Pairing My Cordon Bleu Tooth

Another turkey recipe in time for the holidays. And it's an easy one. I've done many Christmas themed classes through the Loblaws cooking school for the last 4 to 5 years and I figured it's time to post a few of them.

Cordon Bleu is simply a dish where meat is stuffed with cheese. That's it. That's the meaning of the fancy term. And there are many versions of Cordon Bleu with the chicken likely being the most famous. Where a chicken breast is butterflied, flattened, stuffed with emmenthal cheese and ham (or prosciutto), breaded and fried. I'm unaware of any connection to the Le Cordon Bleu (the Blue Ribbon) culinary schools and if anyone knows of any, I ask that they let me know in the comments section below.

I remember reading that Chicken Cordon Bleu is actually an American invention. Curious to know the validity of this.

I made Lyonnaise potatoes with this dish. I thought the caramelized onions went well with the honey dijon sauce. Give a a try!

Well, this blog post is pretty flat. I guess I better wrap it up.

Turkey Cordon Bleu with Honey Dijon Sauce

2 Large Turkey Breasts, butterflied

200 g Emmenthal Cheese, cut into long sticks

200 g Black Forest Ham, sliced

2 Tbs. Dijon Mustard

2 Tbs. Liquid Honey

1 Red Onion, finely diced

500 ml 35% cream

250 g Panko Bread Crumbs (1 Cup)

6 Eggs

250 g A.P. Flour (1 Cup)

½ Stick of Butter

Bunch of Sage, finely chiffonade

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lay out turkey breast and slightly flatten with tenderizer. Lay down slices of ham and cheese side by side. Roll up turkey breast and slightly season.

Make a breading station by laying out three bowls: 1 for flour, 1 for eggs and 1 for panko bread crumbs. Start by coating turkey with flour, then roll into egg wash and then into bread crumbs.

In a large frying pan, pour generous amount of oil and allow to get hot. Fry breast until golden on seam side down first. Then carefully turn over and continue to sear. Be sure to add any oil if frying pan is too dry. Place turkey into oven and cook for 35 minutes. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, heat butter until frothy. Cook onions for 2 minutes. Add honey and Dijon and allow to get hot. Add cream and bring to a boil. Whisk thoroughly. Season to taste and garnish with sage. Serve with turkey breasts.

Serves  6 - 8.

A Humble Chef's tip: if you like to tie up the breast, it's better to show in person or with images. Try a search of tying up chicken breasts and see if that helps.

Variation: Instead of Emmenthal and Ham, I also like Gorgonzola and Salami. But I never get to do it since I'm the only one in my family who likes blue cheese. 

A Turkey Stew? Ewww, Grouse!

Well hello again. It has been several years since I lasted posted a recipe on this blog. I apologize to all who have waited for me to post something new and I look forward to catching up with some of my recipes. Rest assured, I am still a Chef and I am still at a golf course doing what I do and I still get to experiment on new recipes and new flavour combinations.

Thanksgiving has passed and maybe you have leftovers in your freezer. Even if you do not, here is a lovely stew recipe that is very appropriate for a lovely Sunday afternoon that will fill your lovely home with a lovely aroma that will warm the heart of even the most un-loveliest of people. And then will certainly put you to sleep after a hefty portion.

For this recipe, I recommend a blend of root vegetables of your preference, the freshest stock you can get your hands on and light coloured beans. The idea is to keep the stew a blonde stew so you may want to use your black turtle beans for a different recipe. I like to add chick peas (if you want to cook em yourself and have the time to do so, be my guest) and white navy beans but it is your recipe and I insist that you work within your beans.

Following the Turkey Stew is a basic Corn Bread recipe that I took from an old George Brown Textbook. Works well and easy to change. Since it has been 2 years since my last post, I may repeat some techniques from old posts. But I can't imagine anyone going over old posts of mine so I may be worrying over nothing. It's great to be back and I look forward to writing more posts and I anxiously await any feedback that any of you have to offer.

