Poulet Cordon Bleu - Tout Simplement Délicieux

our dinner last night... the good news is,
we only ate two, so we'll be enjoying again tonight!

 Poulet Cordon Bleu ~ Tout Simplement Délicieux (Simply Delicious). Terese & I were back in the test kitchen again working on a possible new dinner entree for our upcoming Provence Tours this summer...  While we bring in our own private French Chefs at the Villa, we know the selection of foods for our meals is ultimately important to the immersive experience... And with that, we personally always put a lot of work into deciding on the menus... 

We of course want these menus to reflect French Cuisine, and lean toward the Provençal tastes... but because we serve Family Style, we also want these foods to be universally appealing...  So last night we worked on spicing up our own take on the traditional (Poulet Cordon Bleu) Chicken Cordon Bleu...  

if you've never tried Maille,
we definitely recommend it!

The French term cordon bleu is literally translated as "blue ribbon". According to Larousse Gastronomique, the cordon bleu "was originally a wide blue ribbon worn by members of the highest order of knighthood, L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint-Esprit, instituted by Henri III of France in 1578. Originally these recipes were Swiss, and consisted of Schnitzel instead of chicken... but the name came from the fact that the original recipes were first demonstrated at the famous Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Paris...

Our own take is slightly different from the traditional...  Interested in trying this in your own kitchen?  You can find a million recipes online, but here's our take: We filleted boneless - skinless chicken breasts... hammered them thin... lightly spiced the insides with what else but Herbes de Provence... we stacked & layered the fillets with a thinly sliced, spiced Capicollo Ham, and layers of Swiss, Parmesan, and Brie Cheeses... and then lightly drizzled the inside with our own homemade 65/35 blend of Maille French Dijon mustard and mayonnaise...  We tightly rolled & pinned the breasts, and then coated the entire roll in mayonnaise and rolled the whole breast in a  50/50 mix of Italian & Panko breadcrumbs with freshly grated Parmesan... a slight drizzle of EVOO and then into a hot oven on a rack...

they may still be fighting over the Estate, 
but they make great wine!

When throughly cooked, we take them out rest them for 5 minutes, and then slice the stuffed breasts into 1' inch pinwheels... plate them... and drizzle with our own Creamy Dijon Parmesan Sauce; a traditional rue of melted butter, fine sifted flour, milk, dry white wine, dijon mustard, garlic, and freshly grated parmesan...  

They were delicious!  We'll talk to our Chef about this, but you just might find these on your plate in Provence this Summer!

 If you try these yourself, we suggest pairing with a nice dry rosé wine... (Rosé is indeed the un-official wine of Summer in Provence!)    Good one to try if you've never had it before is Miraval from Brad Pitt's & Angelina Jolie's Wine Estate in Provence...   You've heard the old saying: We love to cook with wine... Sometimes we even put a little in the food!"  

C`EST SI BON  (it's so good!)