Food Review: Villi's Party Pies

OK.. in the rare event that you are going to entertain a horde of others.. you think.... party pies... but there are party pies and then there are PARTY PIES...

You could resort to the black and gold or cheap arse alternatives which resemble ground gristle in brown slop encased in cardboard, OR you could impress with REAL mini quality pies.

Vili's is a South Australian icon.. a guy that hit on the bogan mantra - quality pies, which has made him millions.. I wish other bakeries would take note...


I recommend Little Vili's- a selection of high quality pies - mince, chunky, chicken, a host of awesome pies.

Each one is to be savoured, probably the best party pies I have ever had.

For those who like pasties and sausage rolls, there are a couple of those as well

Just the look of them speaks quality... each marked with a type of secret code or shaped to identify its content. 

To be honest, I could not fault these at all... and I have not received any payment for this review! mind you, I wouldnt say no to a couple of dozen of Vili's pies.

There is a reason why Vili has gone national, and its plainly obvious, quality.

So, my rating.. These pies definitely get the bogan seal of approval.

Taste: 9/10

presentation: 10/10

Value for money: 9/10 - its worth the extra

TIM: didnt bother to look, but they rock... so 9/10

Go, on, get a Vili into ya!

Wine Review: Yalumba Cabernet Merlot 2lt Cask

Booze at around $13 a cask... thats good value in anyone's books... Yalumba is Australia's oldest Family owned winery...founded way back in 1849 by Samuel Smith. Being family owned you can expect a good quality vino - in line with what you pay. So in this case, although it is a cask, the wine is a pretty good quaffing wine.

The packaging is nothing to write about.. its pretty plain... like others colour coded. Aussies invented the cask, and they still excel in what goes in it. When I worked in the winery I recall bottling wine for Tesco's (Pommy Supermarket Chain) which we had bought cheap from New South Wales which (in my view) was putrid. This wine far exceeds the quality of wine sold there!

Marketing states"

"Cabernet and Merlot make for the Perfect partnership. Merlot produces wine with round fruit flavours and supple tannins, coupling perfectly with the elegance and power of Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is rich and generous with intense blackberry, plum and spice characters. Try with spicy beef asian dishes"

I could just imagine this with a black bean stir fry.

Again, the tasting notes are pretty spot on, the spice is there, as well as the blackberry/plum combination. Tannins are more than you would expect from a cask wine.

Selfie.... and not a good one!

Yalumba is a great Barossa Winery, and in this case has produced a wine that is good value. The equivalent of 3 bottles of wine for $13 - from a family owned winery. The family would have to try pretty hard to make any wine a bad one... I mean.. South Australia is Australia's premium wine state, and one of the worlds premium wine districts. To make a bad wine here would take planning.

What can I say? Quaffing wine.. but EXCELLENT Quaffing wine.

Score: 9/10 for value

           10/10 for TIM (truth in marketing)

I wont go on with the usual marking.. at the end of the day.. its worth the dollars if you are looking for a good value cask wine to accompany the BBQ.

Cheers

Rob

Food Review: Sargents Italian Style Beef and Cheese Pie

http://www.sargents.com.au/

I have previously reviewed Sargents Curry Pie, which although being a good pie, lacked the curry flavour.

Today Im tasting Sargents Traditional Italian Beef and Cheese Pie.

As shown in the photo below, the pie on the packet shows a massive layer of hot cheese dribbling over the freshly (surgically) cut pie.

Is adding cheese to a mince pie Italian? Probably would be if there were a fist full of herbs, garlic, Parmesan, tomato, olives and some Italian sausage as ingredients.

25 minutes in a 180 degree preheated oven.. cheese dripping out of the pie makes it promising!

The case of the vanishing Cheese!

Mine didn't quite look the same as the packet - perhaps it was lack of a surgical cut.. or maybe it was just because there was a lack of cheese! What they did put in there were a host of other ingredients - things like thickeners, emulsifiers, colour, antioxidants and a swag of numbers which means nothing to me except the notion that it ain't home made nor very traditional.

From a taste perspective, the crust and pastry was the same as the curry pie - Quite good for a mass produced pie. There was no overwhelming salt flavour - as shown by the Balfours pie. 

The mince texture was quite good, the gravy wasn't too runny, but there was no thick layer of cheese.

Overall, the pie was good. You could taste the cheese, although not overwhelming, so I think they got the balance right. It tasted "light" and easy to eat. I ate both pies without the universal pie improver (Spring Gully Tomato Sauce) as the flavour was OK.

My score is:

Flavour: 7/10

Pastry: 8/10

Colour: 7/10

Im introducing a new score: Truth in Marketing (TIM)

TIM: 3/10 as I dont believe it represents what I would expect in an Italian Style Beef and Cheese Pie and the photo on the packet exaggerates the amount of cheese in the pie.

Regardless.. It easily receives the Bogan Stamp Of Approval for Everyday Use

+1 this if you find it interesting or entertaining!

