If you were discussing the mass-market veal processing industry, you’re correct – there have been (and continue to be) practices that many of us would consider to be cruel. However, that’s a token standard for the mass-market meat processing industry as a whole. If you read up on chickens, they don’t exactly lead a life of glamor. Have you stopped buying chicken though? Or have you moved to buying free range chicken or animals from farms with humane life cycle and slaughtering practices? Where I live we have very limited access to these products, but I understand that in the USA they are readily available from a number of reputable chain stores. Along with most other food bloggers, I encourage people to seek out these options if they are accessible.

Christine, you need to understand that the articles posted on this site are like a snap shot into our home and what we’re eating/drinking at any given time. If you prefer not to use an ingredient we’ll always provide you with alternatives. However, I will not make that decision for you, nor for any of our readers. I would encourage you, if you are a fellow foodie and blogger, to continue sharing information that you consider to be educational. However I caution you not to be dismissive or imply that your audience is not educated enough to make these decisions on their own.

Let’s face it: there are alternatives to eating veal out there. I think we should use them. As a fellow foodie and blogger, I just think that we should be responsible in how we affect others’ diets & food choices.

Beth – this would be DELIGHTFUL with pork tenderloin!!!! I would use 2 tenderloins (mostly because I’m greedy) or 1 pork loin and adjust the time. For pork tenderloin, when I roast it in the oven I cook it at about 400 for 20 minutes. With the outside sear, even though the temperature is lower it still likely wouldn’t need more than 15 minutes to cook through. Let me know if you try!!!

Gina – aw, thanks! It seems that lately I need to have a lot of those,,,,,,

Jacquie – so here’s the thing about Middle Eastern or other exotic tasting spice mixes: they’re really, REALLY hard to mess up. If you have a rough idea of what goes in there you can play away to your heart’s content. The other consideration is dilution. If you’re making a spice blend with 3 ingredients, you want to watch the ratios really closely. Oh, or even if there are multiple ingredients but one or two are really strongly flavored. But when you’re mixing up 6-10 spices and they’re all pungent and delicious? You can honestly just wing it sometimes and see where you land. The first try may not be perfect, but I bet it will still be tasty…….

This is totally going to be used on some deer. I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to cook game.

Oh, and isn’t kale awesome? I love braised kale.