NEW! Spirit of Summer Lamb Kofte Flatbread (M&S)

It's a rare savoury review from me today, and no doubt the first of many in M&S' Spirit of Summer line up. Yes guys it's back! Last year there was a definite South American feel to it, with a heavy emphasis on salted caramel. 2017's range seems to be more Mediterranean with plenty of coffee-based and citrus flavours popping up. Put it this way: I can only hack the food hall for a limited amount of time at the moment, the new treats are both drool-inducing and dangerous for the wallet. 

As you can guess from the theme of this blog, its a scarce occasion when savoury food tickles my tastebuds, but yesterday lunchtime M&S' sammies bore into my brain. And so after I'd eaten my packed lunch followed by a dull lecture, I found myself de-touring on the way home in the hope of finding some bargains. It just so happened that I found this Lamb Kofte flatbread reduced, and with that, my dinner plans went out of the window. 

"Flatbread layered with lamb meatballs, vine ripened tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, cucumber, Greek style yogurt dressing, crumbled feta cheese, pickled red onions and spinach."

Oof. There's one main reason why this flatbread particularly appealed - it reminded me of the best dinner I've ever had...

Ten years ago my best friends and I went on a post a-level requisite booze filled holiday to Zante. On the last night, having lived off a diet of pasta (made in our grubby apartment kitchen in an effort to preserve maximum funds for alcohol) we decided to splash out and visit a restaurant on the beach that we'd passed every night on our way to the strip. The menu was entirely in Greek and so we each took a punt and pointed to something illegible, whilst hoping for the best. My dish turned up wrapped in foil and contained an utterly delicious lamb, feta and potato stew. It may have partly down to my poor alcohol flooded body that I enjoyed it so much, but to this very day anything containing feta and lamb has grabs my attention. Anyway, enough of the side-tracking, get back to the damn flatbread Amy. 

Oh, I expected two halves, kind of like a pitta, but instead it was more like a flatbread club. The bottom layer contained the roasted tomatoes and 'meatballs' (the least round balls I've ever seen*)....

...whilst the top deck contained the salad, tzatziki and feta. It was flimsy and clumsy to manage; I don't know how anyone could eat this on the go -a plate is definitely required. 

The first flavours to greet my tastebuds were the flatbread and minty yogurt dressing. As expected, it was a refreshing combination, especially with the salad too. The next bite heralded a wonderful combination of lamb, feta, bread, roasted tomatoes and dressing. At first I couldn't distinguish much flavour from the meat and thought I'd been short-changed as the other (albeit scrummy) flavours came to the fore. That soon changed though as I continued on in and the warming cumin and cayenne pepper came through. The lamb, it turns out, was spot on. The gentle spiciness perfectly complemented the rich feta and cool yogurt. Sheer heaven. 

Half way through I took a risk and decided to see if it would taste even better warmed up. I snuck out the cucumber and tomatoes, and popped the remaining flatbread in the microwave until piping. Mmm. Yes it worked. Just writing about it is making my stomach rumble at the memory. 

If it was easier to eat on the go then this new Lamb Kofte Flatbread would be granted full marks. If you want little taste of Greece on even the greyest of British days -and have a plate handy- then pop down to Marks and Spencer. Even at full price (£3.50) its much cheaper than a flight.

9/10

*dont be rude, I can see you smirking.

NEW! American Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches (The Co-Op)

Why can't I ignore the call of new ice cream? It's a serious issue. We should never have bought that chest freezer. In any case, the Co-Op have launched their summer frozen range and I resisted these ice cream sandwiches for one whole day before I gave in. Oops. They're new to Co-Op but it seems that they're a year behind the pack as Ben & Jerry's, Aldi & Morrisons all released variations on the theme last summer. Anyhoo, this pack of four cost £2.

"Vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips sandwiched between two double chocolate chip cookies."

The Co-Op's ice cream sandwiches are a lot smaller than Ben & Jerry's 'wiches (bigger their sons of a 'wich though) although they both claim to be 65g*. The cookies are noticeably thicker too, with a bourbon-esque colour. I also noticed how soft the ice cream was - a fact I couldn't ignore really, for it had stuck itself to the clear wrapper.

The ice cream wasn't very exciting. It tasted like cheap non-flavoured supermarket ice cream. It's almost whipped it's so soft, which means its somewhat nostalgic (if you're looking for the silver lining). Blink and you'll miss the chocolate chips though, they were minuscule little nibs.

