■Chicken, as required.
■1 Ham slice (black forest ham is better than "chopped ham, avoid watery hams) Per breast.
■1 Provolone cheese slice - per breast
■several cups Italian Bread Crumbs (you can make your own but seriously.. why?)
■2 eggs
■<1 cup milk
■a large flat-ish bowl
■2 tbsp garlic
■1 tbsp ground black pepper
■Cheyenne pepper (you decide, I use 1 tbsp)
Instructions:
1) Make egg bath. Egg bath is 2 eggs mixed thoroughly with milk, per batch. Use less than 1 cup milk.
(add garlic to egg bath) You may have to make more than 1 batch of egg wash if you have a lot of chicken to make.
2) butterfly chicken breasts (or on the bone, separate the skin membrane underneath the skin)
3) For traditional Cordon Bleu, add 1 ham slice (approximately the length of the chicken breast.) Place provolone cheese atop the ham to match.
4) Mix dry ingredients with bread crumbs and Sprinkle crumbs liberally across a plate (more than 1/4 in.) you're going to "batter" the chicken after the "assembly" is put together. (can also be done with the whole chicken, but its harder.. so.. eh, you're preference.)
5) Dip assembly into egg wash, make sure it covers "all" of the chicken, including the edge where its split.
6) move chicken to bread crumbs, flip over and "pack" the outside with crumbs. Set it aside, continue till finished with "battering"
7) Bake on an baking sheet for 30 min per 1/2 in. or until browned to satisfaction, Most of them will be take 60-70 minutes to cook. (can fry them but it always comes out under/over cooked that way for me.. baking is not only a safer meal, its simpler.)
8) Slice Lemon into circle slices, split to the radius/center and spread across the top of the chicken so that it had legs. (Its a garnish but I love to squeeze the lemon across the top of the Cordon Bleu.
[NOTE:] Do not add cheese to "whole chickens" when cooking, its not a good idea.