Chicken Cordon Bleu in Mushroom Sauce

Shopping list:

• One breast boneless, skinless chicken per mouth to feed. 
• Bread crumbs
• Half pound of sliced ham
• 1 package of Swiss cheese
• 2.5 cups chopped portobello mushrooms
• half cup diced onion
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs flour
• 1 pinch of thyme
• 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1-2 cloves garlic

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350

-Cut off the rib meat from the breast (keep this, this cut just makes the chicken easier to pound) 

-Pound the chicken flat using wax paper on top and bottom of chicken 

     -the flatter (and more even) the chicken is, the easier it is to roll up with the cheese and ham. 

     -Hint: keep lifting and replacing the wax paper as the chicken flattens out. This will avoid tears.

-Lay the pounded chicken flat on a plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then lay one piece of cheese, then one piece of ham on the chicken. You may need to use more than one piece of ham/cheese, depending on the size of your pieces of chicken (nearly the whole piece of chicken should be covered in a layer of cheese/ham)

-Get a few toothpicks ready before rolling the chicken; pinch the chicken, ham and cheese at one end and roll it up like a sleeping bag. The tighter the roll, the better it will look and the easier it is to pin together. 

-Pin together the roll 2-3 toothpicks; it's good to "close" the roll as best you can, so the cheese doesn't ooze out while baking. 

-Cover the whole roll with a thin layer of breadcrumbs and lay in a baking dish. 

-Repeat with all other chicken. (duh)

-Bake the chicken as is for at least 30 minutes. once you put the chicken in the oven, start working on the sauce. Now is also a good time to start the rice, if you want it. I'm not going to tell you how to cook rice, it's on the box, dummy. 

-Once the chicken has been in the oven for half an hour, put one more palm-sized piece of cheese on top of each roll. bake another 3-5 mins. 

The Sauce (which is not entirely necessary for the dish to be delicious):

-cook the onions in a tbs of olive oil for at least five minutes on medium heat. 

-add the mushrooms and clove or two of crushed garlic to the onions, cook for 4-5 more mins. 

-pour in the wine, bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat a bit and keep cooking until the liquid has reduced by half. 

-add either a half cup of water a chicken stock cube, or 2/3 cup of chicken broth. you can raise the heat a bit now. Cook for another 5-7 mins.

-you want the mushrooms to soften up nicely, so if the mushrooms are soft and you have the desired creaminess, you can keep on a "warm" heat until ready to serve. But if you want the sauce thinner you can add more water or broth, and if you want it thicker, sprinkle flour little by little, while stirring.