Wine Review: The Winesmiths Shiraz 2012 2lt Cask

I had never heard of the Winesmiths. I had worked in the wine industry for 3 years (as a cellarhand, vineyard worker, distribution manager and production manager), had an appreciation of wine (read: MASSIVE appreciation) for the last 25 years, and yet this is my first encounter with Winesmiths.

Their website, http://www.thewinesmiths.com/ is very rudimentary, it almost looks like a work in progress.

It appears that the company is new, it boasts no bottled wines. 

"The Winesmiths want to give you reason to believe in the cask. It ensures a consistent quality, and the certainty that every glass poured is a true representation of the wine we’ve worked so hard to make.

It’s clever: there’s no wine pack which is more convenient, lightweight or portable. It’s great in your fridge or to take camping." (Ohhh yeah.. cask of wine next to the campfire while spinning a few yarns, nothing better)

Stays fresh: the tap keeps air out keeping your wine fresh for several weeks; from the first glass to the last.

Value: our wines are exceptional value. Bottle quality in a convenient pack."

The subject of todays review - the 2012 shiraz is described as follows:

"Our Shiraz tastes as good as it looks. Bright ruby with aromas of ripe plummy fruit, and flavours reminiscent of cardamom seeds, oak and chocolate which leaves a delicious spicy taste in our mouth long after you've put down the glass."

I particularly like this bit

"But if, like us, you care more about the taste than tasting notes, it's time to stop reading and start pouring"

The tasting notes are pretty spot on. 

Colour was excellent for a cask wine. Nose was pleasing - giving hints of the wines characteristics. On Tasting, there are almost overwhelming plummy characteristics, so if you want to know what that tastes like this will hit you like a length of 4 x 2 in between the eyes.

I detected undernotes of spice, the oak is definately there - likely to have been through the use of staves in a tank, or chips during the ferment. Not sure about the cardamom though. Acid is pretty high, but acceptable.

I reckon its a pretty ok cask wine, suitable for when the in-laws come for dinner or such similar occasions when you want to have a decent wine but something that wont keep them coming back for it.

It gets the Bogan Stamp of Approval for everyday use.

I particularly like their attitude - its in line with the Bogan in all of us - keep it simple, keep it real, don't let marketing, dollars and science complicate things....

Food Review: Balfours Angus Beef Pie

Balfours is a South Australian Bakery with plenty of history. http://www.balfours.com.au

Famous for its Frog Cake - a massively overpriced square piece of cake smothered in green icing. For some reason, those with money think its awesome.... Id rather spend the same on the Pie Floater down at the Post Office at 1am on a Saturday night, or that other time honored tradition of a Lamb Yiros in Hindley Street.

Angus Beef has become insanely popular in recent times, even more popular than the Japanese Wagyu Beef. Angus is a prime cut - especially from the Coorong or further south - the green pastures of the South East of South Australia. None of this "Grain Fed" feedlot business, just nice relaxed cattle grazing in the bounty of the farmers paddock. Mind you, Im not sure which (if any) prime cuts make it to the Pie industry.. its probably more of the offcuts and unpopular cuts of meat.

The Balfours Beef Pie ingredient list includes 30% Beef plus around 30 or more other ingredients including all sorts of numbers that reads a bit like a year 12 mathematics exam. One gets the impression that this pie is the result of a collaboration between a Food Chemist and the marketing department. I mean, who needs to put additional Flavour and Colour in a meat pie?

Packaging of the pie is in the normal heat resistant plastic, with the caption "Beef slow cooked in a traditional beef stock with golden flaky pastry". Im not sure how "traditional" some of those additives are, I cant recall Grandma having them in her cupboard.

The Pie itself presents well, nice colour to the crust, flaky appearance, uniform crimping around the edges. I was a bit worried about the base as it appeared to begin crumbling. If I were eating out of the bag, perhaps it may not have stood the treatment.

Interior of the pie appeared to consist of dark thick gravy interspersed by small chunks of meat.

On tasting the Pie, I immediately noted a high level of salt. Salt is used as a flavour enhancer, in other words, if it lacks natural flavour they will try and boost it by add bucket loads of salt. I generally detest high levels of salt as it masks what the food actually tastes like. I doubt if Grandma used this amount of salt in her traditional pies. The pastry was of excellent consistency.  I was pleasantly surprised by the generous number of beef chucks found through out each pie.

A nice size chunk!

My overall impression of the pie was that it lacked spice, it lacked taste - I mean real taste. It was bland.

I had to introduce the universal pie enhancer (Spring Gully Tomato Sauce - the greatest tomato sauce in the universe) to save my lunch.

How did I score it?

Presentation: 9/10 it looked like a pie should

Consistency: 9/10 the chunks were excellent

Taste: 5/10 - it needs to remove the science and salt and add pepper and taste

Value: 2/10 - I would have expected a better taste for the price

Overall, If you dont have a sauce like Spring Gully Tomato Sauce to boost the flavour, you would expect to be disappointed with the taste.

I would give this one a split analysis:

With Spring Gully Sauce: The Bogan Seal of Approval for every day use

Without Spring Gully Sauce: The Bogan sigh of despair

Food Review: Australia's Pizza House - The Bad Boy

PIZZA - THE QUINTESSENTIAL SATURDAY NIGHT FEED

If you want a quick Pizza, there are the big chains - Domino's or Pizza Hut, there is the local independent or a chain such as Australia's Pizza House.