A Fair Coloured Turkey Stew

1 Large Vidalia Onion, diced
1 Stalk of Celery, diced
1 Stalk of Leek, white only diced
1 Parsnip, diced
1 Carrot, peeled and diced
1 Turnip, diced
3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
Pinch of Cumin and Chili Powder
2 Cans of White Beans, (i.e. Navy), drained and washed
1 Can of Chick Peas
1.5 l (12 Cups) Chicken or Turkey Stock Approx.
750 g (about 3 cups) Cooked Turkey, or whatever you have leftover from Thanksgiving
Small bunch of Basil, chiffonade
2 Baking Potatoes, cut into small cubes
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Dab or Two of Butter

In a large pot, heat butter until frothy. Cook onion, carrot, celery and leek for five minutes. Add garlic and spices. Sweat for another few minutes.

Add turkey, beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and basil. Cover and cook for about 25 minutes at minimum, an hour would be better.

Serve with sour cream and corn bread. Serves 6 – 8.

Basic Corn Bread

350 g A.P. Flour, (1 ½ cups flour)
350 g Cornmeal, (1 ½ cups cornmeal)
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
250 ml Milk
250 ml Sour Cream
125 ml Corn Oil
1 Egg

Preheat oven 375. Grease 9 inch pan. Whisk dry ingredients together. In separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Fold wet into dry. Pour into 9 inch pan.

Bake for 35 minutes and let rest for 10. Cut into desired squares.

Serves 6 – 8.

 A Humble Chef's Tip: everything in the stew is cooked except the potatoes. Don't dice them to small or they'll disintegrate. Just big enough to fit on a spoon.

Playing Ghosts and Gobblings

Do people eat turkey just after Christmas? It is now February and I wonder if people do.

Now I noticed recently at the general store something specific: whole turkey drops in price after Christmas and yet people don't seem to be buying them. Strange really. When you think about how often people eat chicken in a year and contrast that to turkey, you have to wonder what people have against this bird most fowl.

Well, yes, eating turkey makes you drowsy, but so does wine. And do we only drink wine twice a year? Not in this household. If I remember my nutrition classes well, turkey meat contains tryptophans. After eating it, the blood carries it to our digestive system and then to our brains which then gets changed to serotonin. I know this is sleepy material but certainly you must have wondered why we get so tired at Thanksgiving.

Turkey is available whole both fresh and frozen but at any time of year at major grocers; I often buy either the legs or the breasts rather than whole. Depends really on how much time you have to cook it and how many people you intend on feeding. If buying breasts, remember that they come in different sizes and usually feed 4 or 5 people. Unless you're suffering from insomnia. Then all you need to do is eat an extra portion of turkey, start reading my blog and then you'll be over yawnder.

Hazelnut Crusted Breast of Turkey

2 Turkey Breasts
4 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Cooking Onion, roughly chunked
1 Carrot, roughly chunked
1 Celery Stalk, roughly chunked
Small Bunch of Sage, chiffonade
Pinch of Paprika and Allspice
300 g Hazelnuts, finely chopped
400 ml Dijon Mustard, grainy if available
200 ml Maple Syrup
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Drizzle of Oil for Searing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine mustard, maple syrup and half the sage in a bowl and set aside.

Coat turkey breasts with touch of oil. Rub paprika, allspice and garlic on top. Let marinate for 10 minutes.

In a large frying pan, heat oil until very hot. Sear breasts on skin side only for 2-3 minutes.

On a roasting pan, lay out veggies evenly. Place seared turkey on top. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and coat with mustard mixture. Pat hazelnuts on top and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes or, using an instant read thermometer, until 155 - 160 degrees internal temperature.

Let rest for 10 minutes and slice.

Serves 8 - 10.

Variation: if you don't have hazelnuts, use either pecans or walnuts.

A Humble Chef's tip: serve with a sauce using the pan drippings and the Sour Dough Stuffing recipe from this previous post.