Tesco Finest - Winter Cranberry Pork Pie - proper Christmas Treat [@Nli10]

Ah Christmas.  My family take the same view as me in that it's a time for buying the slightly better versions of things - so on Xmas day proper we sat down to this beast of a pork pie and it was great.  The end.

Except they still had them in the supermarkets in between Yuletide and New Year so we bought another to tempt our 98 year old Nanna into having a few more vitamins than usual.  And it worked.

Both the topping and the pastry are glorious, and even the jelly layer is high quality.

I suppose the meat must be too - but I'm used to my dad's home made pies with all kinds of fruit and decent cuts of meat inside so this is still a little tame.  

Overall though well worth the festive double dip and I think I've still got a quarter to finish today with my NY Day leftovers plate.  Huzzah!

 

Margarita Pizza Puffs (Tesco) by @Cinabar

Our Tesco Express does not seem fully committed to the idea of new Christmas snacks yet. They have some lovely seasonal products in stock, but they are hidden right at the top of the shelves rather than being proudly on display. Once Halloween has passed I am quite happy for Christmas goodies to be out, but for now I am having to keep my eyes open.

These Margarita Pizza Puffs do not sound especially festive, but the design on the bags place them firmly in the new Christmas range. We had them on a film night and watched Fantasia on Disney to mark the eighty fifth anniversary of the film yesterday. I poured some into a bowl and could not believe the size. They are enormous. I was expecting something Wotsits sized but these are huge and tower over everything. They do look great in bowls though.

I gave one a try and the first thing that hit me was the crunch. It is spectacular. They are super crisp to start and then soften a little. I love the texture on these giants.

The flavour is spot on. There is plenty of tomato, a good hint of cheese and lots of Italian herbs. Spectre thought there was a touch of pesto too. They are undeniably Italian and wonderfully seasoned. I loved them and we will definitely pick them up again well before Christmas. As for Fantasia, there was not as much Mickey as I expected, but the film is full of imagination and very clearly was ahead of its time.

Tesco Taste Discoveries - Korean Pork Belly Roast [@NLi10]

 Sometimes I’m home-alone and fancy something a little more interesting. I spotted this in Tesco in their new themed section and figured it was worth a shot.

A few of the discount supermarkets have rotating ranges like this, so I figured that this was likely of a similar high quality.

But I hadn’t spotted it’s literally a bag of meat, a sauce and some herbs!

You basically pop the meat in a roasting tin and fire away, so plenty of time to make sides.

Doesn’t look great ‘unboxed’

Prepping the Udon noodles

Looks better after a little roast, and then you slowly add the glaze

And it looks pretty decent on the plate! I figured that slicing it as suggested in the kitchen would be unnecessary but i probably would do that next time.

Luna thought that it definitely smelt like something she should be allowed to assist with.

With hindsight i think i should have picked up other boxes in the range to use as sides, but it worked really well and im happy to go back for more.

Tesco Crème Brûlée - a little home treat [@NLi10]

 We wanted some nice puddings to take to Nannas house (the one that reviewed the Prime) and I chose Crème Brûlée- little did I know it’s kind of a diy version.

You get two little glass containers of custard - and a sachet of brown sugar to pour on top and then grill!

That seems a bit much when you’re round someone else’s house so I just ate it ‘raw’.

An unusually crunchy sensation but all the flavours are there and it’s not bad (but not quite as luxurious as the restaurant version!)

Knock Off Luxury Euro Biscuits - Tesco [@NLi10]

 I had to buy some nice biscuits - big meeting - but instead of going for the known brands I decided to trust Tesco and see what they were like.

At the top we have Dark Choco Leibniz - the classic Euro butter biscuit with the chocolate overhang

And below we have the best biscuit in the tin, the Viennese Finger (dipped in milk chocolate)

The butter biscuits look suspiciously familiar…

Well protected in the package, and a lovely dark colour.

Even the bottoms are familiar!

The chocolate is lovely and dark, and the biscuit is decent - but not all that buttery.  These aren’t quite as good as the real thing, but for the purposes of a meeting these are serviceable and good.

The Viennese Fingers are a slightly different proposition.  The biscuits again are not quite as buttery or as vanilla as I’d like, but the chocolate is sublimely smooth and really brings it together.

They melted a little too quickly, but otherwise these are spot on, pop them on a plate and no one would suspect these aren’t the expensive ones.

Considering neither of these are in the ‘Tesco Finest’ range these are both a strong win.  Happy to buy and eat these by the box load - I’ve hidden them in the fridge so they are snappier and easier to resist.

Tesco - Pulled Pork & Chorizo Stonebacked Flatbread (@NLi10)

Sometimes you find a food that epitomises a specific era. Tesco has provided us a perfect example for now.

First up we have pulled pork. This is now everywhere. I don't think you can buy non pulled pork anymore. Piglets are born pre pulled.

Next up we have chorizo. Sausage is so last decade. We need specific strong spicy sausage, even if you slice it so thinly that you may as well just have pepperoni as is the case here.

Then we have a Stonebaked flatbread - nobody wants a pitta - this is softer and more baked on stone than any of the other options.

And overall (with a few greens) you have a cliched lunch of the times that couldn't be more now unless it had a large beard and a confusing coffee to go with it.

It was nice enough, but it really wasn't as special as you'd have hoped from any of the individual parts. Edible but disappointing.