Preparing Sous Vide Chicken Cordon Bleu

Today, I want to show you how I prepare chicken cordon bleu for cooking sous vide style. If you have ever made chicken cordon bleu before, you know that cheese usually begins spilling out before the chicken is done, making a mess and impacting the final results you hoped for. So rather than use a combination of complicated folds and toothpicks/skewers to avoid this situation, I use the vacuum sealed bag to keep everything tight and in place while it cooks in the water bath. Once the chicken is cooked thoroughly, simply open the vacuum bag and finish preparing the rolled chicken breast by breading and frying or just pan searing it. Another bonus is that you can prepare several chicken breasts at once and conveniently freeze some for later use. I want to point out that I do not believe the water immersion technique for vacuum sealing is sufficient for this dish. If you wish to fully utilize sous vide cooking methods, a vacuum sealer and bags are a mandatory investment. How about we get busy preparing something delicious for dinner?

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Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

chicken breasts
ham slices
cheese slices
salt and pepper
dried minced garlic
butter
rosemary
thyme
parsley

Instructions

Place ½ tsp of rosemary, thyme, and parsley into a mortar.
Use the pestle to grind the herbs to a fine powder.
Butterfly a chicken breast.
Cover with plastic wrap and flatten until ¼ inch thick.
Remove the plastic wrap and spread a thin layer of butter across the surface.
Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Sprinkle lightly with dried garlic.
Sprinkle the herb mixture lightly over the butter.
Lay ham slices to cover chicken breast within ½ inch of the edges.
Lay cheese slices to cover chicken breast within ½ inch of the edges.
Beginning on the edge nearest the edge that was the inside of the chicken breast (not skin side), roll tightly tucking the ham and cheese well.
When rolled, the skin side of the chicken breast should be on top.
Place the roll seam side down into the vacuum bag, pressing it into the bottom tightly (or if you want, you can cook the roll traditionally).
Vacuum seal the roll and it is ready to be cooked sous vide style or frozen for later preparation.

Notes

This preparation can be made ahead of time and frozen for cooking later.
Also, instead of butter, dijon mustard can be substituted for a different flavor combination.

Place 1/2 tsp of rosemary, thyme, and parsley into a mortar. Use the pestle to grind the herbs to a fine powder.

Butterfly a chicken breast.

Cover with plastic wrap and flatten until 1/4 inch thick.

Remove the plastic wrap and spread a thin layer of butter across the surface. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle lightly with dried garlic. Sprinkle the herb mixture lightly over the butter.

Lay ham slices to cover chicken breast within 1/2 inch of the edges.

Lay cheese slices to cover chicken breast within 1/2 inch of the edges.

Beginning on the edge nearest the edge that was the inside of the chicken breast (not skin side), roll tightly tucking the ham and cheese well. When rolled, the skin side of the chicken breast should be on top.

Place the roll seam side down into the vacuum bag, pressing it into the bottom tightly (or if you want, you can cook the roll traditionally).

Vacuum seal the roll and it is ready to be cooked sous vide style or frozen for later preparation.

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4 COMMENTS

Hermann | 10th Mar 17

I used freshly chopped thyme, parsley and garlic as well as freshly ground pepper and salt and mixed all with the softened butter which I then spread over the chicken.
- Kent | 11th Mar 17
  
  That sounds awesome Hermann!
G R Keith Albrecht | 16th Aug 19

just wondering at what temperature (I have sen from 140°F to 145°) and for how long (I have seen from 90 minutes to 4 hours) for the sous vide?
- Kent | 19th Aug 19
  
  I cook mine at 145F for 90 minutes. I outlined my process in this follow-up post – http://www.cooking-4-one.com/2016/12/19/chicken-cordon-bleu/ . Let me know if you have any other questions!