New PC Insiders Report.

[terrycar]

Has anyone tried any of the new products & what did you think?

[burlgurl]

I've tried a bunch:
Dine In seafood chowder soup- I liked this..had mussels, shrimp, cod i think.
Dine In Curry Vegetable soup-found it bland, and the only vegetables are cauliflower and peas

The Dine In 'gourmet' frozen dinner for two. There are a few flavors and I've tried the coconut halibut (decent..the jasmine rice and beans are good for frozen meals), the braised beef (really good, great potatoes!), the dijon pork (decent)

The crab cheese puffs appetizers were ok and the artichoke asiago puffs were better, but the 'puff' part was a little bready.

The Meat Lasagna with Fire roasted tomato sauce- i guess they gave up on the last 'ultimate' lasagna that was about $15 that had a bechamal sauce/spinach and went back to traditional lasagna. This was ok, better than regular frozen lasagna, but I really liked the upscale version.

A Moroccan chicken pot pie..this had a phyllo crust, but the cooking instructions or my oven were off because it burned the top. After scrapping the burned part off, covering with foil to continue cooking the end results was a disaster and the filling was pure mush with hardly any chicken and bland favour. The worst of the bunch.

Bake at home chocolate pecan squares-very good

All in all, nothing really impressed me too much, but I got to test a bunch of the frozen foods, which, granted I don't expect to be too great!

[terrycar]

Thanks burlgurl. Too bad about the pot pie-that's the one of the ones I wanted to check out.

[Smorgasbord]

I agree on the Moroccan pot pie- it is by far the most disgusting PC product I have ever eaten [and I generally like them]. Mushy, vile-tasting, the top also burnt when I followed the box directions- absolutely disgusting in all respects. AVOID it like the plague.

On the other hand, the red velvet cheesecake is very, very good; probably my fave of all the PC cheesecakes.

The new PC pizzas [the fake Dr. Oeteker ones] are just ok; the crust is a bit thick but the toppings are ample. Ok in a pinch, but not my first choice for frozen pizza.

[burlgurl]

Too bad! I was hoping I bought a defect pie, but it was truly disgusting. How was this product brought to market?? I'm sure it won't be around for long..

[neighborguy]

Their rising crust pizza was heavy and cardboard-y.

[bytepusher]

Every once in a while they hit a real clinker and this sounds like it. Years ago they introduced a "Fireside Beef Pie" that looked really good on the package, of course one expects that no product looks like it's styled package picture but this thing was beyond the pale, and it was awful. A couple years later they reintroduced it in the yellow and black no name packaging without a photo of course and it was still awful.

[Manybears]

Hah-- I remember that fireside pie. I was a starving student at the time and it still got pitched.

I hope the sea salted caramels are back this year.

[Midknight]

I haven't tried the Moroccan pie (thank goodness for that after reading your review), but I did try the similar chicken and beef pies.

The chicken was simply 'alright'. Kind of bland, and not much chicken. The gravy was a little pasty but it filled the hole.

But the beef pie was VERY good.. Lot's of veggies AND beef (maybe too many carrots), and the meat itself was tender. The gravy was tangy and excellent. I even used some regular white bread to mop the rest of it off of my plate after I had finished off the crust.
It will definitely be purchased again.

[terrycar]

Thanks for all the input. Tried the new lasagna and while it was tasty enough, we didn't taste any fire roasted tomatoes in there .I'll have to give those chocolate pecan squares a turn next time

[hal2010]

Not sure if it's new but I tried the Sicilian Chicken with Lemon potato chips. They taste like BBQ chips with too much thyme that have been sprayed with Lemon Pledge furniture polish. Disgusting. Not sure how they ever made it out of the test kitchen,

[maritimah]

This is not a new Insiders Report item, but I LOVE the Salt and Balsamic Vinegar kettle-style chips. I typically steer clear of flavoured chips and go for good salty crunchiness, but these ones have me hooked.

[tjr]

I also liked these chips.

[mrsleny]

I really like the PC Thins Bagels. I have tried the 4-seed and the Cinnamon raisin ones. I find most bagels too "bready" but these are just right and they toast up nicely.

[hungryabbey]

Totally agree with you here. I got the poppyseed ones today and love them.

[millygirl]

Yes they are quite good, I agree. Esp. for those ww'ers out there.

[burningrome]

Tried that new Cranberry ginger ale.....meh. Not very gingery or cranberry-y. Bring back that blackcurrant diet soda they used to have, I say!

[MargieEv]

Tried the vodka beet smoked salmon. Didn't like it at all. Mushy and no flavour.

[MargieEv]

I bought the Moroccan Chicken Pot Pie before reading these reviews. It was god-awful. Two bites and we were on the phone ordering pizza.

[millygirl]

Not sure if it's new or not but the General Tsao chicken is pretty good for what it is. We had some with basmati rice the other night and nobody complained. How's that for an endorsement.

[maritimah]

Oh no! This was one of the items that I had high hopes for. Did it have a discernable beet flavour at least?

[Chocolatemama]

The Dine-In Tonight Porcini and Truffle tortelloni is very good! Nice mushroom flavour.

-----
Porcini Restaurant
900 Erie St E, Windsor, ON N9A3Y8, CA

[toveggiegirl]

I tried the new Hawaiian coffee and thought it was terrible. Very sour.

[julesrules]

I really like the Christmas cranberry/pomegranate temptations (cream and jelly cookie sandwich). They have a nice tartness to them, if you like that type of cookie. Speaking of which I saw a key lime version once last summer, but never again. Has anyone seen those?
Sadly, I could not find any salted caramels at the Millwood Loblaws today.

[pearlD]

Tried the "Red Velvet Cheesecake"...........beyond gross!!!

[callitasicit]

I completely agree. I am surprised it has received such positive reviews from people in here.

[hungryabbey]

Yah I MUCH prefer the dulce de leche one.

[maritimah]

I thought it was terrible too. It's just a crappy red velvet cake surrounding an edible cheesecake with a crappy chocolate crust. Total disappointment.

I have a candy cane one in the freezer but the red velvet was so bad I'm almost afraid to defrost.