Product Review: PC Chicken Grenades

This past weekend I tried a new President’s Choice product from one of the winners of Recipe to Riches. For those who haven’t heard of it, Recipe to Riches is a one-hour show on the Food Network where, each week, a group of average people from across Canada compete to have one their signature recipes turned into a PC product. The recent winner was a gentleman by the name of John Grass, a former pro football player. John’s winning recipe, Chicken Grenades, was intended to be a spin on the traditional meatball. 

I was excited to try the Chicken Grenades for a couple of reasons. One, I LOVE appetizers. I’m not sure I’ve met a cheese puff, mini quiche or pot sticker that I did not love, and President’s Choice typically knows how to do appies up right. And two, John Grass happens to be a fellow New Brunswicker. What kind of Maritimer would I be if I didn’t support my homeboy?

Now, before I go any further, allow me to share with you the product description from the box:

“Each of these flavour bombs is made with a slice of bacon, wrapped around a piece of seasoned chicken breast fillet with shredded pizza mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses and jalapeno peppers, glazed with apple pepper jelly and dusted with a barbecue dry rub”

Sounds pretty freaking great, right?  You’d think with so many layers of complimentary flavours that John’s recipe would be a tasty touchdown (pun intended). Plus, I’m a big fan of food that manages to incorporate sweet, salty, savoury and spicy into one bite, so I’m not exactly sure what happened with these little guys. The best I can figure is that it was a bunch of small things:

1. The bacon didn’t cook properly. I like my bacon crispy and it was nearly impossible to get the bacon the way I like it without turning the chicken into little poultry pellets.
2. The cheese oozed out and onto the baking sheet as the Chicken Grenades (CG’s) cooked, leaving very little left in the CG’s themselves.
3. The little skewers that the CG’s came on burned as they cooked. ‘Nuff said.
4. They were just a smidge too spicy. It kind of overwhelmed the other flavours.
5. A package of 10, one-sometimes-two-bite grenades costs $8.99. When you consider that this is a new product, the price tag seems a bit steep to me.

To sum up, I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in these little concoctions. Maybe if they had been grilled on a BBQ or had been made from scratch my opinion would be different but, as it stands, I’ll be giving the Chicken Grenades a pass when it comes time to stock up on goodies for the holidays. That said, despite my disappointment, I will continue to purchase and, undoubtedly, thoroughly enjoy President’s Choice products for many years to come.  

Keep the good eats coming Galen!