Update Review March 2020
I've tried Galant products before, like the piroshki from their Paramount Piroshki line (tasty fried dough wrapper, meh fillings), and their Clara's Kitchen line (calzones with good fillings, meh dough). While none were amazing, all had redeeming qualities, so when I had the chance to order more products again for a quick grab-n-go style meal, I did.I skipped the piroshki this time, and went for another flavor of calzone, and checked out the products I was most excited for anyway: the Benny's Bagel Dogs!
Benny's Jumbo Bagel Dogs
"A smokey and flavorful frank rolled in a New York style bagel. Our Jumbo bagel dogs are an authentic delicatessen offering. Individually labeled for retail sale and bulk packed for food service."
Oh, hot dogs. My guilty pleasure. I sometimes love hotdogs, so I was pretty excited for these. You can find them at grocery and convenience stores too.
These are available in 3 varieties: turkey hotdog in sesame bagel, beef with onion bagel, or polish sausage in a plain bagel.
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| Turkey Bagel Dog. |
The bagel dogs came individually packaged, with easy heating instructions - thawed preferred, but both frozen and thawed given, and microwave or conventional oven.
I went for the oven, which required wrapping in foil and baking at 375* for about 15 minutes. Microwaving took <1 minute.
I opened the package and wasn't particularly excited.
The bagel part seemed kinda soft, and, although it was jumbo sized as promised, it just didn't look particularly great.
The bagel did get considerably better once baked though - crispy outside, although strangely moist where adjacent to the hotdog. It had sesame seeds kinda integrated into it rather than on the outside, and they were kinda lost, but it also had a considerable onion component, which I did like. It added a lot of flavor.
Inside was the hot dog, a good size hot dog, turkey. It had a strong turkey flavor, if that makes sense, very clearly not a beef or pork dog. It was fine, but, yes, turkey.
Overall, this was all fine. Not great, not something I'd go for again, but fine. A deceptively heavy item, at 580 calories per bagel dog, although, as I said, it was a decently large item.
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| Jumbo Turkey Bagel Dog: unwrapped. |
The bagel part seemed kinda soft, and, although it was jumbo sized as promised, it just didn't look particularly great.
The bagel did get considerably better once baked though - crispy outside, although strangely moist where adjacent to the hotdog. It had sesame seeds kinda integrated into it rather than on the outside, and they were kinda lost, but it also had a considerable onion component, which I did like. It added a lot of flavor.
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| Turkey Bagel Dog: Cross Section. |
Overall, this was all fine. Not great, not something I'd go for again, but fine. A deceptively heavy item, at 580 calories per bagel dog, although, as I said, it was a decently large item.
Original Review 2019
I often review snack foods (most Fridays in fact ...), but this one is a bit different. Piroshki. Do they count as snacks?Galant Foods started as a little piroshki shop in San Francisco’s Richmond District in 1956. Since then, it has grown, considerably, now with several entirely different product lines: Paramount Piroshki (focusing on piroshki), Benny's Bagel Dogs (yup, bagel dogs), and Clara's Kitchen (burritos, calzones, and more).
Paramount Piroshki
The first product line from Galant that I tried was Paramount Piroshki. They offer only piroshki."Since 1956, we have been delivering this Eastern European experience to cafes, delis, and institutional customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Handmade, our piroshki are stuffed with a variety of savory fillings and come either baked or fried. Perfect for appetizers, mini piroshki are also available upon request."
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| Individually Wrapped Piroshki. |
I opted for the traditional beef & cheese, and the crazy sounding "pizza" varieties, both fried. You can find these in many grocery stores around the Bay Area.
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| Beef & Cheese, Fried. |
"Traditional pre-fried Piroshki. Ground beef, and cheddar cheese." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor
"Ground beef and cheddar cheese in an authentic Russian bread dough." -- Paramount Piroshki
I started with traditional beef and cheese, fried style. It was fully cooked and fried, shipped frozen, but I allowed it to thaw.
It came individually wrapped, with clear instructions on how to heat up: 60-90 seconds in microwave (on paper towel) or 15-20 min in 350* oven (wrapped in foil). I took the later approach, since I was worried the microwave would just make soggy.
Before I cooked it though, I cut off the end to look inside. I wanted to see what I was in for!
The filling didn't look particularly generous, and I didn't see cheese, only some ground beef. It looked like a lot of bread, particularly the end, the filling didn't extend very far through.
But I wrapped it up in foil, and waited 15 minutes.
