Radford’s Pie Company Venison and Beef in Red Wine Pie Reviews

While snow may have ground most of the UK to a halt last week as the “Beast from the East” and Storm Emma hit British shores, we were delighted to still receive through the post a box with two great looking pies from Radford’s Pie Company on Friday morning! And while I somehow managed to wait until British Pie Week before eating them, on Monday I enjoyed both for my dinner.

Radford's Venison (l) and Beef in Red Wine Pie Reviews

In the post were a venison pie and a beef in red wine pie. Both were in perfect condition through the post and it just so happened that on Monday the owner of the pie company Noel also had a venison pie himself! For those who don’t know, Noel and his family the Radford’s featured on Channel 4’s 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and “20 kids and counting” and are – as you might have guessed – the largest family in the UK! With so many mouths to feed, it’s a good job the family run a pie company out of the local bakery they own! And not just any bakery, but a top rated pie company at that!

With over 15 years of pie baking in the bank and plenty of demand for their home delivery service of those pies, it’s great to see a family run business doing well and expanding their delivery options and we wish them continued success in this. Their previous pies had rated very highly, almost all obtaining a Pierate Recommended score of 5.5/7 or above, so what about the venison and beef in red wine pies I rated this time?


Well, as before, the pies were again made with shortcrust pastry, with a crisp lid and pastry sides that held the content in well. This was particularly evident when seeing how well filled the pies were, as the pies are crammed to capacity with meat! They come in the classic foil case with crimped top edges, familiar to a lot of (particularly Northern) pies and at £3.45 for the venison pie and just £3.35 for the beef in red wine pie, I think these are both very good value for the price you pay.

As you can see from the photos, they cut well and didn’t collapse like a lot of pies can do. The cross-section really highlights the packed content and the golden lids to the pies. The venison pie in particular had an impressive pastry motif on top too! And as mentioned in our previous review, the local ingredients, from butchers and vegetable sellers near to the bakery, also adds to the appeal of these pies. Here are the individual flavours:

Radfords Beef in Red Wine Pie Review

Beef in Red Wine Pie

There was a good amount of tender beef in this pie, which was complimented by a bit of vegetable. The meat was lovely and flavoursome and the gravy was a decent thickness, flavoured well by the red wine. This didn’t overpower the pie by any means and the tender content complimented the crisp pastry well. This was easily another Pierate Recommended pie, and just fell slightly short to the venison pie I also had!

Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.25, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.25, Content 6]

Radfords Venison Pie Review

Venison Pie

While I very much enjoyed the beef in red wine pie, it paled slightly in comparison to the venison pie I also had on Monday evening. In fact, this venison pie was easily the nicest pie from the Radford’s range I’ve had to date. The pie was simple but effective – tender venison meat and a lovely gravy, which was a tad runny but tasted delicious. My only real criticism of this pie was that a couple of bits of the meat were a little fatty still, but this is one of the challenges of working with venison! Overall, the meat was a great foil to the crisp pastry and it is certainly deserving of Pierate Highly Recommended status!

Score: 6.11/7
[Colour 6.25, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.5, Condition 6.75, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 6, Content 6.75]


With almost all their prior pies knocking on the door of being Pierate Highly Recommended (which is 6/7 or above), the family at Radford’s have finally achieved it! Their venison pie was one of the best I’ve had and I hope to get my hands on some more sometime soon! And with home delivery as an option, I certainly recommend you get your hands on some Radford’s pies during this British Pie Week and beyond!

RAS

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Rating the beef and onion football pie at Stevenage FC by Pukka Pies

Beef and Onion Pukka Pie Review at Stevenage FC

Following a trip to London for Christmas drinks recently, it seemed an obvious op-pie-tunity to tick off another football ground in the area in the search for football’s best pies. This time we visited the Lamex Stadium, home to League Two side Stevenage FC.

Heading through the turnstiles, I immediately walked past the food shack for the away end, which was already tens of people long. However I wasn’t going to risk missing out on pie by waiting til half time, going for some chips and one of the many pies on offer. You’ll see from the photo I was purchasing from the imaginatively named “Tea Bar 4” from a heavily taped up menu board (one wonders what was previously offered under the red tape?!) but the pies had remained at £2.50, which is very reasonable for a football pie these days.

