Happy Christmas To All

Title says it all really........
Hope you all have a good 'un'.....

Heavenly Tesco Finest Party Food

The Sunday evening pre-christmas family get together was a total success, and for once no arguing or squabbling!!!

The Tesco Finest party food I served up went down really well and the platters were cleared within minutes and empty plates all round.

I served - 

Finest Chicken Sesame Pyramids with satay dip, they were really nice, crunchy on the outside and lovely moist tender chicken and vegetables in a spicy curry sauce on the inside, I personally wasn’t too keen on the Satay dip but everyone else thought it was very nice.

Finest Duck Selection, Very good as well and crunchy on the outside and there seemed to be plenty of duck in them and they reminded me of something that I’ve had at the local Chinese restaurant, the only thing that let them down was the lack of a dipping sauce - such as sweet chilli (luckily I had a bottle in the cupboard).

Finest Soufflettes, WOW, these were amazing. It’s the first time I’ve tried Souffle but it certainly won’t be the last. They were so light and fluffy and full of taste and came out of the oven with lovely golden brown tops. There were two flavours to choose from - Mature Cheddar & Spring Onion and Italian Basil Pesto and I tried both - they were both excellent but my favourite was the Mature Cheddar & Spring onion one, I only wish I had bought 2 packs of these as I could have eaten a whole pack to myself!!!!.  #TriedForLess.

Finest Party.

I received my Tesco Finest vouchers for the Tesco Finest party foods range from the Orchard at Tesco during the week and have just come back from shopping laden down with a whole host of festive food treats.

Included in my Orchard pack was one £4 coupon for me to use and three £1 coupons to give to friends and family so that they can try the Finest party food range at a reduced price.

I decided to use my voucher to buy Tesco Finest Chicken Sesame Pyramids with a Satay Dip . Some items in the range are on offer at 3 for the price of 2 so I took advantage of this offer and also purchased Finest Soufflettes and Finest 12 Duck Selection and ended up paying just £4, absolute bargain!.

I can’t wait to try these, the in-laws are coming round this evening for a pre christmas get together and I will be serving these along with other items from Tesco’s extensive party food range.

This is what I served my flatbreads with....

Winter comfort food doesn't get much finer than this......

Tesco Finest Pork and Caramelised Onion Sausages

With my £5 voucher from the Orchard at Tesco I purchased Tesco finest pork and caramelised onion sausages and Tesco finest toulouse sausages - (which I have already reviewed), so this is my review for finest pork and caramelised onion sausages.

I decided to make Toad in the hole using these sausages served with thick onion gravy.

As with the finest toulouse sausages hardly any fat came out of these sausages, which is kind of comforting as it shows that they are not made with cheaper cuts of meat.

While they were cooking the smell in the kitchen was really gorgeous, if I were going to compare it to another smell it would be onions frying? or maybe pork, sage and onion stuffing?.

So, when I served my toad in the hole I immediately went for the sausage first, It was very tasty and the caramelised onions really complimented the pork which was moist, firm and tender with no fatty, gristly pieces included(which is often the case with some much inferior products).

My partner mentioned that the sausages were very similar to our local butchers, which are slightly more expensive and maybe not as meaty.

I think I probably will buy these again, they were very nice, but if I had to choose between these and finest toulouse the latter would be My first choice.

The sausages were two packs for £5, which in my opinion is excellent value for good quality sausages made using British pork. #TriedForLess

Heavenly Flatbreads Courtesy of the Orchard at Tesco

So having been to Tesco I bought Roast Garlic and Herb Butter and Spanish Chorizo and Smoked Paprika Cheesy Topper with my Tesco ingredients vouchers from the Orchard at Tesco.

I decided to make some home made flatbreads and then baked them in the oven topped with the garlic butter and chorizo topper.

The flatbreads were not so good - it’s the first time i’ve made them so I was slightly nervous as to how they would turn out and they were not what I was hoping for, in fact they were quite disgusting, so I persevered and added the garlic butter to two of the flatbreads and the chorizo on another two and baked in the oven for 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes were up I opened the oven door to be met with the most delicious aromas of garlic, herbs, chorizo and paprika, I immediately sliced them up and tried them both, well the toppings certainly made a difference to the flatbreads - they were delicious.

I’ve only ever bought garlic butter a couple of times before and wasn't impressed - one time the garlic was too over-powering and the other time it was virtually tasteless and very bland so I stopped buying it and started making my own 

I found that the Tesco Roast Garlic and Herb Butter was excellent, with a perfect balance of garlic and herbs and the Chorizo topper was just as excellent with the right amount of Chorizo and paprika.

The price of £1 was very attractive and I will be buying them again in the future - they were excellent value for money and highly recommended by me.

#TriedForLess

Tesco finest party food

I received another invite from the Orchard at Tesco for finest party food......
I LOVE party food, I can't wait.

I also received in the Post......

........ My Christmas food to order and finest meats pack from the Orchard at Tesco.
I've been sent 1 x £5 voucher for me to use and 3 x £1.50 vouchers to hand to friends and family.
Tesco have a massive range of finest meats so i'll probably be in my local Tesco for hours trying to decide what to choose!!!!
I'm finding it really rewarding being a member of the Orchard at Tesco, as well as getting to try products that I maybe wouldn't have tried, I often get awarded clubcard points when submitting reviews, tweeting and posting to Facebook about the product I have experienced.

Postman's Been!!

I received my Tesco Ingredients Dairy Range vouchers from the Orchard at Tesco today - I received 2 x £2 vouchers for myself to try items from the range for free, or at a reduced price and 4 x 50p vouchers to give to friends and family for them to try the range. I can’t wait to go shopping now, I think i’m going to get the Roasted Garlic and Herb Butter and have a go at making garlic bread and the Spanish Chorizo and Smoked Paprika Cheesy Topper to use on top of chicken fillets or maybe dauphinoise potatoes?……….Decisions, Decisions……..

#TriedForFree!!!

So, I am currently doing the Tesco finest ready meals programme at the Orchard at Tesco.

My previous programmes have been - Tesco ice cream, and award winning wines from around the world.

I have also been chosen to participate in the Tesco dairy ingredients range, and I can't wait for my pack to arrive.

The Orchard At Tesco

I've now been a member of the Orchard at Tesco since August 2014 and find it to be a very rewarding programme to be part of, since joining I have had the chance to try various products free of charge in return for providing good, honest reviews about the products tried.

When chosen for a programme Tesco send me a pack which normally includes a voucher for myself to try the product for free and a selection of hand out coupons to pass along to friends and family for them to try the product at a reduced price.

I am currently on the Tesco finest ready meals programme, You can check my Orchard profile out here - https://orchard.tesco.com/user/chrisb23

Sausage Casserole

I made this using my Instant Pot IP-LUX60 - great gadget and easy to use a must have in any kitchen.