Fortunately the chocolate cookies were delicious. The cocoa flavour was every bit as rich as the colour suggested, with just enough sweetness to prevent them from tasting bitter. I could actually distinguish the chocolate chips too. Hurrah! The cookies have a good texture too; not teeth-creakingly crunchy but not soft either. They're much better 'cookies' than the Oreo ice creams, although they don't taste like the softer-style bakery versions like the Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough 'Wiches. They'd probably make good coffee dunkers actually!

If my tastebud memory serves me correctly,  think these Co-Op ice cream cookie sandwiches are on par with the other supermarket versions I tried last year, arguably they could be the exact ones used in Morrisons' Double Whammy boxes (that seem to since been discontinued). They're nowhere near as delicious as Ben & Jerry's (yes I'm still hooked on the Brownie 'Wiches), but they are cheaper and a yummy alternative to ice cream cones.

7/10


* out of interest I weighed a B&Js 'Wich for comparison, and it was around the 80g mark, so about 30% bigger.

NEW! Walls Feast Sandwich (Tesco Express)

About this time last year I squealed in a lecture when I found out that Walls were bringing out peanut butter Feasts. Get over. My favourite childhood ice cream was being combined with my favourite flavour? I couldn't imagine anything more exciting. I still haven't got over the disappointment of the reality though, those meagre Choc ices were disgraceful. Walls haven't given up hope though, they've just released another new version of their iconic Feast - this time in sandwich format. Now if you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know just how much I love a good ice cream sandwich. Could Walls do a better job with their 2017 addition? I decided to not buy a whole box but purchased a single ice cream from my local Tesco Express for £1.

"Vanilla ice cream between chocolate biscuits (18%) coated in chocolate flavour coating (13%) with nougat pieces (2%)."

More or less a Maxibon then? It seems that it's not only Kellogg's who've been keeping tabs on Nestle!

"Cream flavoured ice cream with chocolate chips (4%) sandwiched in between biscuits (15%) and half covered in a milk chocolate flavour coating (11.5%) with hazelnuts."

They certainly look very similar, although the Walls version is lacking the chocolate chips that stud Maxibons.

As you can see, the chocolate coating was paper thin, and despite my careful transportation it had smashed in the corners. It tasted ok though, nothing special but not like cooking chocolate either. A redeeming factor was the nougat pieces, which had thankfully remained crisp.

It can't just be me who thinks that the ice cream in a Feast should be chocolate flavoured? The vanilla ice cream in the middle was the same stuff Walls use in their Gingerbread sandwiches. It tastes like soft serve, which strangely makes a nice change from the creamier ice creams I usually favour. Still it's not really a Feast is it?

The biscuits were soft, which I expected, and tasted indifferent to the ones used in Maxibons. Their flavour is akin to a very mild bourbon and they're pleasant enough.

To be honest, there's very few differences between Walls' new Feast sandwiches and Nestle's iconic Maxibons. The ice cream is better in the 'Feast', but it's lacking the chocolate chips that add texture to the Maxibons. My biggest bug bear is that once again Walls have relied on Feast's success to brand an unrelated product. It's NOT a Feast. I do however want to try the new Maxibon Cookie (when I can find it) it looks very good!

6/10

Shapers Turkey, Stuffing & Redcurrant Sandwich (Boots)

Today I thought I'd take the opportunity to share with you the weekly highlight of my lunches. For a long time now I've looked forward to my Monday Boots Meal Deal, courtesy of o2's priority scheme. As a student I rarely buy sandwiches, instead I make and take my own in to uni with me as a far cheaper option. Normally I mix up the mains part of the meal deal between the various sandwiches, wraps, salads and sushi (of which there are a fabulous selection) but for the past 6-7 weeks I have been ruthlessly sticking to their Limited Edition Turkey,Stuffing & Redcurrant sarnie. Nothing beats a festive sammie. Well maybe a fish finger or sausage butty does, but as far as cold sarnies go Christmas is King.

"Cooked Turkey breast, pork, sage and onion stuffing mayonnnaise with cranberry and redcurrant sauce and spinach on malted bread."

Every Monday the bread has been soft with a welcome earthiness thanks to the malted nature of it. There's always a plentiful supply of spinach too which is perhaps an odd choice for a festive sandwich (I sure as hell don't have spinach on Xmas day anyway) but I'm grateful for the nod to some kind of veg -and lettuce just wouldn't work here either. 