The food menu at "Tea Bar 4" at Stevenage Football Club

The pie itself was a standard Pukka Pies Beef and Onion pie, but presented well in a white plastic tray with plastic fork. While I have to admit it was additional to my needs, as a pick-up-your-pie-in-your-hands-and-eat-it kinda guy, I did appreciate that the option was there for the, perhaps slightly more civilised among us, to eat from a tray using a fork! (Still, nothing will compete with Kate, the #AwayDayPieGirl, and her personalised metal football pie fork!)

Beef and Onion Pukka Pie Review at Stevenage FC

I said it before but I’ll say it again - pie, tray and fork for just £2.50 puts a lot of clubs to shame (many Premier League clubs charge well over £3 for just a pie of the same brand!) But the big question was how the pie rated!

The lid was golden and flaky, as I’d expect from a well-cooked Pukka Pie, though Sam and I have certainly been to enough football games to know all is not always well when it comes to just a golden topped pie lid! Digging into the content, the beef and onion flavour was nice – not too liquid a gravy and a nice meaty mince flavour, however the capacity of the filling wasn’t great and to my disappointment I did notice what I had feared…

Crisp base of the Beef and Onion Pukka Pie at Stevenage FC

Mince had started to solidify on the bottom crust of the pie, much like the meat encrusting on your saucepan base if you forget to keep stirring your bolognaise properly! A classic sign of over-bake on the base of a pie, which was confirmed when I turned the base over and saw the over baked base. No soggy bottom in sight here but the other end of the pie base spectrum with an overly crisp base that was rather too solid to easily bite through. It had formed an almost biscuity layer, much like the Pukka rated at Wycombe’s ground recently.

While I enjoyed the rest of the pie, that base was severely over baked and screamed of sitting in a hot locker for too long. Alas this is a regular criticism of football pies, sometimes exasperated in smaller grounds where there is only one main kitchen pumping out pies for the whole ground. Not the worst pie I’ve had at a football ground, but that still doesn’t help it get a great position in the PIEremiership table – our football pie league.

Pukka Pies Beef and Onion Pie
Score: 3.68/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 4, Consistency 3.5, Condition 2.5, Chewiness 3, Cheapness 4.5, Content 3.25]

We've rated over 600 pies, including a number of football pies

In the match itself, an end-to-end battle led to an entertaining but goal shy 0-0 draw between Stevenage and Wycombe Wanderers. The two best chances went Wycombe’s way, with a near comical goal from the Wycombe keeper Scott Brown who took a free kick from the half way line that looped over the keeper, hit the underside of the crossbar and almost went in bar a goal-line clearance, and an Akinfenwa header which hit the post and went wide. (Note: The BBC article incorrectly assigns the comical free kick to our defender, but being at the game I can confirm it was our keeper who took the free kick – you can’t miss his kaleidoscope kit, believe me!!)

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More about us and our football pie pedigree:

Sam and Rob being interviewed by BBC Sport's Azi Farni Watch the video on the BBC Sport website

Regulars to our pie blog will know we're the world's leading pie review blog - featuring over 600 pie reviews with multiple football pie media appearances! Two years ago we joined BBC Sport's Azi Farni at Morecambe FC, who make some of the best pies rated on Pierate (let alone football grounds) to discuss what makes the perfect football pie! Watch us featuring in the BBC Price of Football video here.

Check out our PIEremiership article and you'll find that Morecambe FC's Globe Arena is certainly the place to be for top football pies! Top of our football pie league and winners of the British Pie Awards twice, they make the pies in the kitchen on site by hand, rather than just buying them in! We recently interviewed previous Head Chef Graham Aimson on his new adventure, but hope the pies at Morecambe stay top of the league in his absence!

RAS

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Nice Pie Lamb, Beef and Chicken Pie Reviews

As we said last year when we last sampled some of the "Nice Pie" range, one of the challenges for a Pierateer in British Pie Week is how to fit in all the pies you want to eat and rate - and then having time to write up all the reviews after! That's my poor excuse for why it has taken a while to write up our reviews of the three brilliant Nice Pie flavours we enjoyed in Leeds on Day Six of British Pie Week 2017, but here they are!


