Fast and Easy Chicken Spread Sliders - 52 Uses for a Rotisserie Chicken

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Oh BOY.  Just occasionally you come across a recipe that is so versatile, tasty, easy, quick and just near perfect.  It's no Julia Child/James Beard classic, and you are unlikely to see this on any of the cooking shows (although I do picture Paula Dean giving these a shot).  That's how I feel about this gem.  Over night, it has become my wife's favorite.

It also has the advantage of being the near perfect use for one of those rotisserie chickens you find everywhere.  Sam's Club and Cosco have the lowest price, but Target sells an amazing Southwestern spiced  rotisserie bird that is always worth stopping by to buy (and under $6).  There's even a quickie mart gas station that makes up 10 a day near me.  What I find amazing is that these places sell the finished, cooked, seasoned birds cheaper than they sell a raw whole chicken.  If anyone can explain the economics of how that is possible, I would love to hear it.

Have I told you before how cheap I am?  Really, no matter how good of a recipe I see for a whole cooked chicken, I just can't wrap my head around spending a couple dollar extra, all the effort when the rotisserie bird is right there.  HMMM... Cheap and lazy, I better change the subject...

I saw this recipe recently on eRecipeCards.com.  It is very similar to a recipe I have been making for about a year. I had first seen this as a post by on the Mystery Lover's Kitchen Blog. Several months ago, Riley Adams (author of the newly released PERFECT summer reading culinary BBQ mystery, Finger Lickin' Dead) posted her version of this recipe.  You can visit Riley's original blog post and her version of the recipe by clicking HERE. But My recipe has evolved, and now after seeing the recipe that Jess from THE HUNGRY HARPS blog, I picked up an additional modification for my favorite use of a rotisserie chicken.

I was very excited to find Jess submitting her posts to eRecipeCards.com.  In the blog world, Jess is brand new.  Just under 60 posts and only at it since February of this year.  I remember when I first started as a blogger, wondering if anyone would ever care enough to read a post of mine.  I was lucky enough to get some early encouragement from a couple of veteran bloggers.  Since then, I have always enjoyed dropping in on a new blogger every once in awhile.  It is great fun to watch them evolve.  And Jess has already passed through the awkward stage of writing to no one.  It is so much easier to write a post when you think of it as a conversation.

Jess is a stay at home mom, wife, mother of two (including a new born).  She has dogs (and fish).  I wonder what the connection is between food bloggers and pets.  We all seem to have them.  But I digress.

It was fun roaming through Jess's posts.  Anything from Krispy Kreme Hamburgers (really, no that is an inspiration), to nostalgic reminiscent posts about food from the past ("Let's give it to Mickey, he won't eat it", complete with youtube links to 40 year old commercials).  But mainly, Jess's point as a blogger is to put good food on her table, nothing fancy but always a little extra to set her table apart from a boring repetitive menu.  The hardest job of all as a cook, not a fancy restaurant, but to cook for the same people night after night, meal after meal   Make your dishes interesting, tasty, non-repetitive and something to look forward to!  And Jess is doing that and she shares her efforts in her blog.

Take a second and head over to THE HUNGRY HARPS blog.  Drop her a note, tell her hi for me (you remember hanging on every comment someone made.  With only 60 posts, Jess will be thrilled to know someone is reading her).

And do take a look at her recipe for her "Awesome Chicken Spread".  She makes hers as a spread for crackers, breads maybe for a sandwich (remember, everything tastes better on a Ritz).  I make just about the same recipe, but I bake mine with crescent rolls for a very fast easy yet warm treat.  Like i said, I get a request for this from my wife at least a couple of times a month.  By far, this is the recipe she asks for more than any other.

It's just that good!

But I wanted to try something a bit new this time...

I ran across an amazing sale recently.  Those jumbo rolls in a tube which normally cost $2.50 and up were available in a 10 pack bundle for only $8.  8 to a tube, that made them just a dime each.  have I mentioned that I am cheap?  I wondered if I could cook the rolls with the chicken filling in them like a slider.  Would the bottom be cooked?

I also added a tip from Jess's recipe, and used a sample of dry herbs from a salad dressing "kit" (just the herbs, not the oil and mayo needed to make the dressing)....

And guess what... It worked great.  I did use my pizza stone to bake these on.  That way, the stone (pre heated) cooked from the bottom up, while the hot air of the oven cooked from the top down.  The bottom half of the "bun" was indeed completely cooked.  The chicken spread in the center was very nicely toasted, with the cheese and "extras" used to make the spread warm comforting and DELICIOUS...

Here's what I did...

Ingredients
6 oz cooked, chopped chicken
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup chopped mushroom
2 T diced green onion 

1 TBS Mixed herbs (I had a packet of make your own dressing, used the dried herbs, not the oil or mayo).  This added a savory  taste.  You could also use a Cajun spice for a spicy heat taste.
1 pkg Jumbo  Dinner Rolls rolls (can of 8)
2 T melted butter
3/4 cup seasoned Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Be sure that you have a pizza stone preheated as well.  HOT HOT HOT to cook the base of the slider from the bottom up. Combine chopped chicken, chopped mushroom, green onion, pepper, Cajun spices and softened cream cheese in a Kitchenaid Mixer (or mix by hand).

Unfold rolls.  Split each in half. Add a 1/4 cup dollop of the chicken mixture to the center of each. spread the chicken goo evenly and top with the other half.

Line them up on parchment paper or a silicon mat. Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes at 375, covering loosely with aluminum foil until the last five minutes.

Again... Can't emphasize enough, these will never win a photo contest as prettiest food ever.

BUT they will win a taste contest with your family.  Which prize is more important to you.

Jess, thank you so much for posting this recipe.  Gave me a nice nudge to try a new presentation, as well as a great idea for adding a bit of savory to my normally Cajun spiced chicken.  I think I am going to start a weekly series here, "52 Uses for a Rotisserie Chicken".  So, all you eRecipeCards.com fans, help me out and post a few ideas for me.  I am now one of the growing legions of happy followers to THE HUNGRY HARPS blog, happily checking in anytime Jess posts something new!

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This recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Uses For a Rotisserie Chicken"  (Now close to 100!)...I am so confused... $5.49 for a fully cooked, fully seasoned Oven Roasted, Rotisserie Chicken. Yet shop in the raw meat department and most raw chickens are at best $8 each and usually far closer to $10. Anyone have an answer??? Me either. So, I can either rail against the machine, or learn to embrace the beauty that is the $5 chicken! In this pin are recipes I have made, and recommend. MORE than 52 (I just can't stop)..
You get the idea.  From Scratch Pizza to Chinese Take Out recipes, Lots of Soups and Chili... Appetizers to Main Courses (Still can't find a dessert, but I am looking).  More than enough ideas for that store nought bird to shine with just a little extra work

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