Week-on-week the turkey is good too; it's moist and retains about as much flavour as you're going to get from the traditional Christmas bird. The cranberry and redcurrant sauce is tart enough to err on the right side of sweet, and complements the meat well. The reason why I'm addicted to this sammie however is the pork, sage and onion stuffing mayonnaise. I love a good stuffing (oo-er), and Boots have been very smart to incorporate it into the sauce rather than keep it as a separate layer. For me the biggest selling point of this sandwich is so often its downfall too. The amount of mayo is very hit and miss, some days it's smothering the turkey (just how I like it) and others it's like Boots' sarnie makers are running out of fillings (see today's pathetic covering below). Boo. 

The disappointment is just about bearable and I'll keep opting for the Turkey, Stuffing & Redcurrant Sandwich every week -and it'll be sorely missed come New Year. It's not as decadent or as filling as M&S' Pigs & Blankets sarnie, but it is a damn site cheaper (even at full price) and kinder on the waistline -I've got to make room for all the snacks to review after all! 

8/10 

NEW! Turkey & Pigs In Blankets Festive Sandwich (M&S)

Happy advent all! Have you opened the first window of your advent calendar yet?

It's fair to say that I've got into the festive Sammie spirit this year. Well on Mondays I have at least; it's the one day I'll stump up the money for a meal deal thanks to O2's £1 Boots offer. Every week I make sure that I get into my local branch early enough to grab their Turkey, stuffing and redcurrant sauce Sammie -and it's just about the only thing that gets me through a 3 hour session with the world's worst lecturer that afternoon.

There's another festive sarnie that I keep hearing about however, in fact my best friend Nat and fellow foodie Zoe both messaged me on the same day and told me that I just had to try Marks & Sparks Turkey & Pigs In Blankets sandwich. It certainly sounded tempting, after all pigs in blankets are the very best part of Christmas Dinner (I'm not even entertaining anyone who disagrees). The trouble is, it's just so damn expensive, and I'm reticent to spend the equivalent of 12 full size bars of Galaxy on two bits of bread and some filling -especially as I know which I'd enjoy more!  Fortunately I left lectures on Tuesday at M&S reducing time and spotted the famous sarnie for £1.05. At that price I just had to try it, if not only to just know whether it lived up to the high praises it had earned from my amigos.

"British pork sausages and smoked British bacon, roast British turkey breast, cranberry chutney, spices mayonnaise and spinach on sage and onion bread."

The first thing I noticed was just how thick the bread was. I'm used to medium cut bread with Boots, and Warburtons Protein Bread at home, so I wondered how I'd get my severely clicky jaw around the Sammie. Luckily, I managed it somehow.

The bread was soft, and I found that the sage and onion flavour was a wonderful nod to the traditional Christmas stuffing. I expected cocktail sized sausages in the filling given that it's a pigs in blankets sandwich, but instead they were full size bangers. I'm not moaning here, as a sausage lover (oo-er) I was more than happy to get more meat for my money. They were succulent and well flavoured too, working in harmony with the many pieces of streaky bacon.  There wasn't much of the turkey in comparison, but I didn't mind too much -I really would've had to dissect the sandwich to eat it if it had been even thicker.

The cranberry chutney was lingering somewhere in the background, a good job really because the flavour can often be overpowering, and the meat was (quite rightly) very much the star of the Sammie show. As for the other sauce -the 'spiced' mayonnaise- I could barely notice it, which was a slight shame considering the stuffing mayo in Boots' Sammie is my favourite element.

All in all, this was a pretty damn good festive Sammie, and it was very filling too -which I would've especially appreciated if I forked out the full whack at £3. It's worth noting that part of the profits do go to the homeless charity Shelter -but it's only a measly 5%- surely you can do better than 15p Marks & Sparks, it is Christmas after all!

9/10

Peanut Butter Ritz Bits (American Fizz)

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm absolutely obsessed with Nutter Butter Bites -so much so that one of my favourite Christmas presents was a huge box containing 40 packs from my peanut butter hating fiance, yes he really loves me!

With my supplies starting to dwindle, I've been dabbling into other peanut butter snacks -trying to find something that is on a par with Nutter Butter Bites. I struck the jackpot with the Mini Reese's Oreos, and I'll be sure to buy a number of packs when I next place an order with American Fizz. 

When I visited Miami four years ago I fell in love with peanut butter filled Austin Crackers, and was left wondering why you couldn't get PB Ritz crackers. Fortunately such a product does exist, but only on the other side of the Atlantic. As luck would have it, American Fizz sell them for a reasonable £1.39 per pack (alongside bacon & cheese, and cheese versions too). 

The 85g 'big bag' contains roughly 36 twenty pence sized crackers, apparently equating to 3 servings. At the time I thought "sod that, I'll polish off the bag in one sitting, thank you very much"!

