Birthday Meal

Today is my husband Brandon's 26th birthday (Happy birthday hunny!)
I asked him last week what he wanted me to make for his "birthday meal", it could be anything he wanted for a side dish, main dish, and dessert. His choices were:

Main dish: Chicken Cordon Bleu
Side: "anything potato"
Dessert: Ice Cream Cake

For the "something potato" I made smashed baby red potatoes with garlic and dill. Pretty simple and tasty. The ice cream cake was bought at TCBY, waiting for later to dig into that. My main concern was the main dish. I have never made chicken cordon bleu before, so I looked up a couple recipes and decided to improvise, mix/match, to make it my own. Here is my recipe:

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2inch thickness
• 2 slices Swiss cheese
• 3 thin slices smoked deli ham
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a chardonnay)
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Dill weed to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place 1 slice cheese and 2 slices ham on each breast.  Starting at smallest end, roll chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. 
2. Mix the flour, 2 ground bouillon cubes, and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
3. Heat olive oil and 3Tbs butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides.
4. Transfer chicken to a small baking dish (I used a Pyrex bread loaf pan) add 1 Tbs melted butter, and wine. Lightly cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes drain liquid from chicken into skillet. Return chicken to oven, uncovered. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Add salt, pepper, and dill weed to taste. Cook, stirring until thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
6. Remove the toothpicks from chicken, drizzle with cream sauce, and serve.

There was plenty of the cream sauce, so we put some over the smashed potatoes and it was quite good. Not to toot my own horn, but the chicken turned out AWESOME! For "wingin' it" and experimenting as I went, I am pretty darn proud. Plus, Brandon said he really liked it, so mission accomplished! I forgot to take a picture, but you better believe that I will make this again, and next time I promise to post a pic!