FLOWER POT KITCHEN: CORDON BLEU

21 Oct 2018

CORDON BLEU

Such A Classic

Thick gooey Raclette cheese and fresh ham off the bone generously stuffed in to a chicken breast, tossed in seasoned flour, fried until crispy and golden with a serious cheese pull centre this classic recipe is still going strong. Originating in the United States in the 1960’s this classic recipe was served in all,the high end restaurants and became a fashionable meal to impress your friends with at dinner parties.

Ahead marinating 6-24hrs / Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

4 large thick chicken breasts

150ml buttermilk

500g Raclette cheese

2 thick slices fresh ham off the bone
2 beaten eggs

200g flour

Himalayan sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 ltr oil for frying

First turn on the heat for your skillet or fryer and slowly leave to come up to 180 C / 355 F.

Cutting The Pocket

To make a pocket in the center of the breasts for stuffing take a chicken breasts and using a small knife insert from the top of the thick end straight down the center making sure not to pierce the breasts, gently move the knife back and forth cutting the pocket, be as daring as you can be as the bigger the pocket the more gorgeous cheese you can stuff inside.

In a glass bowl add the buttermilk and chicken coating all over, leave to marinated during the day or even better the night before.

Stuffing the Breasts

Take the block of raclette cheese and slice in to a 5 inch long finger about 1 inch thick then tear a piece of the ham slightly smaller than the cheese, place the ham on top of the cheeese and gently stuff in to your pocket, pushing all the way down so that you can push closed the top of the cut hole.

Dredging The Chicken

Take two large bowls, in one place the beaten eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper, in the second mix the flour, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, coat the chicken breasts in the flour, dust off, roll in the beaten egg then back in to the flour, dust of any excess. They are now ready to cook.

Place the breasts in your hot fat and fry for around 7 minutes turning every couple of minutes until golden brown all over, your know your chicken is cooked if the cheese just starts to bubble out, serve with a knife and fork!

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.