Date Night Dinner for Two: Chicken Cordon Bleu

The days I'm not on Pinterest surfing through dinner recipes, I look to the Food Network for inspiration. Since my Typical Thursday journey, I have adopted a few fancy, yet inexpensive go-to dinner recipes, and Chicken Cordon Bleu is definitely one of them. Tyler Florence of the Food Network, hits it out of the park with his version.

Minus the thyme leaves, Scott and I stick to this recipe step by step. It's absolutely fool proof and absolutely delicious. All you need is:

• 4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
• 4 slices of thin prosciutto
• 1/2 lb Gruyere cheese, grated (you can use any type of Swiss cheese)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs 
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap. Use a mallet, a rolling pin, the back side of a pan, anything you have handy in the kitchen that can pound the chicken down to a 1/4 inch thickness. Scott has a surfboard shaped, wooden carving board that I use to pound out the chicken. If you're having a bad day, I suggest you be in charge of this step...It's a great stress reliever! 

Remove the plastic wrap from the chicken. Place a piece of the prosciutto down on each chicken breast. Then, sprinkle with some of the Gruyere cheese. Roll up the chickens like a jelly roll. Be sure to not over stuff the chicken so all the contents stay in side, and be sure to roll everything up tight so it stays intact. 

Season the flour with salt, pepper, garlic, melted butter, and thyme (if you choose to use it). Lightly coat the chicken in flour, dip into the egg wash, then into the panko bread crumbs. Be gentle with the chickens during this step so they don't unravel. 

Place the chicken roulades into a greased baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. When the chicken is done, it will come out crispy, and bubbly, and delicious. If you're trying to impress a mate with a fancy date night dinner, pull out this recipe! I guarantee that it will score you brownie points! Do you have a go-to date night recipe that you would like to share?