Tag Archives: swiss cheese

Swiss Chicken

I am very excited about this new cookbook I recently bought, even though it is really a very old cookbook. And I love this Swiss Chicken Recipe

Swiss Chicken

Swiss style sauteed chicken

The Swiss Cookbook , by Nika Standen Hazelton was originally published in1967 and I got a beat-up paperback version that was printed in 1981.  The nice thing about this cookbook is that it has a good deal of information about Swiss culture–or at least Swiss culture as it was 40 or 50 years ago. And Hazelton takes pains to separate the foods that are unique to Switzerland from the many that are adopted from French, German or Italian neighbors.

Additionally, most recipes come with an indication of what Canton or region of Switzerland they come from, so I can dig right into the Bernese cooking if that’s what I’m looking for.  Last week, however, I was interested in finding a recipe for Swiss Chicken and what I lighted on was one from the Jura.  It is on the eastern edge of Switzerland and inherits from France rather than the Germany accent of Bern.

Jura, Switzerland

Landscape in the Jura, Gustave Corbet, ca 1864. Oil on canvas (1819-1877) Legion of Honor

Nevertheless, this recipe for Swiss Chicken–sauteed chicken breasts– uses Swiss cheese, and is simple and absolutely a winner.  The French name is Suprêmes de Volaille Jurassienne, or you can just call it Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Cheese from the Jura.

Chicken, by the way, is not the most traditional of Swiss meats. At one time it was very expensive and a delicacy.  Pork, on the other hand, was a mainstay of the diet.

Swiss Chicken with Swiss Cheese

Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
Total time 30 minutes
Allergy Egg, Wheat
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Serve Hot
Region European
Traditional Swiss recipe from the Jura region for sauteed Swiss chicken with Swiss cheese.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts, boned and skinned (Or equivalent in chicken tenders)
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
  • 3/4 cups bread crumbs (fine (or use Panko))
  • 1/4 cup Swiss Cheese (finely grated)
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 4 lemon wedges

Directions

1. Mix flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper in shallow dish or plate.
2. Mix bread crumbs and grated cheese
3. Dredge the chicken in flour, shaking off excess.
4. Dip floured chicken in egg and then in the bread crumb/cheese mixture.
5. Melt butter in skillet and brown chicken on all sides.
6. Serve hot with lemon wedge on side.

Family Favorite: Swiss Bake

The last recipe I posted was one for Swiss Croque Monsieur.  The following one, which I actually make more frequently, I think of as a Croque Monsieur in a dish.

One reader asked about side dishes to eat with Croque Monsieur, and I did not have any particular ones in mind, but would be happy to have suggestions if you have had Croque Monsieur in Switzerland.  What did you have as a side?

Of course there are many variations on Croque Monsieur, the most frequent being one that uses Bechamel sauce, which in the mid-west where I grew up was plain old white sauce.  That turns a crispy fried sandwich into a gooey over-the-top very filling dish. It is simply a matter of taste whether you add the Bechamel or not.

Swiss Bake

Swiss Bake before baking

My Croque Monsieur in a Dish is sort of like Bechamel, but lighter–no flour added–and airy like a souffle.  And this is one that could go into my “even Edie” file, I think. So easy to make that even non-cooks could tackle it. The recipe below, and the pictures, show a nine-inch dish, but when I had hungry teenage boys at home, I doubled or tripled it and used a 9 x 15 inch Pyrex dish or even a deeper casserole with more layers of bread (and longer baking).  It is very flexible, so there is no reason you could not just make it in an oven-proof bowl for one person with two thick slices of bread and reduced amounts of milk and eggs.

Swiss Bake

Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 1 hour
Total time 1 hour, 15 minutes
Allergy Egg, Milk
Meal type Breakfast, Lunch, Main Dish
Misc Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot

Ingredients

  • 4 1/2 thick slices white bread
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 1/2 medium slices Gouda cheese (Or use Swiss cheese)
  • 1 cup grated Swiss Cheese (Emmenthaler preferred)
  • 1 cup ham (Diced. Or use thin slices.)
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard (Or spread Dijon mustard on bread)
  • 1/4 stick butter (Plus more to grease pan)
  • pepper (to taste, white pepper preferred)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter pan.
2. Cut half slice of bread in half again. Butter one side of each piece of bread
3. Fill bottom of pan with bread, buttered side up.
4. Sprinkle with dry mustard or spread with Dijon.
5. Place slices of Gouda on bread
6. Sprinkle half of ham pieces on top of cheese
7. Top with other slices of bread, butter side down, and press firmly.
8. Scatter grated cheese and remaining pieces of ham on top.
9. Beat eggs, add milk and pepper and beat again.
10. Pour egg and milk mixture over the bread slices. (Should come about half way up pan.) Put in oven for 45-60 minutes, until puffed up and slightly brown.

