DS Gluten Free Chicken and Mushroom Pies

It's A Pie!

I had these last year or maybe it was the year before that I can't be sure. I wasn't too keen to be honest, I fully admit that I'm very picky when it comes to the quality of food and I really wasn't impressed by the the filling of these pies. Whilst in search of the DS Salami Pizza I noticed that it said "improved recipe" on the box, so I decided to give them another go.

Bit Squished From Limited Freezer Space

First off, I went to have one for lunch the other day but it said for best results defrost before cooking. Ok, I'll have one tomorrow I thought. It came to 2pm the following day and I realised I hadn't got the flipping pie out of the freezer. Same thing happened about 3 days running, I never think about food on a weekday before 2pm. So last night I got the pie out to defrost overnight in the fridge. Finally, some organisation! Not my strong point.

Uncooked Pie

After a pre-heat to 200C, 25 minutes later the pie was ready.

Blurry Pie

I couldn't wait to see what the filling was like. On first impressions visually I was impressed. Now before I go any further I must explain something about my gluten eating days.

I was a pastry fiend. Not shortcrust, I always hated shortcrust pastry, but flaky pastry I could consume in abundance. My most favourite flaky pasty item was a Delice De France Mushroom Feuillete, they were one of the most delicious things I ever ate. Gorgeously lightly golden with the pastry flaky outside but soft and a little chewy on the inside with a creamy sauce and pieces of mushroom that all just melted in the mouth.

Ah, those were the days. I digress, apologies if I've made you miss your pre-gluten free life :(

My point is that any flaky pastry had to be damn good for it to hold up to that of Delice De France and for the most part they did, even the Jus-Roll which I used to make my own Chicken and Mushroom Pies with. Problem I have here is that I have to take into account that this pastry is gluten free. It can't possibly hold up to flaky pastry that has gluten in it, therefore I'll just say this: The pastry isn't to my liking but there's nothing wrong with it, however it cannot be compared to non gluten free flaky pastry, it's nothing like it.

If I wasn't honest there would be no point in reviewing anything.

After tasting the filling I was very impressed. The overall quality was much better than it had previously been.

Filling Thumbs Up!

It was a definite improvement. The chicken was light in colour with no fat or gristle, the mushrooms were earthy and meaty at the same time and the creamy sauce had a light herby flavour to it. As far as a shop bought frozen pie goes, not bad at all.

These won't be a regular on the shopping list but if the pastry recipe is updated I will give them another go. I know that is it incredibly hard to create a good gluten free flaky pastry that is anything like the stuff with gluten in so for now as with everything I'd rather go without than have a gluten free version that isn't to my liking.

I'd say that if you like shortcrust pastry you'll like these. The filling is full of flavour and the quality of ingredients has definitely improved. I'd give them a thumbs up for anyone who isn't quite so fussy about pastry.

I'm actually quite easily pleased, except for when it comes to food, especially my own. Then I freely admit, I'm a bit of a pain if things aren't perfect in my eyes. A few weeks ago I forgot to stuff my chicken with lemon and lime and I was angry with myself for an entire week until I made it again with them included. Last night I added too much corn starch to our fondue and basically ruined the flavour, that's never happened before and yep, I'm angry with myself. Really annoyed.

For the record it's a wonder that I even considered trying these pies. My last experience with a 'gluten free' Chicken and Mushroom Pie didn't exactly go well.

I have something sweet, colourful and fun planned to share tomorrow. Roll on Friday!