Santa Rosa Sliced Turkey product reviews

It doesnt really matter that I have a small fridge in my caravan because these didn't last the day. I picked these up, headed back out to the working site and got back in time for dinner. I thought I would do up an omelette or something like it using some of this as the filling, so opened the pack and tried a little bi to see how it tasted. That spelled the end of life for this pack, because I ended up throwing it all into a bowl along with some torn lettuce, cherry tomatoes, some chopped canned beetroot and a couple of carrots grated. Turkey salad for dinner was just what I needed.

The packet says "sliced" which made me think of thin sheets of meat, but when I opened the pack I got a mix of big chunks, smaller bits, and what I can only describe as turkey crumbs. I actually liked this because the bigger bits were easy to stab with the fork and eat with salad as well, and the smaller bits soaked up the dressing and were full of flavour.

I want to buy more of this so that I can do the salad again with a bit more planning. I want to include avocado and cheese as well as make some of my favourite garlic and herb croutons. I think that would be a great way to enjoy this product, and if I am sure if I got the rest of the crew demanding it, I could talk the boss into covering the bill for doing a much larger batch for one of the work BBQs.

Usually when you want to have a bit of cold turkey you have to cook up a whole bird and then have it taking up your whole fridge as you struggle to get through it. That isn't practical for most people especially as turkeys aren't in the shops for most of the year. I was pleased to see that Santa Rosa had put out a range of cooked turkey products. The sliced roast turkey looked just like the leftover bits of Christmas turkey my mum would give us to bring home. The 300g pack did our family of four quite nicely for the week.

The first thing I did with the sliced turkey was as a pizza topping. The turkey did dry out a bit especially the cold pizza the next day but it still tasted great and we all enjoyed it. The rest of the turkey was used in sandwiches for our lunches. It was a nice change from ham sandwiched as wasn't dry like roast turkey tends to be. I also admit to eating some of the turkey straight as I was making the sandwiches too.

The only problem I found was packaging wasn't resealable so I had to transfer it to an airtight container. The cost is more than I would usually pay for cold meats but I am happy to buy it for a bit of variety or when we are having guests.

When I realised that this packet was quite large, I decided to try it in two different ways. I had two meals planned for consecutive evenings with different friends, so assured them I would do the cooking and they could provide the wine! I do have a penchant for turkey because it is one of those meats that is low calorie and high protein, meaning it is a good healthy option. At the same time, its mild flavour means that it mixes well with many different flavours. My personal favourite additive is cranberry so I made a conscious decision to avoid this combination this time round and concentrate on a couple of new ideas.

The first meal (with two friends) was a plate meal with black rice and spiced vegetables. Black rice is a firm favourite with my friends and family now; since discovering it (courtesy of KIWIreviews and SP Herb Ltd) I have become well and truly addicted and am constantly finding new ways to serve it. The rice has its own flavour which went beautifully with the light turkey, adding texture and interest. The meal was completed with a stir-fried combination of shredded vegetables cooked with sweet chilli sauce and garlic. Everyone loved the way the other ingredients complemented the turkey. I did not heat the meat; I added it cold on top of the rice and vegetables as a garnish.

The second meal was a little different as we decided to use the turkey as an entree rather than a main. We started with some soft, slightly sweet organic oat biscuits and then added layers of basil pesto and turkey. Both the biscuits and the pesto were home made so we already knew what to expect of them, and the inclusion of three different textures meant it was interesting to eat! This was a flavour combination new to all of us, and one that appealed so much that we considered skipping the main altogether and just having a second entree.

In terms of price, I thought it was extremely good value. We fed four people a main meal and had enough left over to make an entree for another three. Because of the way it was served, the meat went a long way and in combination with the other ingredients provided a well-balanced and nutritious result. I would buy this product again as I would like to try it in a wrap or on a pizza. It is surprisingly moist for turkey, and would lend itself to many different uses. I see it as being a versatile product with lots of different possibilities.

For something different, I promised my son waffles for breakfast today. We don't normally have waffles, but for a change, I had all the ingredients at the same time, so we went for it. He, of course, wanted sweet waffles - choc chips and banana - but I wanted savoury. Thinking about it, inspiration hit me and I decided to do waffles with turkey meat, parmesan cheese and sweet chilli sauce. I admit I had a few doubts as to how well it would work... but the first bite told me I had made a wise decision.

