Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of those old timey recipes that used to be served in French Restaurants years ago. This is a much easier version and it has NO cream of soup in it. If you have never made your own cream sauce, I encourage you to try it. It is easier than most people think and practically impossible to screw up. You can control what goes in your sauce. I always use Smart Balance and 1% milk to keep light. If I'm adding cheese I always add a light cheese, again to control the calories. Once you get this technique under your belt you'll never go back to cream soup again. Sorry Campbell's

Yields about 4 servings


Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
8 oz ham, finely chopped
1 cup finely grated Swiss cheese
1/4 freshly, finely grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup Panko or cracker crumbs
3 tbsp minced Italian parsley
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sauce:
1 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed
1 tsp prepared dijon mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder and garlic powder4
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sour cream
2 shallots, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken breasts in an even layer in an oblong baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle some pepper over the breasts and set aside. In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, lemon juice, mustard, onion powder, dried thyme, salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and garlic powder. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic to the butter and cook for abou5t 3 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. While whisking, pour in milk mixture, then cook stirring constantly until mixture just begins to gently boil and has thickened. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream. Pour mixture evenly over chicken and use a spatula to spread into an even layer. Sprinkle ham over sauce then sprinkle grated Swiss and Parmesan cheese evenly over ham layer. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the Panko or cracker crumbs, parsley, 1/4 tsp pepper then pour in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and toss bread crumb mixture to evenly coat. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly over cheese layer. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and return to the oven for 10 minutes more or until golden brown on top. Serve warm.