New Product Alert: Doxy Fine Foods

I received three Doxy’s Fine Foods Natural Seasoning Blends to try – Cocoa Fusion, Smoky Chipotle and Natural Onion Soup & Dip Mix.  I was excited to see how these gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan “recipe starters” would work in some of the recipes I found on Doxy’s web site.  Well…let’s just say that’s where my excitement ended.  I have to admit, as someone who cooks regularly, I am often unimpressed by packets of seasonings – they’re just a combo of all the spices I already have, so they just often seem like an unnecessary expense.  They’re also not as tasty as homemade seasonings.  In any case, I kept an open mind while trying three different recipes.

First, I found recipe for “Movie Night Popcorn” on the Doxy web site,  where you use any plain popcorn, douse it with some butter and cover it with a seasoning blend.  I chose the Cocoa Fusion, which includes cocoa along with a little sugar, paprika chili pepper and salt.  I thought the combo would provide a nice sweet-spicy kick to some regular ol’ popcorn.  I filled up a medium sized bowl with plain popcorn, covered it in about 2 tablespoons butter, and tossed it with about half of a pack of the Cocoa Fusion blend.  I could taste a bit of the cocoa, followed by a slight spice from the chili powder.  It provided a subtle flavor, but nothing to write home about.

I then tried to the Smoky Chipotle seasoning blend.  I followed another recipe on Doxy’s site for “Smoky Chipotle Ketchup.”  I halved the recipe, which required me to simmer ¾ cup ketchup, ½ packet of the Smoky Chipotle blend, a bit of lime juice and dash of tequila.  I let it go on the stove for about 5 minutes to let the flavors come together and then tasted it with some fries and a burger.  I could not taste the tequila or lime, but could taste the combination of flavors from the seasoning: dried minced garlic, dried cilantro, salt, dried chipotle and onion powder.  It wasn’t particularly strong and didn’t seem to upgrade the ketchup like I thought it would.

Last I made a dip with the Natural Onion Soup & Dip seasoning blend using sour cream and greek yogurt, another recommendation from the Doxy web site.  Again, I halved the recipe, using 4 oz. sour cream and 4 oz. greek yogurt and half a packet of the seasoning, and let it chill for about 30 minutes.  I really, really love onion dip, so I was excited about this one.  But, again, the result was just OK.  I tasted the dip with Stacey’s Multigrain Pita Chips (which I love).  The blend made the mix chalky with a subtle onion flavor, unlike a true onion dip.

While Doxy’s Fine Foods has a great idea in providing seasoning blends to jump start meals, I think they have awhile to go when it comes to perfecting their products.  It’s not something I would add to my kitchen or recommend to others – especially at the price of $3.50 per 1.4 oz package!

Tags: product review

Category: Product Review, Reviews