Baked Crispy Ranch Chicken

If loving crispy chicken strips dipped in an all time show stopping dip (Ranch!) is a crime, then I am as guilt as they come. There is nothing quite like the taste and texture of a crunchy exterior with a tender interior. This is not just true for chicken, but if you really think about it is true for meals like ginger beef, fish sticks, potatoes, and even desserts.

Texture is a rather important part of the enjoying experience when we eat our meals. When we evaluation food (what we like and what we don't like), texture is a primary attribute that, together with visual appearance (how the food looks), taste and smell - help us to decide if we like what we are eating or not. Defining a food's texture is not an easy take mainly because texture is not something that we can instantly process and is something that is fluid in nature (ie. it is always changing as we consume it).

For all you foodies and food buffs out there, did you know that most products that are on our grocery store shelves are evaluated by a team of 'sensory evaluators' before they make the shelf. This is actually a job. It was not until the 1960s that texture began to be considered important in evaluating food quality.

When you think of some of your favorite foods, you will quickly understand how texture is such a big part of the appeal (or disgust) of certain foods. For example, are you a sushi lover and when you ask non-sushi lovers why they don't like sushi, so often it is the texture that they find distasteful. What about popcorn? Sure the butter and the salt help, but something about the crunchy texture which melts into softness in our mouths is highly appealing.

That is why we wanted to share this delicious Baked Crispy Ranch Chicken recipe with you - as it is a perfect combination of textures that you will appreciate.

For the full recipe and instrucions, visit the 'Chef in Training' website link below.