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Chicken Cordon Blue

April 22, 2004 / / 5 Comments

Oftentimes when I ask Mike what he wants for dinner, he tells me “chicken cordon blue”. He had no idea what chicken cordon blue was, but it sounded French and complicated and he figured I wouldn’t make it. That way, he didn’t have to actually think of something I could make for dinner.

Every time he mentions it, I call his bluff, tell him what chicken cordon blue is (for some reason he keeps forgetting) and he backs off from it. Finally, I figured that the best way to finish this routine was to actually make some chicken cordon blue so he could decide for himself whether he wanted it or not. I’m not sure now if that was such a great idea.

Chicken cordon blue (fried chicken breasts stuffed with ham & cheese) has never sounded that appealing to me, it made me think of ’50s housewives, but I was determined to find a good recipe. I couldn’t find any on epicurious.com, but allrecipes.com had plenty of well-rated cordon blue recipes. I decided on this one not only because it got great reviews, but because it was very simple and it came with a sauce. It was a great choice. The chicken was quite good and the sauce worthy of its many calories.

I diverged from the original recipe in a few ways. I used prosciutto instead of ham, Provolone cheese instead of Swiss, and beef bouillon instead of chicken bouillon. I also cooked it for only 20 minutes instead of the required 30 as several reviewers had complained that the chicken was too dry. The chicken was fully cooked after 20 minutes so it didn’t require any extra time.

This dish is actually good enough that you could serve to company.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 4 slices Provolone or Swiss cheese
  • 4 slices prosciutto or ham
  • 3 tbsp. flour
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 6 tbsp. butter
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 tsp. chicken or beef bouillon granules
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp. cornstarch

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts until they are very thin. Place a slice of cheese and prosciutto on each breast. Fold over and fasten with toothpicks. Mix the flour with the paprika. Dust the breasts with the flour mixture.

In a large skillet melt the butter. Brown the chicken breasts on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until done.

Remove the chicken from the pot and keep warm. Mix the whipping cream with the cornstarch. Whisk gradually into the simmering sauce. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Marga’s Best Recipes

Asena & Horatio’s

April 18, 2004 / / 0 Comments

Friday night was “girls’ night out” for my friend Lola and I. We decided to go to Asena, a Mediterrenean restaurant in Alameda. The food was wonderful and I liked the casual atmosphere. It’s not a place for tots, though, so I doubt I’ll go there again aytime soon.
After Asena we briefly considered going to Tucker’s for ice cream but we were too full. Instead we headed to our usual hangout, Horatio’s, a local steakhouse that also has a very nice lounge where you can eat dessert. Their desserts are very good and it’s a nice place to hang out.

Pizza Guys

April 15, 2004 / / 1 Comment

*Update*. We’ve ordered pizza from here a few more times. My impressions continue to be the same, good, standard pizza. For future reference, my friend Tita, who likes thin pizza, didn’t really like this one. Also I hadn’t realized this but they charge for delivery.
—
Pizza Guys is a northern Californian chain with a location in San Leandro. As far as I know, it

A week of eating out

April 11, 2004 / / 0 Comments

My sister Katherine spent her spring break with us and very graceously babysat Mika most nights she was here. This and the fact that I didn’t felt like cooking all week, meant that I ended up going out for most meals. I talked about the early part of the week, but there is more.
Thursday, Kahty, Mika and I went to lunch at Fontina in Pleasanton. We all enjoyed the sidewalk dining, the wheater once again was beautiful. Michaela behaved wonderfully. Alas, we found the food overpriced and not very good. I’m still hoping to find one good restaurant in downtown Pleasanton with outdoor dining where I can return again and again.
Thursday night is Survivor night so we didn’t go out (poor Lex got bamboozled!) and instead got Panda Express take out. I’m not very fond of chains as a matter of principle, but Panda Express actually produces some fairly descent Chinese(American) food. The mandarin chicken is particularly tasty.
Friday we all had lunch at Emil Villa’s, a local coffeeshop which seems to be operating under new owners. The food was quite decent (it usually is) and I found their grilled cheese sandwich particularly tasty (though also a bit overpriced).
For dinner we went to Benihana the chain “Japanese steakhouse” and a favorite of Kathy’s. The food was fine and the “show” kept Mika’s attention for a bit. Most importantly, Kathy had a good time.
Saturday we skipped lunch and Mike and I went to dinner at CreAsian, a local upscale fusion restaurant. The little restaurant is interesting but needs some more variety in its menu (it doesn’t seem to have change since our last visit there over a year ago). Still, we had a good, if too-quick meal.
Today we took Kathy to brunch before her flight back home. We went to JD Restaurant in Castro Valley. Big portions, OK food, Kahty was happy again.
Finally, for the grand finale, our friends Regina and Boris took us to dinner at Pomegranate, a Mediterranean restaurant in Berkeley. It was one of the most affordable places we dined at this week and probably my favorite. The food was simple, hearty and very tasty; the atmosphere managed to be elegant/casual and comfortable at the same time and people didn’t even seem to mind Mika going beserk (she was in too good a mood, sometimes a crying child is easier to control than a too-happy-child).
This week I’m planning to eat in, eat in and eat in. And cleaning up the pantry is not out of the question.

