Champagne Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

Champagne Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

Cook Time:  About 30 minutes  

Difficulty:  Easy

Are you looking for a new chicken recipe that will dazzle your family and guests? Consider our Champagne Chicken Cordon Bleu, a classic chicken dish consisting of chicken, ham, and swiss cheese, but Cherchies® style, with champagne mustard, of course! 

Cordon Bleu is fancy for "Blue Ribbon" or award-winning-(dictionary.com), so it is only fitting to use our award-winning Champagne Mustard in this tasty recipe. It is the pièce de résistance of this dish, hands down.

This deliciously rich recipe is family-approved yet perfect enough for guests or a romantic dinner for two! Serve our Champagne Chicken Cordon Bleu with our Cranberry Orange Salad for a complete meal. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients

• 3-4 Chicken Breasts

• Ham slices

• Swiss cheese slices

• 1-2 Tablespoons Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning (could substitute Cherchies® Garlic and Herbs Seasoning)

• 1 teaspoon (tsp) pepper

• 2 cups Crispy Rice Cereal (we used Rice Krispies)

• 6-8 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Mayonnaise (1 per chicken pocket, read below)

• 3-4 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cherchies® Champagne Mustard (or for more of a kick, substitute our Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard)

• 3-4 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cherchies® Select Grilling Rub and Seasoning

• Cooking Spray

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) butter

• 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) flour

• 1 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cherchies® Champagne Mustard

• 1/4 cup white wine (or could substitute chicken broth)

• 1 cup milk (preferably warmed)

• 3 Tablespoons (Tbsp) grated parmesan cheese

• Salt and pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place Rice Krispies cereal in a resealable plastic bag. Gently roll over bag with a rolling pin, crushing the cereal.  Set aside.  

Slice chicken breasts in half lengthwise, but not completely through chicken.  This will create a pocket to stuff the chicken.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken with Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning and pepper and place on a baking pan or jelly roll pan.

Brush the opened chicken breasts with Cherchies® Champagne Mustard, and place ham slices (here we used ham from the deli, but leftover holiday ham is also perfect) and swiss cheese over the chicken breasts.

Fold chicken breasts in half and cut chicken bundles in half horizontally (if have large chicken breasts).  

Spread mayonnaise over chicken breast pockets, then sprinkle Cherchies® Select Grilling Rub and Seasoning over the chicken.  Generously coat the chicken breast pockets with crushed cereal mixture.

Spray coated chicken breasts with cooking spray and bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked completely, the crust is golden brown, and the cheese is melty (about 30 minutes).

While chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce.  In a medium skillet, turn the stove on low and melt the butter.  Combine melted butter with the flour, whisking constantly and cook (otherwise known as a roux) for a couple minutes to remove the raw flour taste. Add Champagne Mustard (or Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard) and white wine, and stir until smooth.   Mixture should be thick. 

Slowly whisk warmed milk into roux, add parmesan cheese and continue to cook for a few minutes on low .  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Turn off stove and remove pan from burner.  

To serve, arrange chicken on plates and top with the cheese sauce.  Serve with crusty bread and our Cranberry Spinach Salad for a complete meal.  Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts Recipe

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts Recipe

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Difficulty:  Easy

Yield: about 5 dozen.

You had me at bacon!  Practically anything wrapped in bacon is delightful, and these little gems are no exception.  This appetizer is the complete package; it has crunch from the water chestnuts, saltiness from the bacon and sweetness from the Cranberry Mustard.  Delicious and easy!

Another fantastic sweet/salty option is to serve these wrapped water chestnuts with our  Cherchies® Cherry Butter Spread and Cherchies® Strawberry Butter Spread.

You may want to grab some for yourself before you serve your guests because they will disappear off the tray.

Ingredients

• 2 (8 oz.) cans whole water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
• 1 pound of bacon
• Cherchies® Cranberry Mustard (Could substitute Cherchies® Champagne Mustard or Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard)

Preparation

Cut bacon strips into thirds and wrap bacon around each water chestnut, ensuring seam is at the bottom. Place bacon chestnut bundles in an ungreased baking pan. Brush each bacon bundle with Cherchies® Cranberry Mustard.

Bake the bundles at 375° for 25 minutes or until bacon is crisp.  

Remove the bacon-wrapped bundles from pan and drain on paper towels.  Spear the wrapped water chestnuts with toothpicks and serve these tasty morsels with our Cherchies® Cranberry Mustard.  

Enjoy!

