Grilled (yes grilled!) Chicken Cordon Bleu

If you are already in summer mode, despite our weather, I would highly recommend making these for dinner - maybe tomorrow, which marks the first day of summer!  Growing up my mom would make Chicken Cordon Bleu every once in a while and I LOVED it!  What could be better than chicken and ham pretty much covered in a gooey, cheesy mess?!?  Although, if you know my mother, you know that nothing she does is ever a mess, so chicken cordon bleu was always a very unmessy affair in our house!  I can't say the same for these, or maybe it is just my method, but grilling them on the BBQ does mean that a little mess is par for the course.

Cooking these on the BBQ, rather than in the oven, or frying them, gives them this great flavor, and it pretty much means I will never be able to eat regular cordon bleu ever again.  Oh well, I usually drag the BBQ out during the middle of winter anyway!

Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu
(to make the recipe easier to follow, I have reduced it to one portion, that way you know how many of each item to buy, rather than by weight, as in the original recipe)

1 Chicken breast
1 slice deli ham
1 slice swiss cheese (PC has a great package of sliced swiss cheese in their deli that is the perfect size)
Dijon mustard
Salt & Pepper

Cut a pocket in the centre of each breast, careful not to go all the way through. 

Roll swiss cheese into a cylinder and then roll inside of ham slice.

Stuff inside the centre cut of the chicken breast.

Roll the breast around the ham and swiss, using toothpicks to ensure it stays closed. (I use a ton of toothpicks... usually about 6 to make sure it holds).

Brush with dijon and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Throw onto your preheated and oil brushed grill at high heat to sear, and then lower to grill slowly, ensuring that the chicken is cooked all the way to the centre.

For the Vinaigrette: (you may be tempted to skip this, but I beg you, please don't!)

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
Minced fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Whisk ingredients together in a bowl until combined, once chicken is done, drizzle sparingly to cover top of chicken.

You WILL enjoy this!  I have made it twice in the last 2 weeks!

Source: Pink Parsley, from Cuisine Grilling

My project for this week: Homemade Oreos! (The only good thing about the lousy weather: we can still turn on the oven!)