Winetasting in Livermore

April 8, 2004 / / 0 Comments

We spent part of today, our 11th anniversary, winetasting in Livermore – our closest winemaking region. The wines were generally pretty good, though not remarkable, and the wineries cute and modern. In all we had a great time. We made it to four wineries, apparently all I can take before getting too tipsy.

Concannon Vineyards, our first stop, seems to specialize in Syrah. Here we learned what a difference a few years aging can make. The 2000 Syrah was completely undrinkable for me – it was too tannic and acidic. The 1995, on the other hand, was quite pleasant. We found the other wines to be OK but unremarkable. I probably liked the Cab most of all, but it tasted just like your run of the mill $10 Cab (though it was probably more expensive than that). On the plus side, this winery has a very nice tasting room.

Stony Ridge Winery, our second stop, features not only their wines but those of Crooked Vine Winery, owned by the same people. Here we met some new wines for us like the orobianco (nicely drinkable) and the nebbiolo (id). But the Malvasia Bianca, a not-too-sweet dessert wine, was by far our favorite. If we only ever drank the dessert wines we bought, we’d have bought a bottle.

Our third stop was Steven Kent which was featuring Tamas Estates wines. All the wines here were nicely priced, completely drinkable but not too interesting. In a way, these are the perfect wines to serve at a party. They are sure to not offed anyone, beginners won’t find them too challenging and wine lovers won’t find them too cheap.

Finally, we went to Murrieta’s Well, a very cute “boutique” winery owned by Wente. Murrieta is trying very hard to be different by offering unique blends and not-very-common grapes. It has a Chilean winemaker that comes a few times a year to select the grapes and do the blending. You have to pay $5 to taste six wines here, and is probably worth it as they were by far the best wines we tasted in Livermore. Of the two white I liked the “Los tesoros de Joaquín” Chardonnay & Semillon blend the best. It was a smooth yet bodied wine that I could imagine would be perfect for sipping before a hearty meal or drinking with bread and cheese. Of the reds, I liked the Tempranillo quite a bit as well, specially for the price. It was smoother than a cab but probably as satisfying. I also really liked the Sarzuela, a mixture of tempranillo with other grapes, though probably not enough to justify the difference in prices. Murrieta’s pride and joy, the Red Vendimia, surprisingly didn’t do much for me, even though it’s a blend of cab and other varietals that I like.

Wine Tasting in Livermore 2005

Wine Tasting in Livermore 2008

Three restaurants in two days

April 7, 2004 / / 0 Comments

With my sister in town babysitting Mika, Mike and I had been doing a fair amount of eating out (and expect to do some more). Our last three meals have been at restaurants and in all they’ve been satisfying.
Tuesday night we had dinner at A Cote, a “small plates” restaurant in Rockridge We weren’t as impressed by the food as we were in our first visit, but we had a good enjoyable meal.
For lunch Wednesday we went to Boci in Pleasanton. We enjoyed the sidewalk dining and the linguini carbonara, though the ravioli bolognese was a dissapointment.
Finally, for dinner tonight we went to Jojo on Piedmont Ave. We had a very nice meal in this unassuming French restaurant.
As usual, full reviews of the restaurants will be available at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/

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