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Aah Bisto Cottage Pie
by annie47
I spotted this Bisto Cottage Pie whilst shopping at Asda; I couldn't believe how cheap it was. It was in the frozen section and only priced at a £1.00 I thought this must have been a new product because I had never seen it before. I really like Bisto gravy and thought that this meal would be very beefy in flavour; the picture on the ... front certainly looks appealing. It is made with 100% Minced Beef. This meal is described as 'A classic cottage pie with minced beef and onions in rich thick gravy, topped with mashed potato'.
I am not sure if some people would class this as a setback but it can only be cooked in the oven. Personally when it comes to shepherds pies or cottage pies, I tend to think they come out a lot better when cooked in the oven, so this wasn't a problem for me. It takes 50 minutes to cook in the oven (or 40 minutes in a fan oven).
The cooked product comes out really good; the top does go a bit crispy too; it is full of minced beef and the flavour is as I thought, beefy and delicious; the gravy is thick and this is actually quite a fair sized portion for one person. One of my favourite vegetables is Broccoli and I usually have this with Broccoli; but basically it's good to add any vegetable to this meal. It's quite good calorie wise and only 318 Kcals (375g box); so this can easily be used as part of a calorie controlled diet if you wish and its very filling.
~Ingredients~
Reconstituted dried potato, Whey protein (from Milk), Yeast extract, White pepper, Colour (Curcumin), Minced beef, Onion, Water, Modified maize starch, Celery, Beef flavouring, Rapseed oil, Tomato puree, Caramelised sugar (Wheat), Salt, Ground Bay, Beef stock (Red Wine, Mushroom concentrate, Salt, Caramelised sugar, Spices, Natural flavouring); Cornflour, colour (ammonia caramel)
There are no artificial preservatives and no hydrogenated fats in this product
~Allergy Advice~
Contains Celery, Gluten, Milk and Wheat; May contain traces of Nuts and/or Sesame seeds.
~Other information~
Although extra care has been taken to remove bones, some small bones may remain.
This is a super cheap, filling and tasty Cottage Pie; definitely worthy of 5 Dooyoo stars; highly recommend.
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Bisto Favourite Reduced Salt Gravy Granules
by QueenElf
My blood pressure is high and has been controlled now for over ten years by tablets and diet. One of the main things I had to do was to cut out salt as this pushes up blood pressure. Along with lowering cholesterol and having a milk allergy into the bargain finding things I can eat is sometimes a nightmare. At least there is one thing I ... can count on and that's my cooked meal. I love a cooked meal with chicken, vegetables and gravy and I do love homemade gravy. However, that's one of the things I had to cut back on as using flour and meat juices is bad for my fat and salt levels. So I tried gravy granules and first turned to Bisto, as it's still the best gravy you can buy.
Bisto has been making gravy for over 100 years and I still remember the adverts with fondness, first the Bisto Kids and then the family adverts with the 'Ah Bisto' making me smile every time I heard it. It always made me think of mum stirring the gravy browning into the meat juices and using the vegetable water for added taste and goodness.
I've tried most of the gravy granules but have to watch which I buy as some have milk proteins in them. Obviously I have to watch the salt content as well, so when I first saw the new reduced salt Bisto I tried it straight away.
How 'reduced is it?'
Health guidelines suggest we eat no more than the adult portion of 6 grams a day. That might sound a lot, but when you see a normal tub of table salt at 750 Gms then you soon realize that one sprinkle is more than you had thought. I certainly did and now I cook without salt, even though food isn't quite the same without a bit in the water. Instead I often add an onion to vegetables to add a bit of flavour.
The tub I'm reviewing is a standard 170g tub and costs about 80 to 95p in most shops. It comes in a red tub with a blue plastic top so it's easy to tell which one you are buying. The other plus for me is that this has no milk in it so I can buy it without looking at the ingredients. Now many reduced products are actually only in comparison to their other makes, so I checked this one carefully and it is still much lower in salt than any of the competition. An average serving of 50 ml contains 0.30g of salt, which is 5% of the daily guideline amount. As the other flavours range from 0.45 to 0.5 then this is about 25% less than the others.