When I unwrapped it however, it was just as soggy as I feared the microwave approach would make it. I left it unwrapped to cook longer.
Once I baked it a bit longer unwrapped, the exterior got more crispy, which is what I wanted.
I still didn't see cheese oozing out though, which made me sad. I expected a far more substantial cheese component.
I bit in. The filling was ... ok. Basically, just ground beef. Not really seasoned, just a little salt and pepper. The ingredients say there was a little onion too. I didn't really taste it. Fairly plain filling, and it made me want to dunk it in ketchup. I might have detected a tiny bit of cheese, but certainly not much, and it tasted more like mozzarella than cheddar.
I can't say I was particularly drawn in by this filling.
The exterior though was fairly fascinating. Fried dough. Very fried dough. Since it was reheated, it wasn't dripping in oil, but it was very clearly quite fried. Greasy and fried. In the way that fried dough is. It made me think of state fair fried dough or a donut. But, uh, with beef inside. I kinda liked it.
Overall, this was a mixed success for me. I think with the filling, I would have preferred a baked piroshki, not fried, and I would have liked it more if I took the time to get some ketchup to dunk it in. Or, really, I would have liked it more if it had cheese and seasoning. But I did like the fried dough, I just wanted it served differently, like, with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or other sweet toppings.
"Ground beef and cheddar cheese in an authentic Russian bread dough." -- Paramount Piroshki
I started with traditional beef and cheese, fried style. It was fully cooked and fried, shipped frozen, but I allowed it to thaw.
It came individually wrapped, with clear instructions on how to heat up: 60-90 seconds in microwave (on paper towel) or 15-20 min in 350* oven (wrapped in foil). I took the later approach, since I was worried the microwave would just make soggy.
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| Beef & Cheese, Fried: Inside, Unbaked. |
The filling didn't look particularly generous, and I didn't see cheese, only some ground beef. It looked like a lot of bread, particularly the end, the filling didn't extend very far through.
But I wrapped it up in foil, and waited 15 minutes.
When I unwrapped it however, it was just as soggy as I feared the microwave approach would make it. I left it unwrapped to cook longer.
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| Beef & Cheese, Fried: Baked. |
I still didn't see cheese oozing out though, which made me sad. I expected a far more substantial cheese component.
I bit in. The filling was ... ok. Basically, just ground beef. Not really seasoned, just a little salt and pepper. The ingredients say there was a little onion too. I didn't really taste it. Fairly plain filling, and it made me want to dunk it in ketchup. I might have detected a tiny bit of cheese, but certainly not much, and it tasted more like mozzarella than cheddar.
I can't say I was particularly drawn in by this filling.
The exterior though was fairly fascinating. Fried dough. Very fried dough. Since it was reheated, it wasn't dripping in oil, but it was very clearly quite fried. Greasy and fried. In the way that fried dough is. It made me think of state fair fried dough or a donut. But, uh, with beef inside. I kinda liked it.
Overall, this was a mixed success for me. I think with the filling, I would have preferred a baked piroshki, not fried, and I would have liked it more if I took the time to get some ketchup to dunk it in. Or, really, I would have liked it more if it had cheese and seasoning. But I did like the fried dough, I just wanted it served differently, like, with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or other sweet toppings.
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| Pepperoni, Beef, & Sausage Pizza Deluxe, Fried. |
"Traditional pre-fried Piroshki. Pepperoni, Italian sausage, Cheese, and tomato sauce."
Traditional beef out of the way, next I went for the ridiculous "Pizza Deluxe" version, featuring pepperoni, sausage, and pizza sauce, in addition to beef and mozzarella cheese this time.
I again baked it.
The pizza flavor also didn't have nearly as much cheese as I wanted. This time mozzarella rather than cheddar, but still, not much to be found, certainly not oozing out as I wanted. Maybe I just want a Hot Pocket?
The pizza sauce was kinda nice, since I did somewhat want marinara or ketchup to dip the simple beef & cheese one in before.
The filling though ... eh. Bits of pepperoni, bits of Italian sausage, bits of ground beef. Nothing particularly flavorful nor well spiced.
Eh. I did like the fried shell again.
Traditional beef out of the way, next I went for the ridiculous "Pizza Deluxe" version, featuring pepperoni, sausage, and pizza sauce, in addition to beef and mozzarella cheese this time.
I again baked it.
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| Pepperoni, Beef, & Sausage Pizza Deluxe, Fried. |
The pizza sauce was kinda nice, since I did somewhat want marinara or ketchup to dip the simple beef & cheese one in before.
