Martha Stewart Kitchens

Do you like Martha Stewart, but not have time to make her recipes?  Do not fear, you can now find her in the ... frozen food section of your local grocery store!

Yes, Martha Steward Kitchens, a frozen goods line, launched during "The Pandemic", and I, a captive audience, drawn in by the branding, decided to give it a try.

"Martha's personal mission has been to teach and inspire people of all ages to make their homes and live more beautiful, more functional, and more meaningful. The Martha Stewart Kitchen mission is to bring delicious, yet convenient, gourmet foods items from your local grocery store to your table for entertaining or everyday use."

For retail distrbution, Martha has made 7 different product lines, although only 3 are currently available in stores.  I was able to find the Desserts and Appetizers, all of which looked fairly amazing, but none of the Side Dishes.  Still to come are Sauces & Marinades, Quiches & Tarts, Cookie Dough, and Spice Blends.

Each category is filled with heavy hitters.  Martha clearly knows what people like, what will be crowd pleasers, and yet still be unique.  All are, at least in theory, based on her well known recipes.  Most are fairly simple to prepare, just heat and serve (or even easier, thaw and serve), although a few have slight assembly required.  All include bonus tips from Martha on how to amp up the presentation a touch more.

Unfortunately, right now, they are only sold through 4 supermarket chains: Hannaford, Meijer, Jewel Osco, and HyVee, none of which are located where I live.  However ... I took advantage of a visit to my parent's house, where they do have a Hannaford, to try an item.  I was impressed, and would gladly try more.

Appetizers

"Let Martha Stewart Kitchen take the guess work out of your next hors d’oeuvres selection. Prepared favorites such as our Leek & Cheese Bread Pudding Bites,  Goat Cheese Hors D’oeuvres or Mini Spinach Quiche, are sure to impress. These delicious, yet easy appetizers are perfect served up for a mid-day snack or pair them together for your next event."

Martha's appetizers are incredibly appealing, with a baked brie en croute with brown sugar, apples, & pecans that would be perfect for a holiday spread, mini, grab-able bites like goat cheese and herb phyllo dough pastrys, leek and cheese bread pudding bites, tomato tartlets with roasted tomatoes and fontina, mini quiches, and of course, pigs in a blanket and mac and cheese bites, just to really round it all out.

Most are ready-to-bake, although some, like pigs in a blanket, are DIY kits, with slight assembly required.

Side Dishes

"Martha Stewart Kitchen has brought you a selection of elevated, yet simple to prepare, side dishes. Our offerings include an indulgent Four Cheese Macaroni & Cheese, fluffy Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese, and delectable Brown Sugar Brussels with Uncured Bacon. Ready in under 30 minutes, Martha takes the prep work out of your next meal."

I was sooo sad my store did not carry any side dishes, as these sound amazing too.  Some are slightly more boring (green beans, although even those come tossed with pecans and with a maple glaze or mixed grain pilaf), others are pretty standard (mashed potatoes - but with cream cheese for extra indulgence, mac and cheese - four cheese, yes breadcrumbs, scalloped potatoes), and others really called out to me (brown sugar brussels sprouts with bacon, "duo potatoes" featuring both mashed potatoes and sweet potato puree and fried onion topping, and creamed spinach with a legit sounding béchamel.

Given the quality of other items I tried, I'm fairly confident that these could pass off as really well homemade, or restaurant quality, and easily round out your dinner party/holiday party feast.

Desserts

"Martha Stewart Kitchen brings dessert to your table in a fraction of the time. Our offerings include a warm Apple Crisp, fudgy Double Chocolate Brownies, and a classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Whether enjoying yourself or sharing with a friend these prepared desserts are sure to keep you coming back for seconds."

I'm a dessert girl to the core, and I was *thrilled* by the dessert line up.  All were designed to be crowd pleasers, obviously, but also all are things I really do like: fruit crisps (apple, mixed fruit - with apples/rhubarb/blackberries/raspberries), fruit hand pies (apple, mixed fruit - this time with apples/strawberry/rhubarb/cherries, or peach & apple), carrot cake (of course with cream cheese frosting), and, the only one I could care less about, double chocolate brownies.  The carrot cake I really wanted to try, as it is the kind that has everything I love - nuts for crunch (pecans!), and pineapple for a bonus moisture, sweetness, and flavor.

Some are just thaw and serve, others require baking.

Apple Hand Pie Packaging.

I selected the apple hand pies as my first item to try.  The packaging did have a slightly upscale look about it.  Each box contains 2 individually wrapped hand pies.

Each is a single serving, they weren't really large enough to share a single one, even if you were serving a la mode. 

They were 370 calories, 20g fat, 15g sugar each, not too bad.  But again, they were fairly small.

The box was quite attractive, and honestly, the product really did live up to the packaging photos.

Apple Hand Pie: Frozen.

The pie honestly looked pretty good even frozen.  I was eager to get it heated up to eat it.

Cooking instructions are simple.  Do not thaw.  Do not microwave or toaster oven.  Use real oven. Bake at 350* for 20-23 minutes.  "Cool completely before serving".

I ... mostly followed the instructions, but did use a toaster oven (I have a very, very legit Breville "countertop oven", definitely not really a "toaster oven").

I also failed to comply with the "cool completely before serving", because, um, I wanted hot apple pie?

For bonus points, for each product, Martha includes a "tip" on how to amp up the product even further.  For this, the tip was: 

"Wrap in parchment and tie with baker's twine for an extra special presentation."

Yes, I skipped that too.

Apple Hand Pie: Baked.

"A classic combination of apples and sweet brown sugar, tucked in an all-butter crust and topped with sparkling sugar."

It baked up beautifully.

First impression?  It looked like it came from a local bakery.  Or perhaps homemade, if I was far more talented than I really am.  Really lovely looking product, with fluted edges that looked handmade, a sheen/glaze to it, and chunks of pearl sugar.

It tasted like it came from a local bakery too.  It did not, in any way, seem like a frozen, packaged, mass produced product.

The crust baked up *really* nicely.  It wasn't necessarily the butteriest, the flakiest, etc that I ever had, but definitely far, far above average, better than anything from a grocery store bakery department or frozen section, better than most bakeries around town really.  It wasn't soggy on the bottom, it didn't get burnt along the edges, it wasn't too dry ... it just baked up, well, perfectly.

Apple Hand Pie: Inside.

The inside was also good.

Thin sliced apples, not too soft, not too firm, just right.  No extra goo, not to apple-sauce like, just, real apples.  Again, way better quality than other packaged products.  Lightly spiced but nothing too strong, sweet but not too sweet.  Just, good.

I served it warm, a la mode, but I'm sure it would be fine cooled, with whipped cream, or just on its own.  

Overall, a very solid hand pie, I was pleased with it, but apple pie isn't really my favorite thing, so I wouldn't get it again unless really craving apple pie.