Ham and Swiss Chicken

In our home, beef is a foreign word. Laura pretty much despises it, so most of our meals are either composed of pastas, chicken or vegetables. So before I move forward with outlining this week's recipe, if you have any good beef recipes, please send them my way so I can try to convince Laura!

We ate something similar to this dish at on Park Avenue last weekend, but Laura has this great dijon mustard sauce, so we decided to combine the two ideas. I'm an advocate for grocery shopping at Waldbaum's on Sunrise Highway, but King Kullen does sell cheap, white cooking wine for about $7 a bottle.

To make this dish, you'll need:

• Thin-sliced chicken cutlets
• Quarter pound of deli-sliced swiss cheese
• Quarter pound of deli-sliced ham
• Jar of Grey Poupon
• One shallot
• Butter
• Cup of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Salt and pepper
• Toothpicks
• Egg wash
• Pancko breadcrumbs

Take the chicken cutlets and lay them out on a cutting board. Cover the cutlets with a layer of Saran wrap and pound them until they're thin. Now, this is where Laura and I differ. I like to layer one slice of ham and Swiss cheese flat on top of the cutlet, then roll it up like a newspaper. Laura likes to roll up the cheese and ham first, then place it on top of the cutlet before rolling it together. No difference. It works both ways.

Once you roll the chicken up, pierce it with two toothpicks to keep it firmly together. Dip the rolled pieces of chicken into an egg wash (one egg yolk, dash of water) and coat it with crushed Pancko breadcrumbs.

Pour some olive oil in a pan and set the stove to a medium heat. To fry the cutlets, you have to do in quarters, as the toothpicks will inhibit you from frying the cutlets the normal way. I cooked each side for about 3-4 minutes, or until it looked golden brown.

Once the cutlets are fried, place them on a plate with an aluminum tent over it to keep them hot. Now, time for the sauce (my favorite part!). Put one chopped shallot, two tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of white wine, a cup of chicken stock and five teaspoons of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard into the pan. Let it simmer and reduce by half on a low heat. Add salt and pepper as needed.. 

Once the sauce is done, pour it on top of the chicken and bon apetit!