The filling though ... eh. Bits of pepperoni, bits of Italian sausage, bits of ground beef. Nothing particularly flavorful nor well spiced.
Eh. I did like the fried shell again.
Clara's Kitchen
Next, I tried Clara's Kitchen, a fairly random product line of wraps (breakfast style or Mexican or Thai), breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches on english muffins, and calzones.
Calzones
"Mama Mia! Each one of our handmade calzones is double proofed, and stuffed with traditional and unique fillings. From Chicken Fajita, to Pesto-Mushroom. Individually labeled for retail sale and bulk packed for foodservice."
The calzone lineup includes both meat and veggie selections: Italian Brand Three Meat Combo , Chicken Fajita, Spinach-Feta, and Pesto Mushroom.
I tried several varieties.
"Sauteed mushrooms, natural mozzarella and cheddar cheeses and pesto sauce in a scrumptious dough."
From the outside, this looked like a pretty standard calzone, the right shape, although it had a random sprinkle of sesame seeds on top, some green visible from within, and looked a little doughy.
Instructions are to microwave for 45 seconds, or wrap in foil and convection oven bake at low temperature (225*) for 15-20 minutes. I had zero hope that the microwave would work well here, expecting it to make the dough tough, so I went for the convection oven, even though I found the temperature strangely low.
After 15 minutes I checked on it, and, although warm, the exterior was just soft and not quite what I wanted. Much like the piroshki, I left it unwrapped for a few minutes, and cranked up the heat, and got better results, a nice crispy exterior.
The crust though ... eh. "Scrumptious dough", they proclaimed, but I wasn't into it. It tasted too "healthy", whole wheat, hearty, and just not pizza dough at all.
But the insides were good.
The mozzarella cheese got melty, the mushrooms were soft and meaty, and the pesto quite flavorful. Good onion and garlic flavors too. The fillings were all in the right ratio to each other.
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| Pesto Mushroom. |
From the outside, this looked like a pretty standard calzone, the right shape, although it had a random sprinkle of sesame seeds on top, some green visible from within, and looked a little doughy.
Instructions are to microwave for 45 seconds, or wrap in foil and convection oven bake at low temperature (225*) for 15-20 minutes. I had zero hope that the microwave would work well here, expecting it to make the dough tough, so I went for the convection oven, even though I found the temperature strangely low.
After 15 minutes I checked on it, and, although warm, the exterior was just soft and not quite what I wanted. Much like the piroshki, I left it unwrapped for a few minutes, and cranked up the heat, and got better results, a nice crispy exterior.
The crust though ... eh. "Scrumptious dough", they proclaimed, but I wasn't into it. It tasted too "healthy", whole wheat, hearty, and just not pizza dough at all.
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| Pesto Mushroom: Inside. |
The mozzarella cheese got melty, the mushrooms were soft and meaty, and the pesto quite flavorful. Good onion and garlic flavors too. The fillings were all in the right ratio to each other.
So, good filling, kinda poor crust. I think it would be improved with some pesto on the side to dunk it in.
I wouldn't want this again.
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| Spinach Feta Calzone: Unbaked. |
Like the previous variety I tried, the calzone certainly didn't look great before cooking.
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| Spinach Feta Calzone: Inside (unbaked). |
Cooking instructions are to microwave, but I went for the toaster oven, wrapped in foil for about 5 minutes at 400* and then unwrapping for a few more minutes. It worked great - the fillings hot and gooey, the exterior perfectly crispy. Highly recommend this cooking method.
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| Spinach Feta Calzone: Inside (baked). |
I did appreciate that the feta was slightly balanced out by ricotta and mozzarella, and the mozzarella in particular created a nice melty gooey inside, but still, the feta dominated. Spinach was nicely chopped and seasoned with assorted spices ("lemon pepper seasoning"), but I didn't taste the onions and garlic, and there was also bread crumbs inside, which I didn't quite understand, they made the texture a bit off for me.
So, filling-wise, this was not a winner for me. I greatly preferred the filling to the mushroom pesto calzone I had before.
But the crust was quite successful. I think I must have just been in the right mood for this. I loved how I got it crispy, and it was quite doughy, but that worked for me. I found myself just wanting a dipping sauce to dunk it in, and otherwise quite enjoying it.
I wouldn't get this variety again, but I'm now interested in trying the mushroom pesto again, and seeing if I can improve the crust situation ...
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