heck of time keeping it in decent sandwich form and that's no fun to flip or try to eat lol.
Then using that same pan I used to warm the leftover chicken and ham up in, I constructed a gourmet chicken cordon bleuish grilled cheese. I buttered one piece of thick, Texas style white bread and laid it butter side down in the pan on low/medium heat. Then, I topped it with 2 slices of ham. On top of the ham, I spooned about a half a cup of the warm chicken salad mixture and than topped it with a slice of Swiss cheese and another piece of the buttered bread, butter side out (for anyone who may be unfamiliar with the grilled cheese process). By the time you get all the layers on, it will be about time to flip the beaut, I'd suggest two hands while attempting the flip. Because this is a beastly, hardy sandwich, but hey if you've got mad flipping skills go for it lol. I'm just a better safe than sorry sort of gal sometimes! Cook for about three minutes on each side and you should be good to go and ready to enjoy your Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I served mine with homemade garlic and green onion topped mashed potatoes, but this sandwich would go great with a soup or salad too. It is such any easy sandwich, but with a dash of fancy. Hope you enjoy it as much as me and the fiance did!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment