puff pastry

Review of Damn Delicious’s Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie

Medium (3-4 people) Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie

About a week ago, I received a fantastic food parcel from Damn Delicious! Yum! So much amazing food to sample…we’re all big carnivores in our family, so I was particularly looking forward to doing these reviews*.

I was finally able to sample the Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie with my family on Friday evening. The pie I was sent by Damn Delicious was the medium one (1lb) for 3-4 people. You can see on the picture below that it’s a good-sized pie, with a generous layer of puff pastry and a deep Aberdeen Angus Steak filling.

Damn Delicious | Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie | Fresh from the Oven — The Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie, straight from the oven

Pros

LOTS of Aberdeen Angus Steak filling – this is a rich, deep, pie
A generous layer of flaky, light, puff pastry over the top of the pie, but no pastry underneath. So: no soggy pastry and all the depth is meat!
Rich, delicious flavour, perfect seasoning and the steak was allowed to shine
About the right size for 4 people
Arrived by courier delivery, in insulated packaging with ice blocks and clear instructions that it could be frozen on the day of receipt
Simple packaging, minimal waste, contents of packaging clearly visible

Cons

No re-heating instructions on the packaging (I took a good guess at 180°C – fan assisted – for 20 mins, and it worked out fine, but it would be useful to have specific instructions on there)
The meat felt a little bit dry – I’d have liked a bit more gravy in the pie. Having said that, the taste was delicious and no space was wasted with gravy. The full depth of the pie was meat! Can’t argue with that 🙂

Overall

A delicious pie, packed full of scrumptious Aberdeen Angus Steak. At £8.25 for the 3-4 person sized medium pie, it’s not something you’d have every day, but given the quality and quantity of meat it contained, it’s worth the cost as an occasional treat. The flavour was fantastic. Despite the fact it could have done with a bit more gravy, I would definitely have it again. An indulgent treat rather than an everyday pie. Scrumptious!

*About my product reviews:

I was sent these samples for review. I did not receive any financial reward for writing the review and all product reviews I write are my own, honest and unbiased opinions. If you would like me to review your products, please contact me via Twitter, Facebook or E-mail. If I accept to receive products for review, I will send you the postal address to send them to.

Two vegetarian tarts, one cheese, two very simple recipes

I love puff pastry, I love goats’ cheese, I love caramelised onion and sunblush tomatoes….what could I do with all those ingredients?

The purpose of this blog has always been to make delicious food simple, so that everyone can try it out, even those that aren’t overly confident in the kitchen.

Have you ever wondered how to make a caramelised onion and goats’ cheese tart? Ever wondered about any variations on the usual shortcrust pastry or different ingredients to use with the goats’ cheese?

This is what I love doing. Coming up with my own variations on some classic dishes. And, of course, making them in as simple and quick a way as possible, then sharing it with my blog readers 🙂

So here you have 2 simple recipes, ideal for a quick weekend lunch or for a ‘light’ (in texture, not necessarily in calories!!) dinner, perfect if you have vegetarian guests.

Caramelised Red Onion and Goats’ Cheese Tart

Ingredients

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
1 small log of creamy goats’ cheese (you can choose whichever goats’ cheese you like. The one I used is very mild and creamy, but you can go for a stronger flavour if you prefer)
1 large chunk (ca. 80g) of lightly salted butter
2tsp dark muscovado sugar
a pinch of salt

Method

Finely slice the onions (ideally using a Mandolin)
Place the butter in a large non-stick frying pan, turn the heat up high
Once the butter starts sizzling, add the onions
Season with a pinch of salt
Stir regularly to allow to brown all over
Once the onions are soft but still quite pale, add the sugar and stir in
Keep the heat up at all times, stirring from time to time to caramelise the onions. Don’t let them go too dark as they’ll darken some more in the oven. When you taste them, they should be soft and slightly sweet.
Lay out the sheet of pastry onto a baking tray (keep the parchment/greaseproof paper as a liner so you don’t have to grease or line your tin separately)

Let the onions cool for a few minutes, then spread out over the pastry, leaving a small gap around the edges
Slice the cheese into ca.3mm thick slices and place over the onions, leaving fairly even gaps
Fold over the edges of the pastry and press down with your fingers to give them an appealing ‘wavy’ appearance when baked
Place in a pre-heated oven (180°C fan-assisted, 200° if not)
Bake for approx. 20 mins or until puff pastry has risen around the edges and is golden…the onions should have gone dark.
Serve on its own or with a side salad of rocket leaves drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic glaze

Sunblush Tomato and Goats’ Cheese Tart

Ingredients

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
1 small log of creamy goats’ cheese (you can choose whichever goats’ cheese you like. The one I used is very mild and creamy, but you can go for a stronger flavour if you prefer)
1 pack of Sunblush Tomatoes in oil (I used Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference SunBlush Red and Yellow baby plum tomatoes, but you can use any similar tomatoes in oil – not dry, as you need the moisture for this tart)

Method

Lay out the sheet of pastry onto a baking tray (keep the parchment/greaseproof paper as a liner so you don’t have to grease or line your tin separately)
Pick up the tomatoes with your hands or a slotted spoon so you don’t take too much of the oil with them, then spread them out over the pastry, leaving a small gap around all edges
Slice the cheese into ca.3mm thick slices and place over the tomatoes, leaving fairly even gaps
Fold over the edges of the pastry and press down with your fingers to give them an appealing ‘wavy’ appearance when baked
Place in a pre-heated oven (180°C fan-assisted, 200° if not)
Bake for approx. 20 mins or until puff pastry has risen around the edges and is golden
Serve on its own or with a side salad. You could use the remaining oil from the tomatoes as seasoning.

Gloriously Good, Gloriously Simple!

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Steak Pie Review | Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie | Damn Delicious