Chicken Nugget Experiment

By popular demand to my friends that missed this when I posted it in Facebook (seriously guys, social media - its gonna be a thing). This is a video clip from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC, in which he shows and explains to a group of kids how chicken nuggets and chicken patties are made.

I'll admit, I used to really like chicken nuggets, and those cheapo $1 McChicken Sandwiches when I was in a rush, but I doubt I'll eat them anymore after watching this. Enjoy.




So, would you still eat it?

Banana Bread

I bought a big bag of bananas from Costco, and for some reason they got ripe really quick. Tracy, our primary banana eater, likes her bananas on the green side. I don't mind a yellow banana, but I don't eat a lot of bananas, and certainly couldn't put down 7 extra bananas, especially when they start getting those brown spots. So when you're in such a situation where you've got more bananas than you can eat, try making some banana bread. Its an easy and delicious way to put them to use.

I used a modified version of Aunt Holly's Banana Bread from Epicurious. A relatively simple recipe that uses minimal ingredients.

• 3 to 4 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• Chocolate chips (as many as you want!)
• Mixed Raw Nuts**

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon. Bake in a buttered loaf pan until a toothpick stuck into the bread comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Slice and serve.

* I used self-rising flour in lieu of regular flour and baking soda. My baking soda has been in my fridge absorbing odors for the last several months, so i thought it unwise to use it. And my alternatives were in the freezer and shoe closet doing the same.

** Walnuts would probably be recommended for a more traditional banana bread, but given what I had available in my pantry, mixed raw nuts is what I used. I think some crushed or sliced almonds would be great, as would a handful of any trail mix.

Special Report - Twin Egg Phenomenon

After my wife told me that a few of the eggs she was going to eat had double yolks, she refused to eat the remaining eggs. So I took it upon myself to really test these eggs, plus we had purchased two-dozen of these Kimbo Grade A Jumbo eggs from the 99 Ranch Market. I believe Kimbo is 99 Ranch's house brand. Which is starting to explain a lot. Check out this video to see my test of cracking open 10 eggs open.

Special Report: Twin Eggs from Ray Huang on Vimeo.

I did some further research on the phenomenon of twin eggs, and it turns out that it is quite common in jumbo-sized eggs. By the sorting process, the eggs are sorted by size, and all the jumbo ones are put into jumbo carton, the similarity in size keeps the eggs from getting crushed in the carton by more evenly distributing the weight. But you don't car about the carton, you care about the yolk.

According to a website called www.countryhen.com, "Hens begin their laying process with small eggs, then medium, and eventually over the course of time are laying large, then extra large and finally jumbo eggs before they stop laying altogether. It is the jumbo eggs that have double and sometimes even triple yolks. The number of yolks reflect only on the age of the hen, not on the feed they eat or any other factor. The egg with a double yolk is still fresh and Grade A."

I consulted another website called PoultryHelp.com which stated, "Double yolks are a 'mistake' in the chicken's reproductive system that sometimes happens when a hen just starts laying eggs and her system is still trying to figure out how to do it correctly." The site goes on to say, "Double Yolkers appear when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk somehow gets "lost" and is joined by the next yolk. Double yolkers may be by a pullet whose productive cycle is not yet well synchronized. They're occasionally laid by a heavy-breed hen, often as an inherited trait." PoultryHelp.com has an illustrative list of other egg oddities that is worth a read.

So after throwing ten eggs down the drain, it would seem that this string of twins is not too abnormal, but I still cringe a bit when you consider what hormones may or may not be pumped into the hens to make them crank out eggs faster. Much like women who go through fertility treatments are more prone to having multiples after getting pumped full of who knows what, that may be what is happening to these hens. So I'm still weary of eating these, and I think I'll stick with medium or large eggs purchased from more reputable markets.

I Pity The Hens.

Thai Basil Chicken

On the menu today is Thai Basil Chicken, a relatively easy dish to make. This video will take you through the basic steps and I will also list the steps below. Here are the ingredients:

• 1 package of ground turkey or ground chicken or thinly sliced chicken (1.25 lb.)
• 1 large or 2 medium zucchinis
• 2-4 tomatoes (depending on size)
• 1 bunch of basil
• 1 onion
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 4-10 Thai chiles (or 3-6 Serrano chiles)
• 3-5 tbsp fish sauce
• 3-5 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt to taste

Thai Basil Chicken from Ray Huang on Vimeo.

This recipe doesn't really require exact measurements, its hard to go wrong, and you can make adjustments based on your preference of spiciness, saltiness, fishiness, veginess, meatiness, and chunkiness.

1. Start cooking your rice.
2. Wash all the vegetables thoroughly.
3. Slice the zucchini, tomato, and onion into pieces that are about the same size. Not too big or you can't get all the elements in one bites.
4. Dice the garlic
5. Slice the Thai/Serrano chiles to your preference. I prefer thin slices for even spice distribution. Remove seeds if you're a wuss. You could also halve them lengthwise or throw them in whole.
6. Pluck the leaves of the basil stems.
7. Heat a wok or pot on high and add a light coat of oil.
8. Add the garlic followed by the onions and sauté for a couple minutes.
9. Add the ground turkey (or chicken) and break it up a bit.
10. Pour fish sauce, soy sauce, and cooking wine and sugar over the ground turkey, mix together. (I forgot to say I added sugar in the video!)
11. Add sliced chiles and brown the meat for a few minutes until nearly cooked through.
12. Add zucchini and tomatoes and mix in for a couple minutes.
13. Add basil leaves and mix in.
14. Taste it and see if it needs any adjustments to flavor. Sometimes a sprinkle of salt at the end is all it needs to bring out a lot of the flavor.
15. Turn off heat.

Serve it however you like. Either by spooning it over rice, or transfer to a serving plate for self-service.

San Marzano Pizza - Video

I recently got a new FLIP HD video camera, and on a whim, I decided to try my hand at making a little cooking video. The major challenge was holding the camera while prepping food. So pardon the shaky camera, I'm dealing with a lot of firsts: first time filming, first time editing video, and our first cooking show.

Its 13 minutes long, mainly because I ramble. If I had a camera man, or even a tripod, or multiple cameras, and the skills to properly edit a video,  I think we could be onto something. So enjoy my video.


San Marzano Pizza | iPityTheFood.com from Ray Huang on Vimeo.
Ray makes a Pizza with a San Marzano tomato sauce, salami, artichoke, basil, and mozzarella, on Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough.

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