Chicken Cordon Bleu En Croûte

Chicken Cordon Bleu seems to be one of those dishes, like crème brûlée or foie gras (which is literally just duck fat), that just sounds so fancy and restaurant-quality. Really, it's just the classical French name, but names do sell, and these items are associated as high class. They are not necessarily difficult to make, but they can be nailed or not so great. Everyone seems to know chicken cordon bleu involves chicken with ham and Swiss cheese, but not many are really aware of the origin of the name. Well, most of these French terms cannot be taken literally, and cordon bleu just refers to meat wrapped around cheese. So you could have steak cordon bleu or pork cordon bleu, but chicken is by far the most common.
Add another French term - en croûte - to the mix, and it sounds even fancier, when really I am simply baking the chicken, ham, and cheese in a pastry crust. 

I have had chicken cordon bleu a few times, but this was my first time making it. Here is my recipe for chicken cordon bleu en croûte. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu En Croûte
oil
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
thin ham slices, diced
Swiss cheese, grated
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine, cold
1 cup milk

Trim off any pieces of fat from the chicken. Slice each piece in half horizontally almost all the way through and open like a book. Pound until very thin and flattened, but not paper thin.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Place about two to three teaspoons ham and a good heaping two tablespoons cheese on one end of each chicken breast. Press down to compress. Gently roll up chicken breast. You may secure with toothpicks if needed.
Sear the chicken breasts for a few minutes on all sides until golden.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375◦F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare the crust by mixing the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Mix in the milk, dough will be soft. Knead lightly until dough comes together. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about one centimeter thick. Cut into squares or rectangles just large enough to wrap around the chicken breasts.

Place a chicken breast in a crust square and pull the sides up, overlapping on top. Biscuits can then be brushed with milk, egg wash, or a little melted butter if desired. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked thorough. Be sure to remove toothpicks before serving/eating. 

One word of advice: CHEESE! Do NOT skimp on the cheese! You want the cheese oozing out of the chicken - that is the beauty of the dish. If you think there is too much cheese, you are probably wrong, as long as you can still roll up the chicken around it. A little ham goes a long way but you need a lot of cheese.