Christine Cooks: products

Showing posts with label products. Show all posts

Friday, October 12, 2007

Quick And Easy Turkey Meat Loaf

Although I derive great pleasure from making my own sauces and condiments, I also love seeking out quality products that save time and serve to enhance a dish to my standards.

Tender and juicy, this turkey meat loaf was prepped and out of the oven in just one hour - a blessing to be sure on a busy weeknight. Its flavor and moistness I attribute to the marinade-slash-sauce that I discovered a while back and used here. It's called Narsai's Assyrian Pomegranate Marinade. The promo says ". . . it's not only fabulous with lamb but goes equally well with beef and pork." Well, add turkey to that list because this meat loaf tasted fabulous. The marinade ingredients are red wine, pomegranate concentrate, herbs, spices and garlic. No catsup needed. And no beef or pork needed to moisten up the turkey and raise the fat content.

This recipe will yield a large amount of meatloaf - enough for dinner, several lunches, plus leftovers in the middle of the week. If you have a small family, cut the finished loaf in half and freeze for another time.

Quick and Easy Turkey Meatloaf
Christine's Original Recipe
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds ground turkey (I think I used closer to 3 lbs.)
3 eggs
1 cup sweet onion, such as Walla Walla, chopped fine
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 cup finely ground bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Spike seasoning
2/3 cup Narsai's Assyrian Marinade
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
olive oil spray
Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Spray an oblong, 9"x11" baking pan (glass preferred) with the olive oil spray.
Place the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and, using your clean hands, mix thoroughly.
Plop the meat mixture into the prepared pan and pat it evenly to the edges.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the meat has pulled away from the edges of the pan and the juices are bubbling wildly.
Out of the oven, allow it to settle down for about 15 minutes then slice and serve.

Cook's Notes:
Unless you're a die-hard catsup user, you can skip it here. The meat loaf is that good on its own.
If you really can't do without the catsup, here's another recipe that employs lots of it.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Why I Link To Products

... and a bit of my philosophy on the subject.

For anyone who reads my blog with any regularity, it's obvious that I do a lot of product linking.

I'd like to explain why but first, a little backstory:

This blog was originally started for my grown boys who for years had been encouraging me to write down my recipes in a family cookbook.

I made several attempts to carry out their wishes in book format, but it didn't work for me. Then, thanks to my brother-in-law, Devan, I discovered blogging and that was that -- I'd found my medium.

So, keeping the whole family thing in mind, here is my explanation of why I use product links:

Quite simply, I link to products that I use in my kitchen. I link to these products, or to cool products I've discovered, so my family and friends can find them to use in their own kitchens if they so choose. I do not seek remuneration for these links nor have I ever been asked to link to any of these products for monetary reward.

Occasionally, I am asked to review a cookbook which I happily do with the caveat that I am under no obligation to write a post about it or put a link to it on my blog unless I choose to do so.

Occasionally, I receive requests to review a kitchen gadget or product and my answer is always the same: I would be happy to do so if I am sent the gadget/product in question, but I clearly state that I will be under no obligation to post it on my blog unless I choose to do so. I am very nice about this, but firm in my resolve.

Now all this is not to say that I don't love to review cookbooks, products and kitchen gadgets. I do. I wouldn't mind being paid for it either. But I am very careful about not compromising my position, in that I write my blog for myself, my family and my friends and, in using product links, am not pandering for commercial gain. If this ever changes, you will be the first to know of it.

As can be seen on my sidebar, I have links to AdSense, which is run by Google. Viewers can click on these links and purchase products if they wish. Sales that result from clicking through my blog, also result in me receiving a small percentage of the sale of the product. I have no control over the content of these AdSense links.

In the not-too-distant future, I will be placing a link on my sidebar to my Amazon store. This virtual store will have a listing of products that I use and endorse. Viewers interested in buying a product can click through to my store and make a purchase which, again, will result in my receiving a small percentage of that sale.

Both AdSense and Amazon are win-win partnerships for bloggers. Everything is up front, there is no hidden agenda; a method which I fully support.