We Interrupt This Blog...

To quote Galen Weston - "A warning to all vegetarians". Usually, this includes me, so trust me, I know, I know how ironic this post is. However, I also freely admit that when Charlie Kondek approached me with this review offer - a chance to try out the new "President's Choice Naturally" line of fresh beef, pork and chicken products - I heartily agreed. I'm the only one in my family that eschews meat products, and I know Andrew loves pork and chicken (though he doesn't really groove on the red meat - except lamb).

What came to my door, though, was way more than I could have expected! Along with the vouchers for free chicken drumsticks, a boneless ribeye steak, and pork ribs (which I unfortunately couldn't find), I was given a cute picnic basket and tea towel filled with a salt and pepper grinder (which I have officially fallen in love with - you can adjust the grind coarseness and it has both seasonings inside, in a good ratio... no huge chunks of salt!), as well as a grilling sauce and a bottled marinade.

The meat in both the steak and chicken is clearly high-caliber: look at the marbling in the steak! It wasn't mushy or "fake plump" feeling like so many other store brands, and though it is more expensive, if you really value the taste of simply cooked meat (ie not drowned in steak sauce, ketchup or gravy) it's worth it.

Since I wouldn't be partaking in the meat tasting, I came up with some good uses for the marinade and sauce that I could utilize instead. Turns out that the steak spices in the Steak Spice Marinade were great when poured over tofu and left to sit for a day or so, and equally good as a "toss together before work, cook for dinner" flavouring on carrots, mushrooms and broccoli. The Dad's Grill, Maple, Apple & Beer sauce was pretty good on oven fries and in my Sloppy Joe mix. It does need a bit more "oomph" though - I added a touch of garlic powder, Tabasco and a little bit of honey to pump up the flavour, which worked nicely.

I do have plans for the chicken thighs, which will work themselves into a mini-cacciatore soon for Andrew, and if I can convince my mom to try the marinade on the (gigantic) steak before I cook it, I can make the three red-meatheads dinner too. Once I find those pork ribs, I'll put the stepdad to work on his new BBQ - which my mom had to assemble for him...

If you happen to be in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax and Calgary from 4-6:00 PM tomorrow, keep an eye out for President's Choice street teams dressed in butcher aprons! They will be distributing vouchers for free meat products at the busiest commuter transit hubs until all the coupons are distributed.