Marks & Spencer quiches and pies
Christmas is getting near and I still haven't really given much thought about what I am going to have for Christmas dinner. I want to be lazy and just eat out, but having a big dinner at home and the after-dinner snacks and drinks is so "gezellig" aka "hygge" that I don't want to miss out on that. For most women, Christmas dinners probably means that you have to stay in the kitchen the whole day to present the most beautiful and delicious dishes for your loved ones. In the past (before the Marks & Spencer stores in the Netherlands closed), I kind of hoped to lessen the burden a bit by buying a bunch of Marks & Spencer quiches and pies. It only needs to be put in the oven for a short while and you don't actually have to be in the kitchen to watch it, so you can pour yourself a glass of wine and rest for a bit.
On the left, you can see the cheese & onion quiche. I thought I would like this the most, as I really like the Lay's chips flavor, cheese onion. But the onion flavor isn't that strong. I do like the cheese flavor, as it blends well with the egg filling. I liked the crust, but the egg filling itself was soft and I didn't really like the texture of it. I am used to Chinese and Japanese steamed egg dishes and this is a bit strange to me.
Next to it (with the pieces of bacon on top), you can see the lorraine quiche. It sounded really interesting with the two different kinds of cheese (Cheddar and Emmental), but the bacon flavor was a bit too strong for me.
Underneath, you can see the bacon, leek, and mushroom quiche. I thought the leek was going to be still a bit crunchy, adding some bite to the otherwise soft egg filling, but it was soft and the flavor wasn't as strong as I imagined. The bacon in this, was also a bit too strongly flavored like in the previous quiche and the mushroom couldn't make the quiche more tasty.
Marks & Spencer quiche selection
I don't think I have ever eaten a quiche before, as it doesn't look and sound that appetizing. There has always been other alternatives, choices on the menu that I liked more. So, I wanted to try as many flavors there are to make sure I like at least one of them. I bought a box of the Marks & Spencer quiche selection with 3 slices each of the 3 flavors: lorraine (bacon & cheese), bacon, leek, & mushroom, and cheese & onion.On the left, you can see the cheese & onion quiche. I thought I would like this the most, as I really like the Lay's chips flavor, cheese onion. But the onion flavor isn't that strong. I do like the cheese flavor, as it blends well with the egg filling. I liked the crust, but the egg filling itself was soft and I didn't really like the texture of it. I am used to Chinese and Japanese steamed egg dishes and this is a bit strange to me.
Next to it (with the pieces of bacon on top), you can see the lorraine quiche. It sounded really interesting with the two different kinds of cheese (Cheddar and Emmental), but the bacon flavor was a bit too strong for me.
Underneath, you can see the bacon, leek, and mushroom quiche. I thought the leek was going to be still a bit crunchy, adding some bite to the otherwise soft egg filling, but it was soft and the flavor wasn't as strong as I imagined. The bacon in this, was also a bit too strongly flavored like in the previous quiche and the mushroom couldn't make the quiche more tasty.
Marks & Spencer Lochmuir smoked salmon & broccoli quiche
With this flavor, I thought it couldn't possibly go wrong as broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables (also, there aren't that many vegetables that I don't like) and salmon is just one word, great! But even for a seafood lover like me, the salmon was just a tad bit too fishy. I do like that the chunks of salmon are large and you can actually see them, instead of ground up into an unrecognizable mush. The broccoli wasn't that bad, but I think a sauce could have saved it. I drizzled some lemon juice over it and it helped a bit.Marks & Spencer mini steak & chicken pie selection
To be honest, besides quiche, I also don't think I have eaten a savory pie either. That's why, I got the box of Marks & Spencer mini steak and chicken pie selection. It sounded promising: 6 mini British steak, mushroom, & red wine pies and 6 mini British roast chicken, ham, & leek lattice topped pies. During Christmas dinner, we already made too many dishes, so we left this for the Christmas brunch the next morning. It is nice to have some small savory finger foods with the many sweet things that we had. Maybe, I didn't let it stay in the oven long enough or left it out of the fridge too long during the evening, but they look a bit pale and turned very soft and mushy on the outside. I also didn't really like the flavor of both of the mini pies, so I cannot really point one obvious winner out of the two.