Nice Pie Beef Pie

Long term fans of Pierate will know Nice Pie have produced countless Pierate Highly Recommended and Pierate Recommended pies - including, but not limited to, their kangaroo, zebra, wild squirrel and crocodile exotic pies - in fact, see the table of past Nice Pies here! The pies we had this time were some more from the traditional menu - the Slow Cooked Lamb and Mint pie, Chicken, Gammon and Mushroom pie and Beef in Red Wine and Roasted Marrow Bone pie.

All three were new to us, but had all had a strong showing at the recent British Pie Awards. The Beef in Red Wine and Roasted Marrow Bone pie won the "Beef and any flavour" Class and the Chicken, Gammon and Mushroom pie won the "Chicken and other meat" class, while the lamb pie had got a gold award (90%+). These are award winning pies!!!

As we've mentioned in a number of Nice Pie reviews before, it was the filling that really stood out in these pies, absolutely bursting with meaty chunks that were so tender and flavoursome. It really amazes me how they can pack so much meat into these pies, as the capacity is always so full to the brim! The only slight downside is that with so much meat in there it can mean the pastry struggles to hold all the filling in, especially if you try to eat it by hand as I did. This is however a very small criticism as the main thing is to have a packed, flavoursome pie filling and this pie certainly provides that, especially complimenting the crisp butter shortcrust pastry that Nice Pie are renowned for!

Nice Pie Lamb Pie

Out of the three pies, I personally preferred the Lamb and Mint Pie and thought that stood out amongst other lamb pies I've had. Unlike many lamb and mint pies which are absolutely smothered in mint and lacking in meat, this was a perfectly balanced flavour and full of tender meat. The lamb easily shredded when the knife cut through it due to it being slow cooked, so while the pieces of meat were quite large it did not feel too big. I could have happily kept eating this pie all night!

Nice Pie Beef Pie Review

The Beef pie was also very nice, with thick rich gravy complementing the tender chunks of meat and bit of veg. I personally think the gravy wasn't quite my cup of tea compared to some of the red wine or ale gravy's I have had in other Nice Pie's or other pies lately - perhaps a result of the bone marrow - but at the same time I still enjoyed the pie and it does add a slightly different taste to the content. It balanced well with the crisp, golden pastry and I'd still happily eat another (there are just so many good Steak/Beef Nice Pies to choose from!!!)

Nice Pie Chicken Pie Review

The chicken pie was again packed with meat and although the pastry was a little flaky it still managed to hold in all the content well! The sauce was very nice and complimented the meat flavour well, and once again we struggled to fault much as it was a very good filling! A traditional flavour done well!


Once again Nice Pie have done us proud, producing two more Pierate Recommended pies AND a Pierate Highly Recommended pie! It's an absolute credit to Katharine and all who work at this small pie company that they are able to churn out top rated pie after top rated pie, and it's been great to hear about the success of their on-site Pie Shop and Cafe too! We hope to visit it one day soon!


Nice Pie Slow Cooked Lamb and Mint Pie
Score: 6.18/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 6.25/7; Cheapness 5.75/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6.75/7; Capacity 6.75/7]

Nice Pie Beef in Red Wine and Roasted Marrow Bone Pie
Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6.25/7]

Nice Pie Chicken, Gammon and Mushroom Pie
Score: 5.75/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 6.25/7]

RAS

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Morrison's Pulled BBQ Beef Pie Review

I decided to try something a bit different on Day Four of British Pie Week in the form of a Pulled BBQ Beef pie. Whilst it was different, I picked up this pie from the very familiar territory of the Pie Counter at Morrison's (see all 24 of our Morrison's reviews here). I always feel I have to have a look at the pie counter, even if I have a fridge already full of pies, I can feel it calling to me as soon as I enter the store. Like a massive celestial body, it attracts me with an irresistible gravitational pull. I thinj they recognise me now, they even gave me a crate of free pies at one point. I think what I am looking for are new flavours and one that stood out to me on a recent visit was the Pulled BBQ Beef pie. At a price of 2 for £1.50 they promised to be good value rather than spectacular, which is often the case for the Pie Counter pies. It was in the same shape and style as the Chunky Steak which is one of the best ones so I was hopeful it would be good.