Based in South Australia, it claims to be number one for pick ups... women - there might be a line or two that might get thrown your way!

Their advertising boasts "Real Pizza, Real Prices".

Their website http://www.australiaspizzahouse.com has a downloadable menu, however, you cannot order online, nor is there an app available.

The menu is quite considerable - offering gluten free and wholemeal base alternatives. Types of Pizza range from the Kid's favourite of Vegemite and Cheese all the way to "The Lot".

Today, I am reviewing "The Bad Boy".

The Bad Boy consists of Tomato sauce, cheese, roasted capsicum, sun dried tomato, kalamata olives, pepperoni & chili, on a regular base.

So, the order was placed on the phone, and 10 minutes later I was on my way to pick up the pizza. The smell in the car was driving me crazy on the way home, so I snuck a piece at the traffic lights.

A fair representation of the pizza topping

So, what did it taste like?

Base: Base was good for those who like a regular base. My preference is for thin and crispy, however the regular base was of good consistency, and not oily like some. I have encountered some pizza bases that are not thoroughly cooked, this pizza base is cooked to perfection.

Topping: Generous helpings of kalamata olives, Pepperoni, sun dried tomato and capsicum makes this pizza one of the best dressed pizzas in town, but the chili finishes off the pizza beautifully.

Review: When combined, the pizza is my current favourite. The taste of the kalamata olives, texture of the pepperoni, the bursting flavour ot the sun dried tomato fills the palate, and tantalizes the taste buds. The after taste of chili lingering on the lips leaves me just wanting another piece.

With the cheaper pizzas, you often have to quench your thirst regularly due to the amount of salt in their ingredients to boost their flavour. Not with The Bad Boy, Australia's Pizza House must somehow limit the use of salt - probably because the ingredients they use are both generous in helpings and good quality.

Scores:

Taste: 8/10
Presentation: 7/10 - from a pizza point of view, it has plenty of coverage
Value for Money: 8/10 - I wont lie, there are cheaper, but honestly, its worth the extra.

Perfect for the Saturday night in front of the TV watching Collingwood thrash Carlton with your mates.

My Bogan tick of Approval is given to Australia's Pizza House "The Bad Boy" Pizza. Try it, you wont be disappointed.

Wine Review: Banrock Station Cabernet Merlot 2lt Cask

When picking a wine to accompany a meal it is important to consider whom you are entertaining and what is on the plate.

In this case, imagine you are serving up a plate of bangers (sausages for our American Friends) and chops on a Saturday arvo before the Footy match commences.

 

Leave them in the Shed

You could bring out the carton of West End Draught Tinnies stashed in the shed that the boss gave you last Christmas (the beer favoured by many in the 1960's) - which would be expected, OR you could impress your mates by sporting a glass of red in your hand.



On the glass side of things - it does make a difference to the taste of the wine depending on what you serve it in. For instance, there will be a difference to the taste if you serve it in a pint glass compared to a red wine glass. However, if you dont have a wine glass, use the pint glass - because its not OK to drink from the tap.

Packaging: The 2lt cask design makes it easy to fit in the cupboard. The colour coded branding makes wine identification easy - in this case the purple represents the Cabernet Merlot. The non gloss finish will appeal to those with an environmental mind - as will the conservation message on the side. The serving size on the side located above the tap is critical to count the 21 standard drinks that lies inside. (not that anyone really measures their wines when pouring, but it will explain something if you start swaying in the breeze).

Description: Marketing have a way with words, in this case, they describe the contents as "soft blackcurrant and cherry flavours". and "A soft medium bodied wine with blackcurrant, plum and cherry flavours".

So how does it stack up?

Colour: when held to the light, light red.

Nose: you can really smell the booze in this wine.at 13.5% alcohol it packs a punch.

Taste: OK.. this is the wine that tastes better than the Hotel "house wine". I mean, house wine is the worst wine they can find, so you have one glass of $2.90 House Wine which induces you to buy the $7 glass of bottled wine. So, considering this wine cost $15 for 2 litres (or $15 for 21 standard drinks - you do the math, I couldn't be bothered), its not a bad wine at all.

I can taste the black currant, and vaguely the cherry but you really have to have a clean pallet (ie: have clean mouth - not one that stinks of a freshly eaten yiros) and concentrate hard - focus and think of Ribena. It is pretty high in acid - which is a little disappointing considering it is described by the company as "soft" - but that might be a result of the chunk of cheese I just ate.

Overall?

Packaging: Easy to operate, has an "earthy appeal" 8/10

Taste:  4/10

Value for Money: 6/10

Overall: 5/10

Summary: You could siphon the wine into the empty bottles you have saved from your last party and make a real statement... nobody will know!!!

Really? Its an OK quaffing wine perfect for the BBQ before the footy.

Warning: I always drink plenty of water with wine to avoid the dreaded night sweats.


This product earns the Bogan Seal of Approval for Everyday use.