Swiss Cheese in a Recipe That Will Surprise You

Here’s a dish just made for mountain climbers. Carbs on top of carbs on top of carbs. And Swiss cheese, of course.

source of Swiss cheese

Swiss Dairy cows. Photo by Richard Cassan

Writing about those Swiss dairy farmers has definitely made me think about Swiss cheese, in this case, the distinctive Emmenthaler.  I found this web site that claims to be sharing the Top 10 Swiss Foods.  Not all are from Bern, where Ken’s ancestors hail from, but many are.

Naturally,when Ken’s Swiss ancestors donned their aprons, they cooked what they grew and what they made from products they grew. That meant dairy products, goat’s milk and pork and sausage from the farmer’s pigs.

Some of the dishes shared in the article don’t need a recipe, like Berneplatte–a plate of meat (mostly sausage or ham), cheese, and maybe some sauerkraut. It’s the German Swiss version of the antipasto platter in Italy.

And then there is the old standard Fondue–which is much more fun with a party than just for two people, so I’m not going to re-test any of my old Fondue recipes.

I remember Raclette fondly.  A hunk of cheese is heated in front of the fire and scraped onto the plate as it melts, to be scooped up with bread.

raisin nut pie

A piece of Raisin-Nut pie

Some of my favorite Swiss recipes have nothing to do with cheese–although milk is important like the Raisin Nut Pie of Ken’s Grandmother Ida Badertscher.

I also enjoyed Muesli in Switzerland, but was surprised to learn it was only developed in 1900, so Ken’s ancestors would have left before it became a standard breakfast.

But the dish that caught my eye combines potatoes and macaroni, cream and cheese, and is topped–would you believe?– with applesauce. Try Älplermagronin with your Emmenthaler.

macaroni with swiss cheese

Single serving of carb-rich  Alplermagronin with Swiss Cheese

Up until you add the potatoes and top with applesauce, it sounds like a standard mac and cheese. Easy to make, filling meal for farm hands (and growing children) and inexpensive, particularly if you were making your own Emmenthaler cheese, rather than buying the expensive imported stuff we have to rely on in the U.S. Of course you can use some other Swiss cheese other than Emmenthaler, but it definitely is the tastiest.  And substitute bacon for ham for another switch in taste.

Swiss Macaroni with Applesauce

Ingredients

  • 2-3 potatoes (Peeled and cubed. About two cups)
  • 1 1/2 cup uncooked macaroni (Any shape is okay.)
  • 1 cup heavy crean
  • 1 1/2-2 cup Emmenthaler or other Swiss cheese (grated)
  • 1 cup ham (cubed (or 6 strips bacon, broken))
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 large onion (sliced (optional))

Directions

1. Put potato cubes in boiling water, and cook for five minutes
2. Add macaroni to potatoes and cook according to package directions (8-10 minutes).
3. Drain macaroni and return to pan. Pour in milk and add bacon or ham. Stir in salt and pepper and taste for seasoning.
4. Put half of macaroni/potato mixture in casserole. Layer with half of the grated cheese. Follow with rest of macaroni and then rest of cheese.
5. Saute onion slices (in saved bacon grease if you are using bacon), and top the casserole.
6. Put in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until cheese melts and cream bubbles.
7. Serve with a large spoonful of applesauce on top.

Note

I can't eat onions, so I left them out, but I think the dish would have been much tastier with onions.

Some recipes call for merely heating the cheese in the pan with the cream after cooking the macaroni and potatoes. I liked the slight crust you get from baking briefly.

I also saw a recipe that added 1/2 cup wine.

Do use heavy cream. I used a fat-free 1/2 and 1/2 and it was too runny.