So far, so good but then the test came in the eating of the pie. Unfortunately this is where things started to go wrong. Cutting it open the filling clearly had the wrong Consistency as it all oozed straight out of the pie. There was also a lack of Content, revealing that the pie was mostly full of air. In some ways the lack of filling was actually a positive in this case because I didn’t really like the filling! Rather than a meaty gravy, the pie was mainly filled with something akin to Barbeque Sauce. I am not a huge lover of this sauce but American influence seems to be bringing it more and more into our food here in the UK. Hence I have been getting used, even enjoying it with the right food and in the right amount. However, the filling of this pie was certainly not the right place for the sauce. It would have been okay to add some to a regular gravy to give a slight taste of BBQ Sauce but this experience was like trying to squeeze a whole bottle of the stuff into your mouth! It reminded me of the Weatherspoon’s challenge we used to do where you had to eat as many sachets of sauce as you could until you felt sick. The sauce meant it was over-poweringly sweet and fruity and consequently there was no flavour from the beef. It could have been pork, chicken or even quorn and I wouldn’t have been able to tell. This was in part because there wasn’t much meat and it had disintegrated into each individual fibre. I am a fan of slow cooked meat but this was pushing the concept to destruction. There was nothing to get your teeth into. Fortunately the pastry tasted nice with the same biscuity crunch of the other Morrison’s pies in this range. However, it wasn’t enough to save this pie from a disappointing score, in fact the lowest score of all the Morrison's pies that we have reviewed!

Colour – 4.0 out of 7 - Appealingly golden but with a tinge of light, rusty brown.
Condition – 4.0 out of 7 – Mint condition without having a spectacular appearance, the lettering around the top denoted the flavour of the pie.
Cost – 4.0 out of 7 – You don’t get much for 75p these days.
Capacity – 2.8 out of 7 – Quite tall but full of air!
Chewiness – 3.0 out of 7 – Nothing to get your teeth into.
Content – 2.0 out of 7 – If you like necking a bottle of BBQ Sauce then you will love this pie.
Consistency – 2.0 out of 7 – A gloopy mess and the filling didn’t go well with the pastry.

Pulled BBQ Beef (Morrison’s Pie Counter)
3.11/7

SJL

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The Stable (Birmingham) “Steak Out” Beef Pie Review

It’s always great to hear about new pie ventures close by to you and “The Stable” in Birmingham city centre had been recommended by a number of colleagues at work. With an interesting mix of Pizza, Pies and Cider it seemed a good opportunity for a social evening with friends from my badminton club (well I’ve got to keep the pie calories at bay somehow!) Would this specialisation in pizza, pies and cider help its pie rating, focusing on the pastry beauties?



The Stable Beef Pie Review

With a range of four meat and one vegetarian pie on the menu, I went for “The Steak Out” – a beef, stout and horseradish pie. It was nice to see a decent selection of pies on sale, more than your average restaurant menu (bar pie shops, of course!) These pies are apparently hand-crafted in the West Country, from where the company originated, and are sold exclusively throughout the various “The Stable” outlets across the country – with a new London store the latest to be announced this week.

Meet the #London boys. No time 4 a Diet Coke break we open our new stable in Whitechapel in April. Big 👍👍 up lads. pic.twitter.com/HpIK8paHDN

— The Stable (@_TheStable) February 26, 2016

The Steak Out is their beef pie, served with herb roasted potatoes, pickled onion, tomato chutney and a side salad. The meal is nicely presented on a wooden board and each pie is personalised on top with a specific image related to the pie (bull’s horns, in this pie’s case!) At £9.50 this is a quite reasonable price for a filling pie meal, especially in a city centre location just minutes from the main train station, even if the pie could have been slightly bigger for pie-fection at this price.

