Sandwich review: Chicken, cheese & bacon club with mustard mayo & salad on white bread by Sainsbury's

The official description for this sandwich is:

"Succulent British chicken breast, maple cured bacon with tangy, mature Cheddar, and served with cucumber, juicy vine-ripened tomatoes & crisp lettuce"

A pleasing recipe, overall, with lots of elements guaranteed to fit right in together.  In particular, the balance between the chicken and the bacon was good, and neither overpowered the other - while the mustard mayonnaise actually did have a mustard flavour to it, and was used sparingly enough not to create the alarming overmayonation we so often see in these situations, and the salad was reasonably crisp and fresh.

However, the age-old problem which afflicts all 'club'-style sandwiches was not absent in this case either… The extra slice of bread in the middle of the sandwich made the balance of textures too doughy overall - and, being surround by filling on both sides instead of just on one side, this central slice of bread (as so often happens) became soggy and unappetising.  Unfortunately, this means that an otherwise excellent sandwich was ruined by an over prevalence of damp bread, and that I would not in fact buy this sandwich again.

I am still waiting to experience the a sandwich where the three-slice 'club sandwich' concept is executed effectively - but I am beginning to despair of this ever actually happening.

Sandwich review: Chicken & Bacon Ranch by Sainsburys

The official description for this sandwich is -

British chicken breast and naturally smoked British bacon with ranch mayonnaise and apollo lettuce in a white sub roll.

As you can see, this is the first time I have reviewed any sandwich which comes on what we might call "non-standard bread" (in this case, a sub roll). It is disappointing, therefore, that this novelty bread was actually the high point of a sandwich which can best be described as "bland".

The roll was indeed very nice. The rest of the ingredients, however, failed to live up to my expectations - the "ranch mayonnaise", in particular, was something of a let-down. If I hadn't been told that it was specifically "ranch mayonnaise", I would not have known for myself - in a blind tasting, I would've guessed standard mayonnaise for sure (and pretty cheap standard mayonnaise, at that)!

The chicken, and the "naturally smoked" bacon also had very little flavour to them. This sandwich has clearly been put together with the cheapest possible ingredients, with little attention being paid to the flavour of the sandwich as a whole.

I would not buy this sandwich again.

Pimp my pizza

So, this evening, I cooked a pizza. A standard, ready-made pizza from Sainsbury's - you stick it in the oven for twelve minutes, then consume with ravenous abandon - you know the type.

Ten minutes after eating the pizza, I realised I was still hungry. (If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know this isn't as uncommon as it probably ought to be.) Remembering there was another, identical pizza in the fridge, I decided to cook that one as well.

The prospect of another eight slices of margarita, however, seemed somewhat dull, so I decided to "pimp out" the Sainsbury's pizza with a few additions of my own.

I sliced some mushrooms and onions that I found in the fridge, and added those to basis Sainsbury's had provided, along with some chunks of Stilton cheese.

After another twelve minutes, my creation was ready to eat.

Apart from using the phrase "pimped out" (eugh!) I was actually rather proud of myself!