Chicken Cordon Bleu Bread Bowls

I made this for 10 ladies, so I had to increase

the recipe….I did 5xeach ingredient below,

as the recipe below is for only 2 bread bowls.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

12 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

¼ cup minced shallots

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

½ cup apple juice or cider

½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

¼ cup heavy cream (whipping cream) not half and half

2 tablespoon grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon stone ground mustard (I like Dijon)

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup broccoli florets, blanched

Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

For the Bread Bowls

2 round sourdough loaves (each 6- inch)

2 to 4 slices smoked ham about 2 ounces.

2 slices Swiss cheese, divided

2 teaspoon grated Parmesan, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a small baking sheet with

nonstick spray. Melt butter over medium-high heat in a

sauté pan. Add chicken and sauté until beginning to brown,

about 5 minutes.

Stir in shallots and sauté until softened, 2 minutes. Sprinkle

Mixture with flour, cook 1 minute. Combine apple juice and broth;

Slowly add, stirring constantly to avoid clumping.

Stir in cream, Parmesan, mustard, and thyme; simmer after each addition

until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli; season with salt

and cayenne. Reduce heat to low.

Hollow out loaves by cutting off tops and tearing out insides. (Remove

as much bread as possible.) Compress any remaining bread inside loaves

to make room for filling. Toast loaves directly on oven rack about 5 minutes;

Remove to prepared baking sheet.

Arrange ham slices in bottom of each loaf. Using a slotted spoon, divide

chicken mixture evenly between loaves, reserving sauce in pan. Top chicken

in each loaf with a slice of Swiss and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Parmesan.

Bake casseroles until cheese melts, 7 to 10 minutes. (For extra browning

Broil casseroles on high, 3 to 5 minutes.)

Serve each casserole with reserved cream sauce.

Put a spring of thyme on each plate. I got my thyme from Carla’s garden.

Thanks Carla! I hollowed out the bread bowls a day ahead of time, as

That took a while to do that…..so one step out of the way.

The mixture for the bowls



Linda came early and stayed late to help me
thanks Linda.