hello from the land of take-out

Dear Mom,

Well, hello, hello!  Long time no talk!  So I've been MIA from the blog for a few months now, but with good reason.  So, for those readers out there who are unaware, my little profile there on the right-hand side of the page says that I'm an "architectural designer."  The big difference between an architectural designer and an architect is that a person who calls themselves an architect is a person who has received their degree through an accredited architecture program, has taken the ARE (Architectural Registration Exam) and has three years of work experience.  As far as the real world work experience goes, the work is about the same no matter what you call yourself.  Those three years of work experience were easy.  The ARE was not.  The ARE has seven divisions of tests, each with over eighty multiple choice questions plus a design "vignette" (or three design vignettes  depending on the division).  Its all very technical and boring, but guess what?  I JUST FINISHED AND PASSED MY SEVENTH TEST AND I'M FREAKIN' DONE! 

Needless to say, I'm very happy.  So this is what I've been up to the past couple of months, studying.  Since it was the last exam I wanted to be completely focused, I did nothing but eat, breathe and sleep architecture these past few months.  So, any recipes that I would post from these past couple of months would read something like this:

1 cell phone
1 take-out menu
1 credit card

1.  Turn on cell phone.
2.  Dial number on take-out menu.
3.  Order food.
4.  While waiting for food, study flashcards.
5.  Answer door bell.
6.  Eat food, while studying flashcards.

So that's been my life, until that wonderful little email came that said I was done!  I'll be changing that little profile over there soon enough, I just have to wait for the paperwork to go through.  After all of that hardwork I wanted something hardy, cheesy and warming (because it was snowing when I found out).  I had a bizarre surplus of onions in my fridge, so here is what I made.

french onion soup

4 cups thinly sliced red onions
4 cups thinly sliced sweet yellow onions
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup dry white wine
8 cups less sodium beef broth or stock
8 sprigs fresh thyme
slices of baguette
slices of reduced-fat swiss cheese

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, add onions.  Saute for 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.  Add sugar, salt and pepper.  Continue cooking, stirring frequently, for 20 to 30 minutes, until the onions are browned slightly.  Add wine and cook for 1 minute.  Add broth and thyme, bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour (or more).

Ladle soup into heat-proof individual serving bowls.  Top with baguette slice, then top with a slice of cheese.  Broil in the oven on high until the cheese gets browned and bubbly.

Truth in advertising

Dearest Kristin,

While it is true that I live in Rochester, home of the Garbage Plate and anything prepared "French", (I'm just waiting for someone to come up with a 'garbage plate French', or, translated, 'plaque ordures francais') I am also one who likes to know what I'm getting when I set myself down to dinner. My Lemon Chicken is what it is and I am proud of it. It's chicken. It tastes strongly of lemon. It's Lemon Chicken. Do the math. I think food should be dubbed honestly, so there are no nasty surprises awaiting you after consumption.

Seriously, if you gave a five year old sweetbreads and she later found out that she was eating the thymus gland of a cow, she would be scarred for life. Rocky mountain oysters? No sailor I know would eat such a thing. Deviled eggs? One would think that they are so loaded with cayenne that the fires of the underworld would seem a cool oasis in comparison. Oh, and what about jumbo shrimp? It's enough to confuse the greatest minds on earth! Hamburger? Now there's false advertising if ever I saw it!

You get my drift.

I'm just getting started. There are also foods that are named after things they resemble; Mississippi mud pie, floating islands, and rocky road ice cream, to name but a few. If you are a picky eater, just think of the delights you would be depriving yourself of just because they don't sound all that appetizing. Really, if you have the choice between consuming a sweet, moist, soft, cake-like cookie or a ladyfinger, what would you choose? Cannibalism?

It is with all of this in mind that I offer "Slow-Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu". I will not claim that it is true Chicken Cordon Bleu because it is not baked, as is the classic. Instead, chicken breasts are pounded thin and wrapped around a filling of deli ham and Swiss cheese. After an egg bath and a dip in some seasoned flour it is cooked in a slow cooker, resulting in a moist, saucy dish that goes well with a green salad and a crusty loaf of bread.

The recipe is a bit labor-intensive for something that goes into a slow-cooker, so I admit that the name could be misleading. Oh, and there's nothing blue in the list of ingredients either. Oh dear, maybe you better turn me in to the culinary captioning police!

Okay, I'll get off of my soapbox now and go and make myself some devils on horseback.

slow-cooker chicken cordon bleu

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. grated parmesean cheese
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
4 large boneless, skinless breast halves
6-8 slices deli ham
4 large slices swiss cheese
1/2 c. white wine (I use Pino Grigiot)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 10.75 oz. cans lower sodium cream of chicken soup
3/4 c. sour cream (do not use "lite" sour cream)
crispy bacon pieces for garnish (optional)

Prepare dredging station; Mix flour, salt, pepper and parmesean cheese in a large shallow dish. Whisk egg and water together and place in a second large shallow dish.

Pound chicken breasts as thinly as possible without tearing the meat - about 1/4" thick.

Place 1 chicken breast on work surface with the smooth side down. Place 1 to 2 slices of ham on top of the chicken breast. Place 1 slice of swiss cheese on top of ham. Tightly roll chicken jelly-roll style, tucking in the ends as best you can. Secure roll with kitchen twine or toothpicks. Set aside, and repeat with remaining 3 breast halves.

Dip chicken breasts in egg wash, covering all sides and allowing excess to drip off. Generously dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Chill chicken breasts in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Place soup in slow-cooker. Set aside.

Place olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet and bring up to medium to medium high heat.

Brown chicken on all sides in preheated olive oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Brown in batches if necessary. Once the breasts are nicely browned, place them in the crock pot on top of the soup.

Once all the chicken breasts have been browned, deglaze the pan with the white wine. Allow the wine to reduce by 1/2. Pour the pan drippings over the chicken in the crock pot.

Cook on low for 4 hours.

Remove chicken from slow-cooker and place on a warmed serving platter. Mix sour cream into soup in the slow-cooker, and continue cooking until heated through.

Garnish chicken with bacon pieces, if desired, and serve with a generous amount of sauce.

comfy's cooking note: Don't worry if your chicken bundles aren't hermetically sealed. Even if the cheese oozes out, it just adds to the flavor of the sauce, so there is really no loss in flavor. Either way, this makes for a nice, rich chicken dish.