[Review: Slimming World's Pulled Chipotle Chicken Burger]

 

 

I thought I would do something a bit different today as it's getting to that point of the month where I'm waiting on my next wage and so, ideally, shouldn't be spending my remaining pennies luxury dining. I must admit I've been wanting to try out this recipe for a while but just hadn't gotten around to it yet so tonight I decided to give it a bash.

I've taken this recipe for 'pulled chipotle chicken buns' from the October 2015 issue of the Slimming World magazine. I actually rate myself as quite a decent cook and my range of store cupboard spices and condiments is pretty extensive, but if you're not massive on cooking then a trip to a supermarket might be necessary prior to attempting this.

Recipe

Serves 4
Ready in about 1 hour

Ingredients

3 skinless chicken breast fillets
4 x 60g wholemeal rolls
For the chipotle sauce:
4 level tbsp. ketchup
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. mustard powder
1 level tsp. black treacle
2 tsp. sweet smoked paprika
2 level tbsp. chipotle paste
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Boil the chicken for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover. Leave to poach for 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and set aside to cool for 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together all the chipotle sauce ingredients.

3. Shred the chicken using two forks, then transfer to a frying pan. Stir through the chipotle sauce and cook gently over a low heat for 10 minutes to warm through.

4. Divide the chicken into four, and place each quarter on a bun and serve.

Outcome

Tah-Dah!


Many people would imagine that the healthier the burger, the less tastier it will be. However, this is certainly not the case with this Slimming World recipe. I am extremely impressed with out this burger turned out. Both the chicken and the chipotle sauce were so delicious, and the best part about it is that there is next to no fat in it! For anyone who follows the Slimming World food plan, this burger has just 1.5 syns, providing you are using your wholemeal roll as your healthy extra B choice for the day (7.5 syns if you are not using the wholemeal roll for your healthy extra B choice for the day). In my opinion- definitely worth it! I served my burgers with baby spinach and rocket accompanied with Slimming World syn free Cajun spiced wedges and some grilled halloumi cheese.

I realise that the purpose of this blog was to inform you lovely people of decent eateries in Glasgow City Centre, but this burger is not available to buy in a restaurant... yet. Honestly, this Slimming World Pulled Chipotle Chicken burger was literally restaurant quality and I reckon I could open up a pop-up burger bar in the city and sell it myself! Watch this space.

**

If anyone would like the recipe for the wedges or a video demonstration on how to pull the chicken, please feel free to request it in the comment box and I will do my best to post either on my blog as soon as I can.

 

[Review: Bread Meats Bread]

There seems to be a massive hype in Glasgow regarding the now-famous Bread Meats Bread which becomes apparent when attempting to get table on a Monday afternoon, never mind a weekend. My friend who has been travelling New Zealand for the past year returned home for short while last month and I thought, where better to catch up on some exciting stories than grabbing a good munch in the heart of the city he has missed so sorely.

Luckily, this time we only had to wait ten minutes for a table which gave us time to scan the menu. It was short and simple with around fifteen different burger options, slightly less sandwich options and a handful of grilled cheese sandwiches. As usual though, I spent a good fifteen additional minutes (after sitting down at our table) mulling over the menu as everything sounded so delicious. As our server approached us, I hastily made a quick decision, and opted for 'The Wolf of St Vincent's Street.' That was such a big deal for me, because as I sit typing this review in uni I've literally just spoke aloud "I really didn't enjoy my lunch, I'm so disappointed- it totally depicts my mood for the entire day." So, this "signature burger" had better live up to my expectations.

Sides



Buffalo Fries


We decided we would share a side of fries as well but neither of us could decide on which ones we wanted. The waiter was great help in resolving this issue, I really liked him- he was enthusiastic with a bight exterior and a very loud American or Canadian accent- I wasn't too sure which but either way it fitted in well in this rustic burger bar. I wanted caramelised sweet potato fries and Ally wanted Buffalo fries, so the waiter didn't hesitate in offering us every combination of fries imaginable whether it was on the menu or not which was a lovely touch even though in the end, we just went for the Buffalo fries which came with hot Buffalo sauce, Blue Cheese mayo and crispy fried onions. It was a taste sensation and the flavours worked really well with one another.

The Wolf of St Vincent's Street

Complete with American cheese, Crispy Bacon, Pulled Pork in BBQ sauce, crispy friend onions and 'Nduja Mayo. Sounds pretty standard, right? Right- but there was definitely no need to over complicate this burger as it was just fine as it was. I'm quite partial to a pulled pork burger and in my opinion, the only risky aspect of ordering pulled pork is the fear that it will come fatty and chewy. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the meat arrived juicy and tender and literally fell apart in your mouth. When measuring this burger against my previous two burgers of late, in terms of 'holding it's own' for lack of a better expression, The Wolf of St Vincent's Street is definitely my winner I managed to eat the burger with very little of it's contents spilling out. Another nice touch was the name- named after the Glasgow's St Vincent's Street- where the restaurant is located, the very same burger is named 'Lothian Wolf' in the Edinburgh restaurant.

The Wolf of St Vincent's Street

My One Criticism

The place is TINY, if you're looking to have a private conversation then you can think again about doing so in Bread Meats Bread. There is literally only one (don't quote me) booth in the whole place? I could feel my elbows banging against the person's beside me- and I'm not exactly a massive person, despite what all you guys who don't know me must be thinking. Anyway, luckily Ally and I were probably only chatting about sloths or something so privacy wasn't an issue.
 