16 Ways To Enjoy Apple Butter (plus a surprise)

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16 Ways to Enjoy Apple Butter

If you haven't tried apple butter, you're missing out.  Quite the underappreciated condiment, apple butter is simply cooked down applesauce and can be used in a variety of uses in the kitchen, including baking, cooking, and even grilling.

The term "butter" refers to the butter-like consistency of the spread, a result of the evaporation of liquid during the cooking process, (there is actually no butter in the recipe), and can refer to many types of fruit "butters".

We are thrilled to introduce our newest butter spreads, Cherchies® Cherry Butter and Cherchies® Strawberry Butter (stay tuned for the surprise), and they can be substituted for apple butter in any recipe.  

So how many ways can you use apple butter? Below are 16 of our favorite ways to use apple, cherry, and strawberry butter.  We'd love to hear your favorite uses.

16 Ways to Enjoy Apple Butter Spread

• Use in recipes in lieu of sugar in an apple crisp.
• Mix 1 part apple butter to 1 part maple syrup for French toast and pancakes.
• Mix it into roasted or baked sweet potatoes.
• Use Apple Butter and pecans as crepe filling.
• Spread it on toast or English muffins instead of jelly.
• Add to oatmeal (See our Apple Butter Oatmeal Recipe)
• Mix with cream cheese and spread on bagels.
• As a side dish with any pork dish.
• Heated and placed on top of ice cream (Apple Butter a La Mode Recipe)
• Mix with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to make a vinaigrette.
• Mix with wine and Cherchies® Champagne Mustard for a delicious glaze on pork or chicken.
• Spread on melted baked brie fresh from the oven. Serve with Cherchies® Champagne Mustard.
• Mix it with plain yogurt or cottage cheese like the Pennsylvania Dutch prefer.
• Great with turkey or chicken sandwiches. Mayonnaise on one side, apple butter on the other (Check out our Apple Butter and Egg Croissant Sandwich)
• Spread on graham crackers.
• Spread on a melted cheese sandwich.
• Add several tablespoons to a can of baked beans (hot sauce optional).

Now for the surprise...our new arrivals, Cherchies® Cherry Butter Spread and Cherchies® Strawberry Butter Spread will be on sale this coming Wednesday, December 16th, 2015.  Sign up for our newsletter at www.cherchies.com, (scroll down to the bottom and enter your email address) to take advantage of our weekly sales.

Savory Champagne Meatloaf Recipe

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Savory Champagne Meatloaf Recipe

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Meatloaf has gotten a bad rap, and I'm not sure why.  Perhaps it's the word "loaf" in the title that makes people shudder, but coincidently, burgers have the same ingredients as meatloaf and just the mention of burgers makes many salivate, meatloaf...not so much. Folks...you've got it wrong!  Meatloaf is amazing.  You can put it in the oven and walk away for an hour, and dinner is done!  

Our family loves meatloaf, and they often help themselves to seconds, so we usually make a double batch.

"Meatloaf" is comfort in a pan, and the flavors usually associated with meatloaf are just like burgers!  

This recipe, adapted from the lovely folks at Southern Living (an old cookbook) is one of the most flavorful and moist meatloaf recipes I have ever come across.  The Champagne Mustard adds a delightful tang to the meatloaf, and the addition of Vidalia Onion Peach Salsa, Ketchup, and Worcestershire Sauce to the topping, complete this dish.  Serve this with dish with our Savory Wedge Bread, vegetables, and Herbed Mashed Potatoes, and you'll have a complete meal.

So, give meatloaf a chance.  It's comfort, it's easy, it's elegant, and best of all, it's delicious!  Burgers beware!  

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef (You could substitute Ground turkey. We used lean beef and pork and doubled the recipe)

• 3/4 cup uncooked regular oats

• 1 teaspoon (tsp) Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning

• 1 teaspoon (tsp) Cherchies® Champagne Mustard

• 1 teaspoon (tsp) Cherchies® Pepper Pizzazz

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) finely chopped onion

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon (tsp) Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 cup Cherchies® Vidalia Onion Peach Salsa

• 1/2 cup Ketchup

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Preparation

Combine the first ten ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix until all ingredients are combined.

Press the meat mixture into a bread loaf pan (s) (we have a family of five, and we usually double this recipe. It's amazing how much young adults can eat!).  My goodness!

Mix the remaining four ingredients in a medium bowl and spread 3/4 mixture over meat.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Add remaining apricot-ketchup mixture to the meatloaf and return to over for about another 30 minutes, or until center is no longer pink.  Drain and let meatloaf rest for about 10 minutes.

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Sweet and savory Champagne Meatloaf.  Enjoy!