Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Mops is soon upon us and so I have been racking my brain to come up with a tasty dish to bring for the brunch...Someone else is already bringing a breakfast casserole and another a dessert and I wasn't feeling particularly fruity but rather more like a pasta since we don't really eat pasta here often. Then it hit me... Chicken. Cheese. Tangy mustard and PASTA! 

So here it is....

1 small rotisserie chicken de-boned or about 5 cups or so chopped chicken
1/2 pound deli ham. you could use a thin sliced or just buy an hunk and chop it into small chunks
12 oz. bad of egg noodles cooked to the lowest amount of time the package says
2 heaping cups shredded swiss cheese

The sauce
4 TBS butter
4 TBS flour
4-5 cups of whole milk
3 TBS Fresh squeezed lemon juice
2-4 TBS Dijon mustard (I like mine rather tangy so I lean more towards the 4 TBS)
squirt of regular yellow mustard 
1/2 TSP Salt and Pepper
3/4-1 TSP Paprika

The Topping
1 1/2 cup panko
4 TBS butter
1/2 TSP seasoning salt
1 1/2 TSP crushed dried parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Set aside.

For the sauce:

Melt the butter in a large sauce pot over medium heat. When butter is melted, quickly stir in the flour to form a smooth roux. Do not brown! Once the roux is smooth and bubbly, slowly pour in the cold milk while stirring briskly to make a smooth sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Stir in the lemon juice, mustards, salt, smoked paprika and white pepper. Bring sauce just back to a low boil and turn off heat. 

Assembly

In your noodle pot after draining the noodles pour your mustard roux and give a good stir. Add your shredded cheese, diced chicken and ham. Stir to combine and make sure your sauce is not to thick as the cheese will thicken it a bit. If you need to add a splash or 2 of more milk. Taste for seasonings to see if you need more mustard or lemon salt/pepper or paprika. 

Pour the casserole filling into your 9x13 dish

For the topping:

Melt the butter in the microwave in a medium sized microwaveable bowl. Heat it for 30 seconds at a time and stop once it’s melted. Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir in the panko bread crumbs, crushed dried parsley. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

Bake casserole uncovered for 45 minutes until hot and bubbly throughout and topping has turned a light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

Easter Tasty Casserole and some special hummus

We decided to have a low key Easter dinner this year. So I made my Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole. Amazing!

Chicken Cordon bleu casserole

· FOR THE CASSEROLE:

· 1 whole Cooked Chicken, Bones Removed, Meat Diced Or Shredded (rotisserie Chicken Is Excellent, Should Be 5-6 Cups Of Chicken

· ½ pounds Very Thinly Sliced Deli-style Honey Ham, Rough Chopped

· ¼ pounds Thin Sliced Baby Swiss Cheese

· FOR THE SAUCE:

· 4 Tablespoons Butter

· 4 Tablespoons Flour

· 3 cups Milk

· 2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice plus the zest of the lemon

· 2-3 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

· ½  teaspoons Salt (I like a little less)

· ½ teaspoons Smoked Paprika

· ¼ teaspoons Pepper

· ¼ teaspoons cayenne

· ½ tsp better than bullion chicken

· ¼ teaspoons Seasoning Salt or a dash really so maybe less

· FOR THE TOPPING:

· 1-½ cup Panko Breadcrumbs or homemade breadcrumbs

· 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

· ½ teaspoons Seasoning Salt

· 2 Tablespoons chopped Parsley

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Set aside.

Put cooked shredded or diced chicken on the bottom of the baking dish. Rough chop the ham and scatter it over the top of the chicken. Lay the Swiss cheese on top of the ham.

For the sauce:

Melt the butter in a large sauce pot over medium heat. When butter is melted, quickly stir in the flour to form a smooth roux.  Once the roux is smooth and bubbly, slowly pour in the cold milk and bullion while stirring briskly to make a smooth sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, Dijon mustard, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, and white pepper. Bring sauce just back to a low boil and turn off heat. Pour sauce evenly over the casserole, being certain to get some of the sauce around the edges of the pan.

For the topping:

Melt the butter in a saucepan and let it begin to brown, add the seasoned salt and then the bread crumbs making sure everything is coated. Stir in the Parsley and then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

Bake casserole uncovered for 45 minutes until hot and bubbly throughout and topping has turned a light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes prior to serving.

 I ate mine over a cream biscuit

 

 

NOW the hummus!!!!!

 



Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

½ tsp sesame oil
Olive oil
¼ cup julienned sun dried tomato packed in oil
1 can chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
Salt
½ tsp dried basil

Take your sesame seeds and 2 oils and pulse in your blender until a tahini paste emerges. Then add in your tomato and blend for a few seconds to break it all up. I had to add olive oil here so it wasn’t so thick. I like a smoother texture.  Add your basil, salt, garlic, and chickpeas. Blend blend blend while drizzling in olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. To lighten this up you could use less oil and add some chicken stock or veg stock but I was going for the real thing with all the fat haha!

Enjoy with some veg...