Picture from Pipers Farm
After a relatively mild few months winter has finally hit with a vengeance. Cold, cold and snow. It is time to stock up the freezer and to eat comforting warming foods.
My parents live in a pocket of the country that the snow hits quite hard. My mother takes care to stock the freezer as then it snows they usually get stuck for a good few days. Although they live in a village with shops and good transport, their house is on a hill and the ice can be treacherous. My father is in his 80s and sensibly stays at home in these conditions, mindful of how easy it would be to slip and break a limb or hip.
Bring on Pipers Farm who sent my parents a box of casseroles and pies to stock their freezer with.
Increasingly I am of the view that unless you have a good butcher near to you, you are better off buying your meat via mail order from a specialist. I find the quality and price are fantastic when compared to supermarket meat. I was really impressed with the quality of the meat from Pipers Farm in the summer when they sent me a box to review, and was delighted to accept some of their casseroles and pies for my parents to review.
Review: Pipers Farm Pies
My mother said that these were excellent and possibly the best pies she had ever had.
Great pastry and a good size. They were also a generous size, a pie to serve one, easily fed both my parents with some vegetables and mash.
The Ruby Red steak and mushroom was intensely flavoured. Excellent.
Chicken and Smoked Ham was equally good with proper chunks of meat coated in sauce giving lots of texture and bite.
10/10
Review: Pipers Farm Casseroles
Firstly we loved that these can be heated up without a microwave, perfect for those who do not have one. The casseroles are cooked at the farm then sealed into plastic pouches and delivered frozen. Simply reheat them in a pan of water and enjoy. Perfect for the elderly, or those who like to eat well but not to cook.
Moroccan Lamb – “Absolutely delicious”. Tender lamb with dates, apricots and sultanas, almonds and coriander. Loved the mix of textures and flavours.
Pork with Juniper and Orange - Photo from Pipers Farm
Pork with Juniper and Orange – Tender meat with an orangy kick, again it was judged to be delicious with lots of lovely sauce.
Brisket with Guinness – Slow cooked brisket was meltingly soft, with lots and lots of gravy to be soaked up with a pile of mash. Again first-rate.
9/10
Pipers Farm Casseroles £4.50 per portion. Portions are generous. Served with extra vegetables there is enough for two if you do not have a massive appetite.
Also in the box was a cooked Saddleback ham with a pot of honey and mustard glaze ready to be reheated. Again it was excellent porky and bursting with flavour, one of the best hams I have ever had. The spare glaze was used to roast vegetables in. We will be ordering the Christmas ham from Pipers Farm this year.
We would highly recommend Pipers Farm pies and casseroles to anyone wanting to stock their freezer, who has friends or relatives who are finding it harder to cook for themselves, or for people who simply do not want to cook.
Why not give an online butcher try next time you have the space in your freezer?
Many thanks to Pipers Farm from me and my parents for pies, casseroles and ham.
I agree, online butchers often a fantastic way to buy meat, and I really like buying direct from farmers. I’ve particularly enjoyed rib steaks from Paganum, and buying direct means I can ask for meat to be cut as I like it, and even for extra bones for stock. I’ve also bought marrow bones… which I adore.
These pies look absolutely fantastic, once I have space in my freezer, perhaps I’ll try them as we really do like having such food in the freezer. Can you cook the pies from frozen or do they need to be defrosted first?
I also have some friends who love to have pies in their freezer, they’ve been buying from another company for several years but I’ll let them know about these guys once I’ve tried as I think they’d like them.
I did not actually try the pies Kavey, but my parents were very impressed. I think they are cook from frozen, but wll check with Pipers Farm.
if ever a photo sells a product that first one is it!!!
It does doesn’t it! So cross I did not get any of the pies to try! But happy my parents get to benefit from my blog.
Thanks for the great write up Helen.
In answer to your question Kavey Eats, the pies are best cooked from frozen and take 40 minutes!