Can I Make a mini-"Giant Philly Cheesesteak Onion Ring"? (Rotisserie Chicken Philly Onion Ring)

I was watching this Twisted YouTube video on different cheesesteak recipes and the one with the giant onion ring looked funny & delicious. I had to try to make a mini-version!

I love regular cheesesteaks with beef, but I also really like Chicken Phillies (Is that the plural of Philly Cheesesteaks? Like the baseball team. Haha. :) ) and I have Rotisserie chicken now, so I decided to make a chicken version.

In the video:

- They slice and cook: 7 onions, 3 bell peppers, 3 steaks.

- Make a white sauce (Bechamel) from scratch

- Mix the Bechamel, onions, bell peppers, steaks, all together with some provolone in a bowl.

- Place the mixture in a springboard pan with a glass in the middle (to from the hole in an onion ring). I could not tell what size the spring board pan was -- maybe 9" or bigger.

- Place the springboard pan in the freezer for 2 hours to set.

- Bread it with flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs.

- Fry it! Eat!

Monday, November 11, 2019 (morning), Attempt #1:

I simplified the recipe and used things I had around.

What I used for a 6" springboard pan:

Chicken Philly

- ~4 oz. of rotisserie chicken (no skin; shredded by hand; maybe more)

- ~24 oz. of pre-cut onions (I got a 3 lb. bag for $3.99 -- onions cook down a lot too)

- 1/2 to 1 green bell pepper (cut into small pieces)

- 4 oz. of Philadelphia cream cheese (in place of making a Bechamel sauce from scratch)

- 1 1/2 mozzarella string cheese (~1.5 oz. of cheese; torn into pieces).

You can add more or less of all the ingredients above depending on the ratios that you like -- like if you want more chicken or cheese, etc.

Breading:

- flour

- 1 egg

- Panko breadcrumbs

I would have never bought a green bell pepper before if I had not made this cute pumpkin-shaped cheeseball and bought the bell pepper for the stem for decorative purposes. :)

But then I had the bell pepper, so I decided to cook with it (see post). So making the pumpkin-shaped cheeseball made me healthier (see post). Haha. :)

https://www.wearegoodatthis.com/post/can-i-make-this-cute-pumpkin-shaped-cheeseball

https://www.wearegoodatthis.com/post/bell-pepper-and-onions-in-5-recipes

Almost every recipe I see these days on the different shows on the Food Network, videos on YouTube and on the internet -- no matter what type of cuisine:

- uses Panko breadcrumbs when they are frying things or for a crunchy topping.

Panko bread crumbs are made from a Japanese white bread without any crusts. The bread is made specifically to make breadcrumbs. It creates a light, airy, crispy and crunchy crust when fried because it doesn't absorb that much oil.

https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-panko-and-breadcrumbs-word-of-mouth-218201

Cooking:

I sauteed the onions and bell peppers.

I added 4 oz. of cream cheese to the shredded chicken and microwave that for 45 sec. to 1 minute to soften the cheese, then I mixed it together.

I added shredded chicken / cream cheese mixture, mozzarella string cheese pieces, to the pepper and onions in the pan and mixed it all together.

I placed the mixture in the 6" springboard pan with a ramekin in the middle to from the onion ring hole.

I left it in the freezer for a little more than 2 hours.

RESULT: Fail. :)

It easily popped out of the 6" springboard pan I had.

But when I went to put the breading on it -- flour, then egg, then Panko breadcrumbs -- it fell apart.

When I went to fry it, it fell apart even more. :) It tasted good though! More photos below.

I kind of shaped some pieces into a ring in the final photo (below the row of 3 pics). :)

I think it fell apart because it was not rock solid frozen as in the video. Also, I wonder if because they used longer strips of onions, peppers, and beef if that provided more structural support for the ring. Haha. :) Perhaps Bechamel sauce is a better glue too.

I had some leftover onions and peppers, so I decided to make another one -- this one even smaller (more mini-) using my 4" springboard pan.

Monday, November 11, 2019 (afternoon), Attempt #2:

Using the leftover onions and peppers I had already cooked, I shredded some more rotisserie chicken with my hands for the mixture.

In addition to planning to leave it in the freezer longer until it was rock solid, I also made the following adjustment,

- I increased the ratio of mozzarella and cream cheese (vs. the amount of peppers/onions) for this attempt -- thinking that this would help with binding of the mixture and help keep it from falling apart.

-- For example: In the bigger ring (first attempt), I added 1 1/2 string cheese and 4 oz. of cream cheese. In this one, which is much smaller, I used 1 string cheese and ~2-3 oz. cream cheese.

I microwaved everything so the cream cheese and string cheese would melt. It was definitely more cheesy than the last attempt.

Then I packed the into the 4" springboard pan (smaller than before; I used 6" springboard pan). I left it in the freezer while I went out and worked out -- probably for about 4 or 5 hours this time (vs. ~2 hours in the first attempt).

RESULT: Success! :)

It popped out of the springboard pan easily. It was definitely frozen rock solid after 4 or 5 hours (see photos and video). :)

I breaded (flour, egg, then Panko breadcrumbs) as before. It was much easier and fun to do the breading this time since it was frozen rock solid -- rolling the little wheel of Philly chicken mixture around.

I fried again and it stayed intact and did not fall appart!

However when I took it out (photos below), it was still a little cool in the middle. It was about 1 1/2" or 2" thick.

Everything in the mixture is already cooked, so it's safe to eat, but I wanted it to be warm, so I put it back in the oil.

One chunk did fall apart when I put it back in the oil the 2nd time, but it pretty much all stayed together (last row of photos). Haha, I could have not told you that and just left it at that with the pictures from the first frying attempt where it stayed intact. But I wanted to tell you what actually happened and also the adjustments I will make next time.

Next time, I make it, I will only make it 1" thick, so that it can brown the Panko breadcrumbs (which only takes a few minutes on each side) and cook through properly.

Give it a try! It was super fun to make and it's tasty -- even when it falls apart. Also, it's kind of lower carb than if you had a Philly chicken cheeseteak sandwich. We are good at this!