Overall I was very impressed with this pie meal. Well filled with a meaty content and a nice soft pastry, it did a good job on the 7 Cs of pie rating. There were a few minor faults to comment on but I enjoyed the meal and will certainly be going back to try the other flavours. One noticeable comment was that the pie was a bit pale, especially on the sides and base, which does detract from its colour score. The side pastry held together but was quite soft – which is a lot better than the overly dry thick pastry on a lot of pies I’ve rated, but could have been a bit crisper. The lid was a bit more golden and crispy, which I enjoyed much more, but the softness made it tricky to pick up by hand. It therefore did very well to hold in the meaty content, which you can see on the cross-section was very well filled to capacity. There was a bit of an air gap but in general this pie scored well for capacity.

The Stable Beef Pie Review Cross-Section

The content itself was nice and flavoursome, with a good meaty taste. There was certainly plenty of meat in the pie, even if one of the pieces of beef was a bit chewy. Overall the filling was moist but could have done with a little more gravy filling in my opinion, with some of the meat a little dry upon chewing. But the flavour of the sauce was very nice and it was a great pie I’d happily order again - although next time I’ll be looking to rate another one of their fine looking pies! A definite Pierate Recommended pie to add to our Best pies in Birmingham article!

Score: 5.96/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 6, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5.75, Cheapness 5.75, Content 6.5]

RAS

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MyPie - Pie Reviews

If you have been reading Pierate recently you will realise that our favourite pies of 2015 were those made by "MyPie", a business set up by entreprenuer Chris Brumby who we first met back in 2014. In 2015 he started selling his excellent pies in London food markets from a refurbished Bedford van. The Steak & Ale has gone in at number 3 in our all time pie rankings and Chris was good enough to bring joy to our recent Pie Party by doing the catering! We had so many good comments we know it is not just the Pierateers that have fallen in love with these pies!

We do like to think that pies are quintessentially British and that we do the best pies. Hence it is perhaps a bit controversial that Chris is Austrialian and bringing a bit of Aussie pie magic to the streets of London. The Aussies are in fact more obsessed with pie that us Brits. Whilst we have an abundance of hot Cornish pasty outlets and Greggs (who sell hardly any pies) the Australians have a number of shops specialising in hot pies. We found this out first hand in our special investigation when Pierateer TJP was dispatched to warmer climes. Having tasted how good Chris' pies are I can now understand The Kinks song 'Australia'. It has the line 'everyone walks around with a perpetual smile across their face' which is not surprising when the pies are this good.

It is a bit of a treasure hunt tracking down Chris and his Bedford van. Wandering around the South Bank it took me a while to find him, you don't get the same problem with a pie shop, once you know where it is it tends to stay in the same place (if you ignore the effects of plate tectonics). But MyPie is transient and somewhat mysterious. I am now quite familiar with MyPie but I don't really know where I will find the MyPie van each day of the week. It is also uncertain what pies will be served. Then, once you have found him, before you know it he is gone again, such a tease. MyPie is much like the transient and mysterious nature of the pie itself. You never quite know what is going to be contained within the golden pastry case and if you are anything like me, once you do find out, it doesn't hang about for long. I think this all adds to the suspense and theater of the pie eating experience.

When I did track Chris down on London's South Bank, I was surprised to find what seemed like a London pie makers meeting, Paul and Nicky from Piebury Corner were busy chatting to Chris. Paul seemed quite taken with MyPie, which is a massive complement when they have been so successful with their own pie business.



All of the pies had the same fantastic pastry we enjoyed with the Steak & Ale and the Chicken, Ham & Tarragon where it was crisp on the outside and softer in the middle. They look terrific and very close to my vision of the quintessential, ultimate pie.

Firstly the Venison, Chili & Cheese. The pie was packed with chunks of great tasting meat which had a bit more flavour than your average meat pie. The chunks of meat were soft and satisfying to get your teeth into. The small amount of cheese at the base of the pie also added an interesting texture. It was a little like mozzarella in texture and didn't have a strong flavour. This kind of cheese in a pie seems to be a bit of an Aussie trait with the now defunct Jumbucks using cheese in a similar way. It is less common in British pies where Stilton seems to be the cheese of choice. The pie was full of rich gravy which had the perfect consistency in that it didn't just ooze out when the pie was cut open. It was perfectly seasoned but what made the flavour stand out was the heat from the chili. There wasn't too much of a kick but it was enough to give a good kicking to the com-pie-tition and make this pie enter into our top 10 all of all time in the number 4 spot!

