At the Wingstop National Convention, a 3 day convention for Wingstop executives, staff, franchise partners and vendors, the company announced that across its over 450 chains it has sold over 2 Billion wings!!! Linked together, end-to-end that many wings would circle the earth 4 times. That is a LOT of wings. 
So on one of New York Times blogs (maplewood), they
have a pretty delicious chicken parmigiana recipe - lighter on the cheese and not so greasy. Focusing on how the chicken is cooked allows this recipe to maintain a good meat-to-crust ratio while protecting it from sogginess that seeps in from the sauce and cheese. By pan frying thin cutlets, the recipe allows for greaseless chicken. Check it out. It looks delicious.
According to USAToday,the pet food maker Nature’s Variety has expanded the recal
l of its chicken based food products due to concern that they are contaminated with Salmonella. All Chicken Formula products (including the Organic brands) with best if used by dates of 2/5/11 or earlier are potentially tainted.
Included in this list are:
Here’s their webpage on it in case you are interested in the details.
Increased demand of chicken wings has caused a soaring increase in prices.
Apparently, we can’t get enough of ‘dem wings!
The wholesale price of chicken wings has increased nearly 40% since 2008. Currently trading at $1.47 per pound. As a result, many restaurants now use “boneless chicken wings,” e.g. the pulverized, and liquefied breast meat that is reconstituted into the shape of chicken wings (think chicken mcNuggets).
Talk about drive by shootings! A Kansas man in a chicken suit, 
advertising for Burger Barn, was the victim of a drive by pellet gun shooting last Friday.
A car pulled up next to the man, and fired two shots from a pellet gun. “Apparently they didn’t like chicken,” said the victim.
read more about it here.
The third-largest fast-food chicken chain in the world has been bought by a San Francisco Based Private Equity Firm, Friedman Fleischer & Lowe. Amidst rising demand for cheaper, fast-foodish meals due to cash-poor reccesion-ist times, this deal likely was sold at a premium by Arcapita, an Islamic Investment fund (yikes!) who bought the chain in 2004. 
Over the past 5 years the chain has experienced extremely positive growth in same-store sales, with revenues of about $1.2 billion the prior year and EBITDA has risen by roughly 60% to ~$50 million (since it was acquired in 2004). The deal is rumored to be at about $390 m for this 1,700 store chain.
Super deal - but do they flavor their chicken with beef?
Did you know that KFC’s new Grilled Chicken Menu Item is flavored with “Beef Powder” and “Rendered Beef Fat???”
Gross! and no, this is not just an internet myth.
I verified it myself.
If you go to the kfc.com website you can view their ingredients pdf ( or just click here http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_ingredients_may09.pdf)
pretty shocking!
sooooo. Somewhere in the middle of Florida, in the lovely town of Gainesville there is a high school called Hawthore High. At Hawthorne High you will find two students who were arrested last Monday after a video surfaced of them torturing a chicken on school grounds. The school has a program which raises chicks to an eatable age and then butchers and packages them up for consumption - i actually think this is a really great course for living in modern society, lest we think chicken breasts are just magically created de-boned and skinless, wrapped in cellophane. Anyhoo, these two delinquents, Patrick Dougan and Robert Sylvester Gordon, both 18, were busted for felony cruelty to animals charges.
Sometime in mid-April they filmed themselves torturing a chicken, with Dougan screaming, “tear it apart!” Later he appeared on screen inviting the viewers to come to Hawthorne High to see more. Gordon was also filmed “holding the chicken above his head and smashing it into the ground.” Anyways. It’s kind of sick and disturbing, and it makes me wonder whether these two “kids” will go on to be upstanding contributors to our society…
I think the
y will turnout to be repeat domestic violence offenders and leaches of our welfare program…maybe they will be bank robbers! BUT, they probably would make awesome soldiers! Sign them up! Ship ‘em out!
you can read about it here.
Herbes de Provence (a.k.a. “Provençal herbs”) is a mixture of dried herbs, typically containing savory, basil, fennel, lavender flowers and thyme. Depending on the source, the Herbes de Provence mixture may contain other herbs as well. Though the name sounds snooty-french and implies an aire of old-timey-ness, this herb mixture is relatively new and likely is from the early-70s. 
Anyways, I thought I’d mention this wonderful go-to spice mixture here as it is a wonderful way to prep a chicken when you are feeling lazy and uninspired. Just mix the Herbes de Provence in with a little olive oil and coat a chicken with it. Yum! Simple and delicious. If you are baking a chicken breast or two, include some bread crumbs with the coating et voilà! yumminess.