Well, it turns out that Nabisco had got the serving size correct! The crackers were light yet crunchy with a salty aftertaste -exactly what you'd expect from Ritz. The peanut butter centre was also good, I imagine that it's the same stuff they fill the Nutter Butter Bites with as they're made by the same company. 

The BIG problem was that the proportion was totally off kilter. The crackers dwarfed the filling, and the paltry smattering of peanut butter was completely lost against the dry Ritz. The combination of salty crackers and saline peanut butter also contributed to they dryness, and I was extremely grateful for my huge cup of coffee to wash it all down with. After 12 crackers, I was more than done.

If you're after an authentic American peanut butter snack, you must try Nutter Butter Bites and Reese's Oreos -but perhaps steer clear of the Ritz unless you're a dry cracker kind of person. 

If you want a second opinion please do check out Nibbles 'N' Scribbles thoughts on them here. 

2/10

NEW! Choc Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (ALDI)

There's no arguing with the fact that Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough 'Wich Ice Cream Sandwiches are one of the very best new products of 2016 to date. I gave them a 10/10 and have unashamedly stocked up on them whilst they're half price at ASDA (currently £2.24 FYI). Honestly, I think I could open a Gelateria with the amount of ice cream I've currently got stashed in my house! Anyway, the trip to ALDI didn't stop me buying yet more of the stuff (you can find my recent review of their chocolate brownie deluxe ice creams here) especially as they have produced rip-off versions of Ben & Jerry's perfect ice cream sandwiches.

At  £2 for four ice creams, they are cheaper than their branded counterparts, and also contain a chocolate flavoured ice cream -instead of the cookie dough that fills the B&J's. I've been trying find the elusive chocolate brownie 'Wich for months with no luck (if you've any idea where I might be able to find it, please leave me a comment!) so I thought ALDI's new ice creams might be a good compromise.

"Chocolate chip cookies filled with chocolate flavoured icre cream with chocolate chips."

I was struck by how meagre they looked when I took them out of the box. They are in fact the same size as the Ben & Jerry's versions, but I was convinced they were smaller -perhaps I'm just getting greedier ;). 

The cookies looked thicker, but the chocolate ice cream appeared oddly pale. Hmm. 

Indeed the chocolate was lacking in flavour; any flavour really. So bland and faint was the cocoa, that I'm sure if I'd had have been blind taste-tasting I would have been completely baffled. I thought that the flavour was nondescript in ALDI's chocolate brownie ice creams, but this was worse. 

Scattered about were a few chocolate chips, but they offered little in the way of anything other than texture. Humf. 

The cookies were the saving grace, they were much more robust than Ben & Jerry's. Firmer, and more biscuit-like, they reminded me of giant Maryland cookies -scrummy. 

ALDI's new choc chop cookie ice cream sandwiches are a bit of a mixed bag: the 'chocolate' ice cream is pretty pants, but the cookies are excellent. I imagine that if I hadn't tried the branded versions I would have been more impressed -damn you and your delicious ice cream Mr Ben & Mr Jerry. 

If you're after supermarket brand chocolate ice cream sandwiches however, I recommend that you head on over to ASDA and pick up a pack of their Bourbon Biscuit Ice Creams instead.

7/10

NEW! Ben & Jerrys Cookie Dough 'Wich Ice Cream Sandwiches (Sainsbury's)

Hallelujah! My patience has paid off, and the new Ben & Jerry's 'Wich has come on offer at long last! The wait has been excruciating, especially as I was mightily impressed with thier new 'wich ice cream tub. Cheap-skate me struck again and I wasn't prepared to spend the full £4 RRP for the box of 3, or the (daylight robbery) price of £1.99 RRP for a single ice cream sandwich.

Fortunately Sainsbury's are currently selling the triple pack for £2.50, a price that I still deem expensive but not entirely unaffordable.

 

"We were wondering if it was possible to make Cookie Dough even cookier. With so many chunks & Fairtrade ingredients, we're pretty much out of room! That was until we realised the best way to top it was to bottom it too...with cookies! Presenting the hand-finished 'Wich: legendairy Cookie Dough ice cream, sandwiched between soft baked chocolate chip cookies. Cookies & Ice Cream...good together, any 'Wich way!"

The three ice cream sandwiches were wrapped individually, and I was mightily impressed my their appearance once uncovered.  They were a creation of beauty, don't you agree? Oreo ice cream sandwiches are a freezer staple in my house, and I was pleased to find that the s'wichs were about a third bigger (Oreos are 55ml, S'wichs are 80ml).