Venison & Chili

Venison, Chili & Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 6.57/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.75, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.50]

SJL

Beef & Horseradish

Beef, Vegetable & Horseradish (MyPie)
Score: 6.11/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.75, Content 5.00, Consistency 4.50]

SJL

Now onto the Mince, Bacon & Cheese. This pie was somewhat different but no less special that the others. It is the closest I have ever come to eating a cheese burger in a pie. If that sounds appealing then you should really try this pie because it really nailed it. It had a full, smokey flavour, perhaps from the use of bacon.  Unlike an actual cheese burger, the meat could be very moist which was the most beautiful thing about this pie; whilst it was like a cheese burger it was even better due to being fully encased in pastry. There was no liquid gravy as such but it didn't need it. There was a layer of classic burger cheese at the top which added variety to the flavour. In some ways it captured all the aspects that I love about Scotch pies. Despite having no big meaty chunks, it felt like the texture wasn't lacking, there was plenty to get your teeth into. Another standout effort from MyPie although scores slightly less than the venison as I think I would more often choose a pie with big chunks of meat. Also, the pastry was slightly too thick in places.

Mince & Cheese

Mince, Bacon & Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 6.46/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.00, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.50]

SJL

Onto the Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese vegetarian pie review by Pierateer ARL.

I didn’t know what flavour this was so it was a surprise. Or a sup-pies. Given the taste I guess that it was sweet potato, pea and some sort of cheese or cream. It was really tasty regardless of what flavour it was. The sauce was thick and creamy and the unidentified orange vegetable was soft and tender. The pastry was utterly perfect. It was crisp and buttery and I don’t know what else to say- it was so good. Generally, the pie lacked a depth of flavour. It was sweet (but nicely so!) and creamy, but that was all I really got from it.


Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 5.93/7
[Condition 6.00, Colour 7.00, Cheapness 6.5, Capacity 5.00, Chewiness 7.00, Content 4.00, Consistency 6.00]

ARL

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Nice Pie - Ring of Fire Pie Review


Eyes watering, nose running, reaching for a drink to take the pain away. That is what I expected from a pie called ‘Ring of Fire’. I expected it to perhaps be a bit of a novelty, hot but not much flavour. What I didn’t expect was for it to be one of the most downright tasty and meatilicious pies that I have had in some time. I don’t need to wax lyrical about the high quality and often quirky offerings from Nice Pie near Melton Mowbray. My colleague RAS has reviewed a large number of nice pies. He has often written about how fabulous they are which is a view certainly supported on the Pierate Ship. I took on this particular review as a spicy pie goes down very well for me. It was quite unlike any other pie I have had before. It was not like a curry, not like a chili, just meaty chunks in a spicy sauce.

Despite the intro to this review, it wasn’t all that spicy, I would have expected a bit hotter but I think they got the balance of flavour just right. It had apparently been toned down because they know RAS isn’t such a fan of the hot stuff (which is one of the problems sometimes when people know we are reviewing their pies, we should review the retail version). There was no question in my mind that this should be a ‘Pierate Highly Recommended’ pie, top quality and one I would love to have again. See below for the score breakdown.
 

Condition – 5.8 out of 7 – A nice, solid appearance with an edge crimp.
Colour – 5.9 out of 7 – A gradated, glossy, golden glaze made it look handmade and attractive.
Cheapness – 5.5 out of 7 – At £3.50 for an individual pie this is quite standard for a ‘gourmet’ pie, but it was well filled with good quality meat so I considered it better value than most.
Capacity - 6.5 out of 7 - Top dollar, decent capacity which was absolutely jam packed.
Chewiness - 6.8 out of 7 - Soft and moist beef, the texture was super. There was a good texture to the pastry, soft and gooey in places whilst crumbly in other places.
Content - 6.3 out of 7 - The spicy tomato sauce complimented the beef very well. In general the pastry tasted nice but wasn't quite in the same league as the filling; it was a little flour-y in places (but not enough to affect the score much).
Consistency - 6.7 out of 7 - Not really much to criticise. Yet again Nice Pie have done something original and pulled it off.