 Overall

I'll keep it short and sweet. 10/10 for the fries and 9/10 for the burger this rating was based on the excellent quality of both food and service but unfortunately had to deduct just one wee teeny point for the burger being a weeeeee bit greasy. 100% recommend!

[Review: Lebowskis- Glasgow West]

 

Corey’s favourite film is ‘The Big Lebowski,’ which to be honest, I don’t actually know much about… annnnd at this point you are all thinking about what a terrible girlfriend I am. We did try to watch it together one time but all I really got from it was that the characters spent a lot of time in a bowling alley and drank a lot of White Russians. So, when I walked into Lebowski’s to see a table held up by several bowling pins and a menu solely dedicated to White Russian’s, I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

First Impressions

To put it simply- really cool, and I felt really cool being in there, like a right wee west-ender. There was a definite buzz in the atmosphere and every table was occupied despite it being only six o’clock on a Tuesday evening so I hoped that was an accurate reflection on the food and drink. If you want me to get technical, it’s not ideal in terms of location as it’s bang in the centre of all the nearest subway stations which were a good twenty minute walk away, and with Buchanan Street only a twenty-five minute walk away- you might as well walk if you’re travelling from the centre of the town.

The pair of us were totally overwhelmed by the selection of White Russian’s on the menu... the menu that was solely dedicated to White Russians. It was pretty embarrassing actually, the waiter approached us three times to ask for our drinks order before either of us could come to a decision. The White Russian’s are all named after characters from the film with a short quote beneath, which I imagine would be a great touch if you were familiar with the film.

White Russians

Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese- Classic burger pattie, mac n cheese, mozerrella and bacon fritter with smoked bacon jam.

Oh my God, mac ‘n’ cheese on a burger… naw. I expected this burger to come with actual macaroni cheese poured over the top of the burger like a thick sauce, so you can imagine my disappointment when the burger came looking like this...

Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese
 

 
The mac ‘n’ cheese was wrapped in a thick batter and placed on top of the burger. My initial reaction was to cut it in half to see the mac ‘n’ cheese but in hindsight this probably wasn’t one of my smarter moves and the burger proved extremely challenging to eat. The batter was too thick and too greasy and as a result I could hardly taste the mac ‘n’ cheese, and in the end I removed it, and ate the burger without it. The burger itself was well done and had a peppery, crunchy exterior, sweetened by the bacon jam. It was great… without the mac ‘n’ cheese.

To Conclude...

In terms of value for money, the total bill came to roughly £50. For this price we both ordered a burger each which came with a side of fries, a dipping sauce which we paid a small surcharge for, one diet coke and a total of four White Russian's. Upon receiving the bill, I was actually pleasantly surprised and taking into consideration the size of the burgers I wouldn't describe this bar over priced. I would definitely recommend Lebowski's as a great bar with a lot of character and friendly staff but the next time I would perhaps choose a different burger. I'd give the Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese a 6/10 star rating.

[Review: Nice N' Sleazy's MeatHammer]

 

It’s hard for me to explain my overall first impression of Nice n Sleazy’s because the first (and last) time I visited the bar was six years ago, and I wasn’t all that impressed. Although in hindsight, I’m sure this opinion was fuelled by inconsiderate bouncers who had the audacity to do their job correctly and actually deny my seventeen-year-old self to every club along Sauchiehall Street. Until stumbling upon Sleazy’s. It was mobbed with old looking young folk awkwardly jerking to the likes of Joy Division.

The Menu

Upon entering the bar, it was exactly as I remember it- dull with awful décor. As Corey and I took our seats and glanced over the menu I was strongly regretting our choice of venue. To my disappointment, the menu that we were given was a ‘temporary menu’ as the original MeatHammer Ltd chef had ‘fucked up his taxes’ and they were unable to use the original menu for whatever reason. It was a measly slice of laminated paper filled with pixilated, near illegible words, and I feared that this was a shortened version of the original menu but luckily after looking on the website, it was the exact same.

 

Mr Piggy
 

The Burger

We decided to go for something a bit different- ‘Mr Piggy- one beef burger topped with chorizo, haggis, tomato, gem lettuce, bacon, chilli jam & smoked cheddar’ although, we opted for no salad because, “well… who needs foliage on a burger?” (Corey Little, direct quote). The burger was tall and slim (unlike myself, by the end of this blog) as opposed to flat and broad. It. Was. Amazing. We never specified how we would like our burger to be cooked however it came medium and served on a brioche bun, which is exactly how I like it. However, fitting the burger in your mouth to get a taste of everything in a one-er proved to be quite challenging and I found the burger to fall apart quite easily and it ended up pretty messy!

'Mr Piggy' cost us £10.95, which I would personally say is roughly the average price you would expect to pay in Glasgow for a decent burger, and most of the time that price wouldn't include chips or sides, however for £10.95 we also received a side order of skinny fries. The portion wasn't particularly big and the chips were good- but nothing to rave about BUT we received fries all the same so I'm not going to complain! Overall, I would give ‘Mr Piggy’ a solid 8/10. Thoroughly enjoyed this burger and didn't leave the bar regretting the countless calories I had just devoured.

 
 

 

 P.S.

We also ordered a pulled pork quesadilla from the menu and split both dishes down the middle. Although this blog will feature mainly burgers, I feel the quesadilla was sufficient enough for a mention too. I would definitely recommend!

  

The full shabang.