Deep Dish Chicken Cordon Blue

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - Entered by Amy Warren

I was planning on slowing down my Taste Test Month, but our life just got crazy and I need to cook to keep my mind at rest. Our house got picked to be on a national TV show! Not sharing all the details on a blog until I get the OK from the producer. We have just over a week till the show starts taping and they don't want me to do anything to change my house until they get here. It has not even been 24 hours and I am so antsy! I can't keep my mind still and I want to go on a cleaning spree but the tv show wants me to wait, so the only thing I can do is cook and blog. Get ready for lots of posts!

We had this dish tonight for dinner. Hate to be a harsh critic or mean blogger, but this really does not get my vote for a million. I get the idea and find it creative to put these flavors together in a casserole, but I just didn't love it. My husband liked it and the 3 year old ate it so it was not a disaster by any account. I just found it too heavy and while it has likeness to Chicken Cordon Blue, I was not fooled. It was a super rich casserole.

Seriously, stay tuned, so much more to come this week. Gotta cook! I will make several sweets/dessert type Pillsbury 100's this week. We are going to find that million dollar recipe!


Deep Dish Chicken Cordon Blue by Amy Warren

INGREDIENTS

1	can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls)
2	tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Unsalted or Salted Butter
1	tablespoon Crisco® 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
1	medium onion, thinly sliced
1	clove garlic, finely chopped
1	box (13.25 oz) frozen baked honey-battered chicken tenders, thawed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 1 deli rotisserie chicken (2 to 2 1/2 lb), shredded
16	slices (1 oz each) Muenster cheese
1/4	cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4	cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2	tablespoons Dijon mustard
2	teaspoons lemon juice
1	teaspoon honey
1	teaspoon horseradish sauce or cream-style prepared horseradish
1/2	teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1	lb shaved cooked brown-sugar or maple-glazed ham (from deli)

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Unroll crescent rolls in baking dish; press perforations to seal. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown.
2.	Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Remove from heat; stir in cut-up chicken tenders.
3.	Place 8 slices of the Muenster cheese over baked crust. In small bowl, stir Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, honey, horseradish sauce and thyme until well blended. Spoon half of the mayonnaise mixture evenly over cheese on crust.
4.	Spoon chicken mixture evenly over mayonnaise mixture on crust. Spoon remaining mayonnaise mixture evenly over chicken. Cover chicken evenly with ham. Top with remaining 8 slices Muenster cheese.
5.	Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and filling is thoroughly heated.

As you can see I tried a few cheeses; Swiss and Gouda. Maybe it was the Gouda that left the heavy feeling, the Swiss was better. Worth a try if you are a Cordon Blue fan.