Freezing !

Hello, this is an advert for Tesco, ha ha, only joking, it's a tasting exercise.  Most supermarkets have their own cheapo range, Value, Basics, Savers, Smart Price, or whatever. I happen to shop at Tesco because it's the nearest to me. Anyway, I bought a selection of frozen Value foods a few weeks ago, yesterday I cooked them up into a meal so I can compare frozen veg to fresh, and evaluate the taste/texture of the sausages/grills. All items are around £1 a bag. so for about £6 there is enough for several meals.  

The blurb on the veg bags declare that their products face more test tastes with more British tasters than any other supermarkets, and they don't reach the shelves until they pass. Well they won't mind one more taste test then, from someone who loves the taste of real fresh veg.

According to the bags the veg can be microwaved, or simmered in boiling water on the hob. I don't use either of these methods, all my veg is steamed in a pan on the hob in one of those colander type thingys which fit inside. I suppose I could microwave, it would probably produce the same results, but I would never boil veg.

On opening the bags I noticed that the pieces of cauliflower and broccoli were all different sizes. When I prepare fresh veg I cut all pieces more or less the same size so they all need the same length of time to cook. I don't like over cooked or under cooked veg, so I stab it with a fork to check when it is ready. For this test I tried to pick out pieces of veg the same size.

Results of my test, (my opinions). Broccoli, The stalk was hard and chewy, and the flowers mushy, taste ok but not as delicious as fresh. Cauliflower, texture slightly mushy and watery, taste bland, not much flavour. Sweetcorn and peas, you can't go wrong with these, they freeze well, and in my opinion taste better than canned.

I grilled the Sausage and the burger shaped grill. Cooking instructions on the sausage packet say they should be done in the oven. I don't use my oven full stop. The sausage was a bit too salty, I never add salt to my cooking, it was slightly spicy and the texture was chunky. Not too bad but one is enough due to the saltiness of it. The burger grill was more like a potato cake, less salt than the sausage, a bit spicy, and a pasty texture. On the box it says six servings, but they are quite small, and I could easily eat two with a meal.
   

To summarize, I haven't tried the more expensive similar branded frozen foods so I can't compare to those, but overall I would say that these are acceptable. Saying that I wouldn't want to have to rely on them for most of my meals. I nearly always have peas and sweetcorn in the freezer, because you can add them to anything and they always taste fine. The rest I would buy them occasionally and use them as a standby, once a week, or every two weeks. To make these more palatable I suppose some kind of gravy or sauce could be poured over them, but I try and keep that to a minimum. Naked veg is best.

I will always go for fresh veg first, but only if it's the right price, and that means buying local and seasonal. I steer clear of fancy veg that has been shipped halfway across the world, except if it has a yellow sticker on it and has 90% off  :o))  I will buy veg from our near European neighbours, if there is no British to be had.

That's all for now, thank you for popping in. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.