We were gifted a freezer bag full of frozen and refrigerated Presidents Choice items from Superstore and were eager to make it a weekend worth of eating, where we only ate President Choice items. I am already a fan of the brand, and this care package only reaffirm that.
This is part of their PC insider’s report. A collection of new and trending food items and gifting wares created and recommend for this holiday season. Either items to use when hosting a dinner or to give to a host when you attend a dinner.
Items like pine scent candles, sparkling apple cider, cocoa dusted truffles, and a two piece roasting pan that doesn’t need flipping.
As for the edible items. I love me some Brussels sprouts, so was excited to see the Brussel slaw as an easy side that needs no cooking. Although as per the package, you have your choice of enjoying it hot or cold, and I do recommend following the instruction for the hot version. They suggest air frying the shredded greens for a nice crisp texture, before tossing them in the included maple vinaigrette, and finishing it off with the packets of asiago cheese shards and dehydrated bacon. I saw the latter as sprinkles due to their elongated shape. I was not expecting to like the vinaigrette as much as we did, it was a flavour we have never had especially when paired with our homemade steak and beer.
And for dessert, we sliced into our President’s Choice Basque style cheesecake. It was delicious, a light and fluffy cake that could feed 2 to 4. You cannot tell it is pre-made and frozen. Not aggressively cheesy, wonderfully mild so you can have seconds and thirds with out getting bored. But as a fan of cheesecake, I was missing the traditional graham cracker crust. My partner said that if you put coffee and chocolate top of it, it would be tiramisu, we should have tried his theory.
The Zucca Premium Pizza is an easy and quick meal solution. 11-15minutes in the oven from frozen with no fuss and no muss. And it cools just as quickly too. I was furthered impressed by how this was listed as an Italian product, where you can taste the quality of the ingredients listed. Hand tossed and airy with a baked to order crispy crust coated with a butternut squash sauce and topped with pancetta, parmigiano and rosemary. It ate more like flatbread with a smoky rosemary finish. A little lean as is, I wanted a main to go with it, like the below.
The Ultimate Pork Rib Roast is the easy cooking main you pull out to impress. Described as an expertly hand-cut 3 bone pork rib roast, marinated in a signature blend of fine herbs. The box also lists the product as being 16% meat protein, which left me wondering what about the other 74%?
Regardless, this was a quality slab of meat, I was impressed by how large and thick it was, with a good amount of fat that allowed us to cook it longer without making it dry. I did find it a little too pink for us after we cut into it, so decided to slice the roast up and cook it further. Although, I did made the mistake of cooking it bone side up, instead of down as the instruction dictated.
As for the way it tasted, there was not a lot of flavour outside of the thick rub, that did scrape off a little each time we handled it with tongs. A heavy slab you need forearm strength to lift.
The Salmon Tataki makes for a great appetizer, but it definitely needs a base. We had it with slices of cucumber and topped it with sesame seeds and a Japanese seasoning mix that included bonito flakes and shredded seaweed. I liked that it included a sauce, but wished the pieces were more consistently sliced, especially seeing as they are ready to eat and this is something you would expect to open and simply serve at a dinner party. Otherwise tasty lean fish with a nice sweet soy sauce.
The French Onion Soup Straws were a fun one that cooked quick in the air fryer. 8 minutes tops for crispy strips of phyllo dough rolled up and stuffed with stewed onion and topped with asiago cheese. They are a great snack to have as is. We paired them with a home made carrot, apple, and cheddar cheese soup. I liked how light and flaky each straw was, I just found that the centre remained soggy.
The Turkey Pie was like a chicken pot pie, but with more rosemary and herbs for a festive holiday meal under one crust. With whipped potato, the filling was a little heavy for such a flaky base. I could not pick a slice up without it falling off. Although flavour wise we had no complaints.
