Name: Chicken Cordon Bleu for Two
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted; Salt and pepper; 2 ounces Gruyère cheese , cut into four 2½ by ½-inch sticks; 4 slices deli ham (4 ounces); 2 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts , trimmed; 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard; 1 large egg , lightly beaten

Why This Recipe Works

Making this 1960s dinner party classic is a laborious process involving pounding meat, stuffing, breading, and frying. To streamline and scale down our recipe, we start by cutting boneless chicken breasts in half to make four small cutlets. Enclosing cheese sticks in ham slices before rolling up the chicken ensures that the melted cheese stays put instead of oozing out. Simply brushing the chicken with egg and dipping it in toasted, seasoned panko bread crumbs makes for a quick, crunchy coating. Finally, we bake our cordon bleu for hands-off cooking.

Before You Begin

This recipe is best with ham slices with some heft. To prevent the cheese from oozing out, completely enclose it inside each ham slice.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss panko with melted butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan until combined. Bake until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring halfway through baking. Let cool completely.

Roll each piece of Gruyère in 1 slice of ham, folding edges of ham over so no cheese is exposed. Using sharp knife, cut each chicken breast in half horizontally into 2 equal-size cutlets. Season chicken with salt and pepper and spread 1 teaspoon mustard evenly on cut side of each cutlet. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, place 1 ham-and-Gruyère roll 1 inch from thick end of mustard side of cutlet and roll up tightly. Secure each chicken roll with toothpick and set aside, seam side down.

Brush tops of chicken rolls with egg and dip into panko mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Discard remaining panko mixture. Arrange chicken rolls, crumb side up, in now-empty loaf pan. Bake until chicken registers 160 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through cooking. Remove toothpicks and serve.