Amuse me for a second and think of fresh supermarket cookies. You know the kind I mean? Crunchy around the outside, and yet somehow deliciously chewy in the middle? Well some clever Ben & Jerry's wizard has recreated that very same texture in these Wich's cookies. Chocolate chips were dotted about, adding an extra yummy dimension of both taste and texture to the already delicious biscuit. Somehow the cookies had managed to dodge the sogginess that is so common with ice cream sandwiches -I'm sure they must be magic. As you may have gathered from my gushing compliments, they are utter perfection! 

If you've eaten Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream before* then you'll be familiar with the centre of the Wichs; It's the same creamy and indulgent vanilla ice cream augmented with the generous chunks of biscuity cookie dough.

Ben & Jerry's have created a wonderful combination of flavours and textures with the new 'wich Ice cream sandwiches, and although I'd still be disinclined to spend £4 for three, I'll be stocking my freezer up whilst they're on offer!

10/10

*If not, then I hope you've got a reason why? Unless you've got allergies, I highly suggest you buy yourself a tub pronto! 

Bourbon Biscuit Ice Cream Sandwiches from ASDA

Living in the back & beyond it sometimes takes new products a while to reach us, although granted it doesn't normally take 6 months. ASDA's range of biscuit inspired ice creams have finally arrived in my little city, hurrah! I told my other half about the range way back in June, and although he rarely gets excited about food (I do enough of that for the both of us) he was really eager to try the Bourbon Ice Creams. Two seasons later he was a little more nonplussed, but I bought them anyway and hoped that ASDA would deliver upon our high expectations.

As far as supermarket own brand ice creams go, they're quite pricey at £2 for a box of six. The 'biscuits' are quite dinky, and so we figured that two is a more reasonable adult portion.

The biscuits tasted rich and cocoa-y, and actually bared a genuine resemblance their tea-dunking counterparts. Now don't get me wrong, they haven't got the snap that's a key factor of a good biscuit, but I didn't expect them too. They're soft and chewy which renders them more cookie-esque, but as we all know cookies-and-ice cream is a classic combination that needn't be messed with. The ice cream centre is chocolatey, but not in a dark intense way, more like a creamy chocolate milkshake... Mmm!

When it comes to this kind of product, I still prefer the Walls Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches (especially as they're only currently £1 for a four-pack at Farmfoods!), however these are a cute idea that I'd have again in future.

8/10

American Nutter Butter Bites

Uh oh, as I mentioned in my previous post my home town has got a new vintage store which has a selection of American treats. If you've read my previous posts, you may realise that I have both a very sweet tooth and love of American food- I could move to America for the peanut butter alone! 

However unfortunately they've decided they won't be continuing to stock their USA food lines and so are offering 50% off it all! Hearing this, I couldn't resist a shopping trip. I nabbed a couple of the standard go-to American cereals- Fruit loops and Lucky charms, before spotting the Pop Tarts that I reviewed yesterday. I paid for my goodies and made my way towards the exit when one last product caught my eye: Nutter Butter bites. 

They're described as peanut butter sandwich cookies made with real peanuts. My heart leapt because I went to the states a few years back and fell in love with Austin peanut butter filled crackers. I think Ritz also do peanut butter crackers in the USA too, I really wish they sold them here, I'm not the only PB fanatic in England! 

American food=American sized portions. The bag was generously filled containing 15 filled cookies (I greedily ate one before I took the photo.) Before tucking in I wasn't sure whether the snack would be savoury like a ritz cracker, or sweet like a biscuit, and it turned out to be the latter. 

Random Fact alert: American's don't have 'digestive' biscuits because of the advertising law in the states. Digestive biscuits were originally named because they were meant to aid digestion and prevent flatulence but it's never been proven that they do anything of the sort. The closest to a classic digestive in the USA is the 'Graham Cracker.'

Anyway, back to the topic in hand. Each cute little button biscuit sandwich tasted like mini digestive biscuits with a disc of real peanut butter in the middle.

The peanut butter centre of a Nutter Butter Bite

 The balance of sweet and salty was spot on and I quickly gobbled down the whole bag. Luckily my other half hates peanut butter because he wouldn't have got a look in! I didn't have my hopes up before tasting them because of my experience with the new English peanut butter Oreos (which I think are disgusting.) I can't stand peanut butter substitutes, but thankfully these are the real deal.

10/10

*P.S I tried these yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and have since been back to the shop to buy 10 bags- that's no exaggeration. If you love peanut butter and like digestives, you MUST try Nutter Butter Bites.