Ring of Fire (Nice Pie)
6.21/7

SJL

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Nice Pie Red Stag and Cow Pie Reviews

After their TV appearance on Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast on Channel 4 recently, where they focused on their Wild Squirrel pie (which we went nuts for when we rated it back in January 2014) we couldn’t resist trying a few more Nice Pies this British Pie Week, with these two eaten on Day Two!

As part of our “How long can we just eat pie for?” Pieathon challenge we thought we’d benefit from a range of their smaller pies, which coming in at £3.50 is pretty reasonable for a hefty, meat filled pie packed with delicious filling and cooked in their lovely butter shortcrust pastry. As I’ve mentioned before many a time with these Nice Pies (for which you can see a full list of all the previous Nice Pies we've rated here), it is amazing how they hold together so well despite being so filled with content. The nature of the pastry means it can be a little crumbly in places but in general it is very nice and lovely and golden once cooked.

Nice Pie Red Stag Pie Review

The Red Stag Pie was, as is a feature in all the Nice Pie range, once again full of succulent and tender meat. It’s quite incredible the meat capacity in these pies, with 70% venison making it one of the most meat-filled game pies we’ve had. The gravy was near perfect consistency, with a lovely moisture yet not too runny – perfect so you could pick the pie up in your hand and enjoy it! The flavours worked really well together and the pastry was crisp and golden, holding together well in spite of all the meat weighing this pie down! The pastry was in general very good, with a crisp outer crimping and a softer but tasty side and base pastry.

My only minor criticism was I felt there was a tad too much onion for me, but the great volume of meat and well-cooked carrot made it one of my most enjoyable Nice Pies in terms of content and a top-rated venison pie I’d happily eat time and time again!

Nice Pie Red Stag Pie
Score: 6.16/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 6.5/7; Cheapness 5.75/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6.6/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 6.16/7]

We celebrated British Pie Week 2015 with some Nice Pies!

Nice Pie Cow Pie Review

The Cow Pie was again noted for its very good filling:pastry ratio. The meat was so lovely and tender – a real delight. Once again packed in at 70%, there was no missing the meatilicous content of this pie! The beef was quite flavoured with peppercorns though, which for me was slightly over powering for a pie not sold specifically as a peppered steak pie (which is also available in their range).

The consistency of the gravy was also runnier in the cow pie than the venison pie and the flavour didn’t excite me quite as much. However these are minor comments and while not quite reaching the stag pie’s status, is still Pierate Recommended.

Nice Pie Cow Pie
Score: 5.68/7
[Colour 5.75/7; Consistency 5/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 5.75/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6.25/7; Total: 5.68/7]



Once again Nice Pie have done us proud, producing more Pierate Recommended pies (including the Highly Recommended Stag Pie!) – and while it’s hard to resist the amazing range of exotic pies Nice Pie do, you would certainly be missing out if you didn’t tuck into a more traditional pie flavour from their range when given the chance!

RAS

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“Jekyll and Hyde” Cock and Bull Pie Review at The Jekyll and Hyde Pub, Birmingham City Centre

Jekyll and Hyde Pie Review

It seems apt that just a stone’s throw away from the Bullring and central shopping areas, the Jekyll and Hyde Pub offers a quality cock and bull pie at a very reasonable price, and the quality of pies was something we were already aware of as our review of their steak pie in May 2013 proved. It rated at an amazing 6.45/7!

So when Pierateers RAS and SJL met in Birmingham at the end of last year it was an obvious choice to go back and try another pie there! While it was a shame there was only one pie on the menu, it meant both Pierateers could give their opinion on the pie they tried. And being the house pie (named the “Jekyll and Hyde pie” on their menu) we were hoping for a good one!



The pie on the menu was a “cock and bull pie finished with shallots, mushrooms and port, served with seasonal vegetables and champ potato”. It was once again a very decent sized pie for a £8.50 meal in the centre of Birmingham and good quality for that price. However it took us a bit by surprise that it was served in a ceramic dish!

You can image our thoughts as it was brought to the table we were sitting at, seeing that ceramic dish and some puff pastry peaking over the rim. Had they changed their winning formula? Was the fully encased Jekyll changing into a top crust Hyde?!

