Chicken Cordon Bleu on the grill!
Guest Chef Gary House
The Outdoor Cook
Gary House is the Outdoor Cook and once more our guest chef. Gary has set up his backyard with cookers, smokers and most essentially for him – a fire pit. The recipes he prepares and shares are an inspiration to me and I am so gonna give this one a try. Tell me what you think in the comment section?
Happy Grilling!
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Hiya CB!
Even in the middle of summer I enjoy cooking over an open fire. OK – I’ll admit I do it a bit later in the day. Heck – waaaay later in the day! But here in the central part of the state when the stars are out at night there is just nothing more nourishing for the body & soul than to prepare a late evening supper for your family and enjoy it together in the out doors.
This past week I prepared a version of the that snobby sounding dish called “Chicken Cordon Bleu” – but in my rustic style of “simple is better.” I was inspired for the side dishes by a visit to the local farmers market and saw the bounty of specialty potatoes presented there. Wow. They looked great and tasted even better.
I hope Sizzle on the Grill readers enjoy this recipe!
- Gary House “The Outdoor Cook”
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This meal was prepared over an open live fire* pit using oak wood and oak wine barrel staves as the primary fuel for both consistent heat and wonderful smokey aromas that flavor the food as it cooks. It could easily be prepared on either a charcoal or gas grill as well. I started by preparing two (2) large boneless skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry then slit down the ‘thicker side’ to create a pocket.
Wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cheese & held in place with a toothpick.
In that pocket I stuffed some slices of ham and provolone cheese, pulled and folded the chicken flesh around it best I could and wrapped with a slice of thick bacon. I used a toothpick to hold it all together. I only used fresh ground pepper and salt to season, but you could use other seasonings as well.
Grilled Potatoes
Fresh market potatoes are colorful and tasty.
I like to visit the local farmers markets when I can and usually find something that just can’t be distributed through the regular grocery store chains. This week I stopped by the stall of one of my favorite vendors – Kline Organic Produce, Waterford, Ca. and found some amazing potatoes. I bought some Russian Banana, Colorado Rose and All Blue varieties. To prepare them I sliced, drizzled with some cooking oil and seasoned with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. I also prepped an Italian Red Torpedo onion by slicing it in half, including the stem, drizzling with cooking oil and seasoning with salt-n-pepper.
On the grill - can you smell those cooking aromas?
Crisp smokey bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with ham & cheese, flavorful potatoes, caramelized grilled onions!
The bacon wrapped chicken went on first – because it has the most cooking to do. I spritzed it first with a little canola oil and set it on direct heat. Using tongs I checked in a few minutes to see if it was ready to release. When it was ready, I turned it over and, after spritzing that side, with some canola oil, set it on a fresh section of the grates to sear a bit. In just a short while I turned it on the 3rd side and then the other – to get a full sear. at about 30 minutes I checked it with an instant read thermometer – being mindful that the ham was already cooked and the cheese would get hot and give a false reading – I made sure to get the tip into chicken only – and when it was above 120F degrees – moved it to the side away from direct heat for the finish.
After the first turn of the chicken I put the potatoes into the 10” cast iron skillet that had been pre-heating on the grates above direct heat. They really sizzled and because I didn’t par boil them first, they will take a bit longer than frying cooked potatoes. I’m keeping an eye on them and stirring every so often to make sure they brown on all sides. When the chicken was about 15-20 minutes into the cook, I placed the onion on the grill to caramelize over direct heat.
The cooking time for this meal is approximate – and it will vary for you depending upon the type of fire, the heat and distance from it you place the grates, any weather conditions and such. But for this cook the total cooking time was about 45 minutes. As CB would say, it was DEE-LISH-US!
* FYI to all you charcoal grill lovers out there – a perfectly constructed charcoal or wood coal fire emits about 30 – 40% infrared energy, that’s one of the great cooking features we all love about it, along with the smokey flavors a good amount of hot dry air. Char-Broil infrared grills generate anywhere from 60% infrared up-to 100% infrared heat – and you can place wood chips and chunks on the grates to layer tasty smokey flavor on the food! – CB
I have a big easy sooo what’s the percent infrared heat !!!
100% infrared ‘energy’ that becomes heat when it hits the meat. This is a concept that I had some trouble wrapping my brain around too!
The heat that comes off the meat is what we feel and it’s created when the 100% infrared energy hits the meat…and we cooks want that excess heat to get away and not hang around, that’s what dries out the meat in an oven. Thus – the Big Easy is designed with an open top to let it escape. And, with infrared cooking in The Big Easy there is No ‘pre-heating’ because it doesn’t cook like an oven.
How do you keep the cheese from “escaping”?
First you start with some sweet talkin.
Then cajoling.
If that doesn’t work…veiled threats in references like “Do you know how hot that fire is mister? You just go right ahead and ooze out and see what happens to smarty melting cheese. You’ll get yours! Go on, get back inside. There, now isn’t that better?”
It’s best if you use a voice like a mom.
One of the alternative is to lay your cheese on top of the chicken just minutes berfore you pull it of the grill. Just like a cheeseburger. If you want it to stay inside the chicken breast, I stuff it in first then add the ham. Most of it stays there. Keep the flipping to an absolute minimum.
Gary
wrapping the cheese in a slice of ham before putting it in the pocket of the chicken breast helps contain it as it melts. -very little ‘oozing’ Makes it easy to stuff, too!