TRIED AND TESTED | Marks and Spencer’s The Grill Range

OK, now I’m not just saying this and no one paid us to (unfortunately) but honestly, M&S food has never been so good. We tested The Grill range last weekend and were stunned by the quality, effort and flavour that has gone into these dishes. Supermarket ready/oven meals are normally far less exciting and tasty than anything you could make yourself or order in a restaurant.

As I went to collect our samples I wanted to buy the entire shop, I remember when food from M&S was a little bit dowdy and behind the times, now what we believe is thanks to their Product Developer, Nicola Swift, it couldn’t be more current and exciting. Click here for some of top BBQ tips, oh and here for our BBQ round-up.

Lamb with orange blossom and pomegranate glaze

So we kicked off with the Lamb with Orange Blossom & Pomegranate Glaze (£5) tucked inside some toasted pitta bread as a late night snack. I’m not big on lamb but it turned out I enjoyed this more than Ade who loves it. The glaze took away that fatty flavour that can put me off eating it.

Pork overload!

Pork Belly Hog Roast, Kentish Apple Sauce & Crackling Crumb (£5) was so good. We were sharing this between four – us and the kids, one who is the fussiest eater known to man. Although randomly adores it when I cook Nigella Lawson‘s chicken cacciatore, weird as it contains so many ingredients that she insists she doesn’t like.

The hog roast deserves a close up

The meat for the hog roast comes with a sticky label on the packaging saying that it’s been slow cooked with the juices and fat still intact, explaining the patches of white colour. This is certainly something I haven’t seen before with a supermarket oven meal. I may be wrong, but I imagine this was hard to get past the big bosses. The instructions on all the products are easy and simple to follow, I even managed to ‘cook’ four dishes at once without tearing my hair out.

I served up the hog roast at lunch with the Pulled Pork ‘N’ Apple Burgers (£5 for 2) with Chipotle Chilli & Sweetcorn Rolls (£3.50 for 2) plus a couple of the regular Ultimate Burger Buns (£2.50 for 2) for the fussy eater. She loved the hog roast, we ALL loved the hog roast. The only problem was we couldn’t get enough of it. The meat so tender and flavoursome, the crackling crumb genius. The burgers I cooked on a skillet, the plan was to BBQ them but the weather said no. These too were good too – fat and juicy and the apple not too overpowering.

You can’t beat a bit of brisket (or ribs or wings…)

For dinner I found myself nipping back to our local M&S to top up on what I’d already bought as judging from what happened at lunch, it wasn’t going to be enough. The Smokehouse Barbecue Beef Brisket (£8) smelt and tasted incredible and staggeringly, rivaled some we’ve had in restaurants. The Fruity BBQ Bacon Belly Rib Strips (£5) were sticky and robust, perfectly balanced out with the Sweet Potato Wedges (£3.50). The fussy one surprised us again by devouring the fiery Spicy Mexican chicken Wings (£5). I will never understand her eating habits, at least I’ve discovered something else in the world that she likes to eat, thanks Marks & Spencer.

marksandspencer.com

Follow them on Twitter
Follow them on Instagram
Find them on Facebook

Marks and Spencer provided the above dishes, this does not affect our review in any way. We always write with complete honesty.