When cutting down on salt it is important to make sure that other products don't have added salt, which happens with things like baked beans. Therefore I checked to see what other additions could be in this gravy. Apart from a slightly higher sugar content (still low at 0.5 g per serving), the fat content works out at 0.6g so I'm not compromising my cholesterol problem either.
How about taste?
I have read other reviews that say this doesn't taste as good as real gravy, but I haven't noticed any large difference. It is slightly less salty, but the ingredients are very similar to the other flavours, there is just less salt. I can also serve this to my daughter, as it's suitable for vegetarians so that's another bonus. I do like a large serving so I make sure my meat is low salt or I eat a vegetarian dish such as tofu instead. If I want added flavour then I use the vegetable water and as this normally has some onion and garlic added the taste is nice and spicy.
Making up the gravy is easy. Just add a half pint of boiled water to 4-heaped teaspoons and stir until thickened. I add the vegetable water and make a thick paste with a small amount, stirring so it doesn't go lumpy. Then add a bit more of the vegetable water and if is doesn't thicken enough I pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds and that does the trick.
Allergy advice; This contains wheat, gluten and Soya so isn't suitable for people with those allergies, but for most of us it's a healthy alternative to heavily slated gravy, now let's all say Ahh!
Thanks for reading.
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Bisto Gravy Granules
by Samm0
One of the things I love about food are the accompaniments, I rarely have eat anything that is dry - always adding a sauce, condiment or gravy.
When I have gravy I like lots of it! I do make gravy from scratch using meat juices, and find it fairly easy to make a roux.
As my partner is vege, I have undoubtedly cut down on the ... number of roast and meat dishes that I have cooked in the last year or so (It's something of a pain preparing two similar but different meals!) and it has also left me somewhat lazy in the gravy making department - hence turning to Bisto!
Bisto Gravy Granules are widely sold in most supermarkets and are packaged in a brown coloured cardboard tub with a plastic lid. Once the lid is removed there is a stay fresh safety seal that needs to be pulled back and discarded.
The fine very pale brown coloured granules within don't give off much of an aroma, there is a faint smell of what I would liken to beef crisps.
I would ordinarily have a tub of Bisto in the cupboard as I find that when added to a roux it makes the gravy go further, as long as not too much is added to the mixture it doesn't over power the flavour of the meat juices. Instructions for use on the tub don't mention using it in this way but advise adding four heaped tea spoons of the granules to 280ml of boiling water whilst stirring. The thickness of the mixture may be adjusted by adding more granules.
By following the instructions above a nice smooth gravy can be achieved. Of course it cannot compare to home made gravy but it is a quick and easy alternative. It tastes good, not overly beefy tasting - I find it similar to gravy bought from the chip shop - cheap and cheerful. As long as you are not expecting too much, you won't be disappointed.
It's not very often that I use the gravy in this way - occasionally if I have a meat and potato pie but then I also add vinegar and red/brown sauce! I don't like the gravy too thick.
Where I think Bisto comes in to it's own is it's unexpected addition to vegetarian cooking!
Surprisingly, Bisto is suitable for vegetarians. Therefore it can be added to Quorn sausage and chips etc but it can also be using when making meat substitute shepherds pie, bolognese and chilli. It really improves the taste of the dishes - much more meaty, more like the real thing!
50ml is regarded as one serving. Nutritional amounts are as follows.
Energy 15kcal
Protein 0.1g
Carbohydrate 2.3g
of which sugars 0.5g
Fat 0.6g
of which saturates 0.4g
Fibre - trace
Sodium 0.21g
Salt equivalent 0.53g
Bisto is currently on sale at Tesco for 98p for 170g or £1.65 for 300g. I have found that there are frequent offers - two fro £1.50 and usually stock up as I use it in abundance.
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