Saturday 26 January 2013

Will they get an Uppercrust on their opponents?

It won’t come as any surprise that the pie market is fast becoming one of the most highly competitive food markets out there. Specialist pie shops and shops starting to sell pies as part of their menu are appearing all over the place! Which is brilliant, don’t get me wrong, but it can make finding the best pie an ever growing challenge. What we need is a company out there who can get the uppercrust on their pastry making com-pie-titors and give us a name we can trust. And surely one of the best at doing that is Uppercrust themselves! Intriguingly rebranded from McDougalls, Uppercrust certainly appear to be appealing to the high end pie market. I get offered a pie invite by @xethian to try out the Uppercrust Chicken & Asparagus pie. It’s meant to be a “family sized” pie, though basically that means it serves two fully grown manly pie eaters. Here goes...



Pie Uppercrust Chicken and Asparagus
What a serving suggestion!
The pastry lid certainly didn’t cook golden brown as evenly as it had in the “serving suggestion” on the box – which, while we’re on the topic of “serving suggestions” was one of the best I’d seen in literally being the pie...on a plate! Classic! Glad I now know not to eat my next pie out of a dog bowl...
Despite the uneven crisping of the lid pastry, it was still very flaky and crisp, which is exactly how it should be. The pastry didn’t fall apart while serving, as it had done in previous pies. The chicken and asparagus oozed out of the pastry and was in a delicious white sauce. The capacity had well and truly been reached on this pie, with the chicken pieces lovely and tender and the sauce and asparagus complementing the meat perfectly. I’d certainly recommend getting involved! Worth it’s crust and then some.

Uppercrust Chicken & Asparagus
Score: 6.01/7

RAS


6 comments:

  1. The big issue that I have with McDougalls pies is that the chicken is sourced from Brazil and Thailand. If you read the fine print on the back of the box, that's where these 'British' pies get their ingredients.

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    1. Thanks for commenting Brian. Yes, on the packet it does say the chicken is from Brazil and Thailand (http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/McDougalls-Upper-Crust-Chicken--Asparagus-Topcrust-Pie/81474011), and I agree with you - this is a shame. I often stay away from those ready-cooked packs of chicken for that reason.

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  2. Against my better judgement, and being a bit pressed for time, I picked one of these frozen pies (Upper Crust Chicken and Asparagus) from my local Asda. What small amounts of chicken and asparagus it contained was bland and the crust was just about digestible. Juts awful

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  3. Cooked for the required time the asparagus bits in this pie were the texture of wood. I have tried three of these pies as they are quite tasty otherwise but I wont bother with a fourth thank you.

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  4. I WANT TO COMPLAIN TO MCDOUGALLS RE THEIR STEAK AND MUSHROOM BUT CANT FIND WHO MAKES THEM HELP PLEASE

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    1. Hi, it's Premier Foods - see http://premierfoodservice.co.uk/brand/mcdougalls/

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