MSW is what I like to call, The Queen of Party Food. Every year without a doubt she goes mad buying the stuff - Usually for good reason as we always have it on Christmas Eve but in turn often find ourselves eating it for Dinner all throughout January which I can't say I mind actually! This year MSW has found herself in a bit of a pickle.. It seems that the Supermarkets are way late with their Party Food and it has only been about in abundance for the last couple of weeks or so. Seriously.. Do They Know Its Christmas?
To make matters worse, neither of us have been impressed with the selection.. Everything is the same with a serious lack of Chicken! However, these Asda BBQ Pulled Beef Parcels and Mac 'N' Cheese Bites did catch out eye which we snapped up on a 2 for £4 offer.
BBQ Pulled Beef Parcels
Tender beef in a rich, smoky sauce wrapped in puff pastry and topped with a paprika crumb
The Parcels were cooked at 200ºC fan for the allotted time of between 15-18 minutes and miraculously didn't burn like everything tends to in my oven!
"Where's the beef?" I though upon cutting the parcel in half - Is it all sauce? Well.. yes, It was all sauce.. A gravy even! There was little texture to the filling which I would liken to a smooth jar of Baby Food. Taste wise it was equally as bizarre. It had the flavour of a spiceless, very sweet, Chilli Con Carne - Certainly not beefy, BBQ or paprika! The puff pastry outside was quite tasty though in being crisp and flaky without being overly greasy. Nice but not its namesake whatsoever - 3 out of 5 from me!
Mac 'N' Cheese Bites
Moreish mouthfuls of macaroni and Chedder, wrapped in a crunchy cornflake crumb
Annoyingly these Bites are cooked at a different temperature to above - 180ºC Fan for 12-14 minutes. I chucked both items in together so these were actually cooked at 200ºC for about 12 minutes and luckily they turned out perfectly.
These golden delights were as expected, very soft and scolding hot when they came out of the oven so I did leave them for a minute to set up slightly before attempting to handle them. The gooey cheese was full of flavour and generously coated all the soft macaroni making for a squidgy and stringy mouthful. A contrast in texture came from the crunchy coating which although didn't taste much of cornflakes was very yummy and went perfectly with the inside of cheesy goodness. The touch of saltiness from the Bites made them satisfyingly moreish - It was hard to stop eating them one after another! A 4 out of 5 from me!
Overall, these Party Food bits get 2 thumbs up from me and MSW. I don't expect we would buy the BBQ Pulled Beef Parcels again simply because the filling is a bit to mushy for our liking but the Mac 'N' Cheese Bites will definitely be making an appearance come the 24th. Take a Sleigh Ride down to Asda and give them a go!
Hey buddy, I never served it in any of my parties. This time I am organizing a party at venue NYC and want to serve it at my party. It will be really helpful if you can share the recipe here. Thanks in advance for your help.
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