Jekyll and Hyde Pie Review

Fortunately we needn’t have worried! It was indeed a fully encased pie – just served, for some reason, in a ceramic dish! Perhaps this was to conserve the heat or something, but there was no need for them to Hyde this pie away! Pierateer RAS immediately took his pie out of the pie dish and it was indeed a decent, free-standing pie.

Jekyll and Hyde Pie Cross-section

The pie itself came out well presented, with a golden and crisp pastry lid. The sides and base were a bit paler, most probably as a result of the pie dish, but not undercooked and were still tasty and held the content in well. You could certainly still pick up a piece of the pie with your hands – always a good sign!

The pie lid was particularly flaky and light pastry, very much enjoyed, and well complemented by the tender pieces of meat within the pie and a mix of vegetables, including the shallots. The meat was nicely spread throughout the pie and while the meat pieces were quite large and thus a little chewy in places, it was generally very good. I’d perhaps recommend slightly smaller pieces of meat next time to make it a bit tenderer and mix the flavours more, but all together this was another very good pie.

While it didn’t quite reach the peaks of the Steak pie eaten last year, it is clear that pies are something the Jekyll and Hyde pub do well! It’s another top scoring pie on the 7 Cs of pie rating for Birmingham which earns Pierate Recommended status!

Jekyll and Hyde Pub “Jekyll and Hyde” Cock and Bull Pie
Score: 5.9/7
[Colour 5.8, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 5.75, Condition 5.7, Chewiness 5.8, Cheapness 6, Content 6, Total: 5.9/7]
RAS

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The Ship's Cook (aka @the_cookworm) is currently on a pie mission - to find the top rated pie recipes from our nations supermarket suggestions. It started with a tweet we were sent by @jimbolimbo9 suggesting we try two pork pastry recipes from the supermarket Morrisons and from this The Ship's Cook decided to select one reci-pie from each supermarket's website or magazine to make and rate. Today is the turn of Tesco's beef and stilton mini pies!

Tesco Pie Recipe Review

The recipe:

The following pie recipe can be found on the Tesco website. This is a great recipe for novice bakers or people who want (almost) instant pie, because it uses shop-bought pastry and doesn't involve too much preparation or cooking. You also get lots of little pies, which I quite like because it's an excuse to eat several at once.


You can find the full recipe here: http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/beef-and-stilton-mini-pies.html

Tesco Pie Recipe Review

The 7 Cs of pie rating:

Colour:
These pies are topped with an egg-wash, meaning they come out a lovely golden brown colour.

Consistency:
The red wine, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and tomato purée give these pies a nice thick sauce that isn't quite gravy but adds a nice consistency to the filling, ensuring that the beef isn't too dry. The melted cheese also adds a nice creaminess to the pies.

Capacity:
The recipe tells you to press the filling down firmly in the pie crusts, which means that even though these are mini pies (and could therefore be a bit heavy on the pastry) you get a nice Crust:Filling ratio and lots of delicious beefy, cheesy filling.

Chewiness:
The mince in this pie is cooked in red wine and tomato purée until the liquid is absorbed, meaning it's nice and tender and melts in the mouth. The meltiness of the cheese adds to the smooth texture, and is a nice contrast to the crisp pastry.   

Cheapness:
These score pretty well for cheapness, especially if you're like me and usually have a half-used jar of mustard in the fridge that needs using up. You also get lots of pies - the recipe says fifteen if you use a mini muffin tin, but I used a full sized muffin tin and still got nine. We had two each for dinner with vegetables and gravy, so depending on how many people you're feeding you might even get a second dinner from this recipe.

Content:
In my opinion you can't really go wrong with beef and cheese, and these pies tasted like a cross between cheeseburgers and bolognese sauce (yum). This is a bit different to your usual mince and onion pie and the melting cheese is probably the best bit - the mustard was a bit overpowering so I'd suggest you use less mustard and more cheese.

Condition:
My pies didn't look quite as neat as those in the original photo, but they were a proper, appealing pie shape and they held their shape even when I cut into them. The filling leaked out a little bit, but the little individual pies still looked very tempting once they were out of the tin.

Tesco Pie Recipe Review

The Ship's Cook

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