Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-ups

4 Chicken Breasts
4 slices ham or proscuitto
4-6 slices of swiss, gruyere, Ementaller, or similar cheese OR 1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs (I prefer panko)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter, melted

The first step is to pound the chicken flat.  To do this, first place a chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap.  Then pound it to about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick using either a meat tenderizer or a big heavy pan like a cast iron skillet.  I really like the cast iron skillet; since it has a large surface area and is heavy, it will help prevent the meat from tearing as it flattens.  4-5 good whacks (keeping the skillet as flat as possible) is all it usually takes for the average chicken breast to be about the right thickness.

Once the breast is flat, take off the top piece of plastic wrap.  Place1 slice of the ham and 1/4 of the cheese on top of the flattened chicken.  You want a little chicken to "frame" the filling.

Now for the trick.  Flip the top end of the chicken over the top.  Grabbing the plastic wrap farthest from you, pull it toward you, rolling the chicken into a tube.  Now, you want to tighten the plastic wrap on both ends so that it looks like a piece of hard candy wrapped up in cellophane.  You may need to lay the plastic wrap flat again after rolling up the chicken, then set the chicken on one end and roll it up.  Then grab the ends of the plastic wrap poking over the sides of the chicken, and twist to tighten.

Repeat all the above for each piece of chicken.  Then -- and this is actually pretty important -- put it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.  Half an hour is better.  This will chill the meat and help keep it from falling apart as you bread it and cook it.

Now, set up a breading station.  Put the flour in one bowl.  Crack the eggs into another bowl and then scramble them with a fork.  In a third bowl, mix all the other ingredients well.  Also, spray a baking dish or a non-stick pan with non-stick spray and preheat the oven to 350F.

One at a time, carefully and gingerly unwrap the chicken roll ups.  Working VERY carefully, coat the chicken lightly with flour, tapping off any excess.  Then cover in the egg, and finally the bread crumbs.  (You want to do it this way so that there is a dry surface for the egg to stick to, which gives a wet surface for the bread crumbs to stick to.)   If you can, use one hand to move the chicken from the flour to the egg, and the other hand to coat the chicken with the bread crumbs.  Otherwise, you may need to wash you hands between each rollup.  As you coat each one, put it in the baking dish.

Once all the chicken is breaded and in the baking dish, bake it uncovered for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts and how tightly they're wrapped.  Serve hot.

And yes, I know there's only 3 pieces in the last picture.  There was only 3 pieces of chicken in the package I took out to defrost.