Not a load of old balls! (Oak Lane Stuffing - Sage & Onion)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Oak Lane Stuffing - Sage & Onion
Date:	18/06/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious and perfectly cooked stuffing balls

Disadvantages: Be careful how much water you add in the first place as this stuffing gets sloppy quickly

Recently on a shopping trip to Tesco I realised I needed to buy a packet stuffing to place inside a chicken I was roasting the following Sunday. I always make my own stuffing as an accompaniment to a meal but use packet stuffing's to stuff birds and meats as I tend to discard this stuffing after it's lent it's flavours to the meat, this is due to the fact that everyone I cook for prefers crispy stuffing which never happens when cooking it in the cavity of the bird. I usually go for Paxo but on this occasion I decided to try the somewhat cheaper Oak Lane Sage & Onion Stuffing, which is one of the new discount brands that Tesco have begun selling.

I knew I'd be writing a review on it eventually so decided to also use it that week for the stuffing balls just to see how well they went down with the family. After the general shock of me serving non-home made stuffing subsided we soon realised that we were all in agreement that 45p for this 170g box is an absolute bargain, for a cheap mass produced stuffing this isn't half bad!

Making the stuffing is very easy, it does go sloppier than Paxo but this is easily solved by not adding quite so much hot water in the first instance and then just pouring in drops at a time until you get the correct consistency. A good herby smell rises up as you're mixing the stuffing and the mix blends easily into the water which leaves you with the perfect stuffing to make balls from or stuff whatever meat or poultry you are using.

Cooking time for balls takes around 25 minutes or alternatively you can put the stuffing into a dish and microwave it for a sloppier uncrispy finish that is ideal for spreading onto chicken or pork baguettes, although not much good for serving on a dinner.

Once cooked I am very impressed with the consistency of these stuffing balls, they are golden brown and nicely crispy on the outside with the inside being softer and well packed with the stuffing. The taste is impressive too; they have a different taste to Paxo but remember this is a different brand entirely so it will be different, that's not to say that it is worse in any way. There are decent sized pieces of onion in the stuffing which make up much of the flavour of the balls, I would actually prefer to have a stronger taste of sage in them but this is an entirely personal thing and the flavour of the herb is adequate anyway.

I cannot fault Oak Lane Stuffing at all; it's cheap, tasty and easy to cook - what more could you want from a stuffing ball?

Summary: Stuffing, wonderful stuff isn't it?