Making the waffles was easy enough - I made the batter without sugar so I could swing them towards sweet or savoury using only the fillings and toppings. After placing the first waffle on the plate, I sprinkled on some grated Parmesan cheese and a light swirl of sweet chilli sauce topped with the sliced turkey breast meat which I had heated in the microwave first. Another light swirl of sauce went on last before placing the second waffle on top, and some more grated parmesan to finish it. Then it was time to eat... I was nervous. It was delicious. I couldn't have been happier.

The only slight issue I found was that heating the meat in the microwave caused it to stick together at the edges. I have no idea why - chicken meat doesn't usually do this unless I overcook it, but I only gave the turkey 30 seconds at 70% power, which is less power than I would use to warm a tortilla wrap. This made it awkward to distribute the meat evenly across the waffle, but I used quite a bit of meat and the waffles weren't that large so it just made for a very generous-looking serving.

I found the meat to have a nice texture, well suited to my carnivorous tendencies and preferences. The flavour was, admittedly, quite subsumed by the chilli sauce, but being such a lean meat, turkey breast doesn't tend to have a lot of flavour on its own, relying instead on the sauces and side-dishes to do the heavy-lifting taste-wise.

Overall, this is a great product and while more costly than chicken - to quite a significant degree, at first sight, one must keep in mind that it's a harder meat to raise and process in a domesticated format. It's something a little special, it does have a mild and very pleasant taste when you don't drown it under something strong - something I confirmed by having a few bits to myself while assembling the waffles - and it's quite healthy. Definitely worth a try, and something I will be looking at buying when I want easy, pre-cooked meat for those nights when I get home from being out all day and just want food without the stress of complicated or heavy cooking.

Turkey is something I have only recently tried all as a result of the wonderful opportunity to do so thanks to both KIWIreviews and Santa Rosa. When I first saw the turkey up for review I was excited by the idea of trying something new, there was very little that I knew about turkey, other than that turkey are large birds, that turkey is mainly eaten by Americans during celebrations and that it apparently tasted like chicken! Of all the 3 products I was given to try out this was the one I was looking forward to trying the most as I had several ways in which I wanted to try it out.

The turkey comes in a large 300gram pack and instead of being a shaved product it comes in sliced pieces which are quite chunky and in various different shapes and sizes. The packet was easy to open as it had a corner that peeled back without any problems, and the bright blue, green and white packaging with the bold lettering makes it really stand out, I immediately spotted this at the supermarket last week.

When I first tried the turkey from this pack I have to say I was a tad disappointed as I had really enjoyed the shaved roasted and shaved smoked turkey in the Santa Rosa range, and sadly this one didn't live up to the standard. In my opinion this was due to the fact it was in chunks, which to be honest is probably a lot more like how roast turkey tastes, but I actually found it to be rather dry and chewy and not as flavoursome as I would have liked. I offered Miss 4 a piece to try but she wasn't that keen on it either and said "I like the other (smoked) turkey better).

Nonetheless I didn't want the product going to waste so decided to put it to good use. I first decided to try it out as a pizza topping. I prepared my favourite pizza dough and rolled it out. To this I added some cranberry sauce, mozzarella cheese, baby spinach leaves, some dried craisins and last but not least the sliced turkey and some pieces of camembert. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the results, and found that the turkey didn't taste anywhere near as bad when served this way. It still lacked flavour in my opinion but the cranberry sauce and cheese seemed to make it a lot moister which was a good thing. My partner enjoyed this and said it was just like the pizza I usually make but with chicken, he didn't know i'd put turkey instead.

With the remaining roast sliced turkey I decided to put it into a cheesey pasta bake I was making along with some chopped sundried tomatoes and some diced bacon. The turkey added a nice meaty texture to the dish and it was again moister and not so dry as a result of all the sauce but again, I still felt it really lacked in flavour sadly.

If you are a die hard turkey fan then you should probably try this product, I loved it in shaved form but sadly not in sliced. This is not a product I will buy again but I can see that many people would probably like it.