salsas and condiments Archives - Page 2 of 15

Boulevard 647 Buffalo Bleu Cheese Dip

by Brian Meagher : 01/05/2015

Over at the Boulevard 647 Specialty Food Company, our friend, the Hot Dip Mastermind Dwayne Dittmer, brings us his award winning Buffalo Bleu Cheese Dip. The French might call the cheese “bleu” but in America, we say BLUE CHEESE.

Buffalo Bleu Cheese Dip

Spice up your next Holiday or Football party with this delicious Award Winning buffalo cheese dip. It’s an easy heat and eat dip right out of the jar. Or, you can kick it up with some of the many recipe suggestions from Boulevard647.com.

Ingredients: cream cheese, hot sauce, butter, blue cheese, garlic, chipotle peppers, sugar, chili peppers, garlic powder, mustard powder, onion powder, paprika.

Boulevard 647 Buffalo Bleu Cheese Dip won the Chile Pepper Magazine’s 1st Place Award in both Condiment – Specialty, and Snacks – Prepared Dip categories. A double win!

Texture and Appearance: A very thick yellow dip with bits of spices throughout – it’s even gloppy.

Thick dip needs to be heated up.

Yes, gloppy is not an attractive word, but I wanted to distinguish it from the smooth, pasty cheese dips you see in the supermarket shelves near the chips. And in this case, “gloppy” is a good thing!

This is NOT thin cheese wiz stuff. But it does need to be heated to make it… well, dip-able. Very thick.

Taste Straight Up: Big bold cheese taste. Spicy on a medium level for a dip. It truly has a buffalo blue cheese flavor. This dip can be very useful. Beware, the salt content is high, but most buffalo sauce flavored recipes can be that way. Versatile.

Heat this dip for best flavor. With chips, it's pungent!

Heat this dip for best flavor. Our homemade pita chips.

Taste on Food: We heated up a cup of this dip to have with our homemade chicken tenders (below) and to dip with some pita chips (above). Pungent.

Our homemade chicken tenders were a perfect match.

Our homemade chick tenders were a perfect match.

Brian: This dip is great for a quickie. Just heat and eat. It was much better with the chicken tenders than it was with the pita chips. While I love blue cheese, I like controlling the amount of it in a dip. I think there could be more blue cheese crumbles versus the cheese mixture. And, like Marilyn says… this is some salty stuff.

Marilyn: This is a little too heavy on the blue cheese for me. I did like the creamy buffalo flavor, but the saltiness is a turnoff.

Heat Level: – Mildly spicy. Not too hot for the masses. Just right.

Overall Rating: – This dip has some promise. You could use it as is, or doctor it up. We think it’s very versatile and worthy of any party dip or veggie tray. Spicy.

Final Thoughts

Label/Graphics: The label and graphics are simple and clean. You know what you are getting.

We like the jar size – for a big party the jar is perfect – for a couple or smaller gathering, just spoon out what you need and keep the rest for later. Classic.

Where to buy: Boulevard 647 also makes a Garlic & Parmesan Artichoke Spinach Dip and both dips are available at http://boulevard647.com

Flyboy’s Salsa review

by Brian Meagher : 06/23/2014

Why should you order salsa online?

You can easily go to any grocery store and pick up Pace, or Tostidos, or even Chi-Chi’s… the list goes on and on. But what you end up with is a “grocery store salsa”. Mass produced with flavors and tastes that are bland and generic.

Why should you order salsa online?

Because you get a better salsa that is usually hand-crafted or is a small batch product. Especially the salsas that we review here on HotSauceDaily.

Enter Flyboy’s Salsa…

Flyboy’s Salsa

Flyboy’s Salsa out of Arlington, Texas, is the brainchild of Sean Ray and Ryan Renz. They both have ties to the airline industry, hence the name Flyboy’s Salsa.

The labels each feature a cartoon image of a WWII Fighter Plane, complete with angry eyes and jagged teeth. Just ready to eat and overtake the enemy’s planes.

Each heat level of Flyboy’s Salsa sports 2, 4, and 6 bombs in silhouette to indicate the heat level.

Their Mild, Medium and Hot salsas all have garlic, jalapeño and serrano chile peppers as base ingredients.

I can’t stress enough how much the garlic plays into these flavors.

I. Love. Garlic. Salsas.

And if you do too, all three of the Flyboy’s Salsas will make you happy.

Flyboy’s Salsa Mild

Ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, onions, cider vinegar, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, salt, water, red wine vinegar, serrano peppers, natural flavor. Contains sulfites.

Heat Level:

Fresh taste with garlic way up front. Very mild heat from the jalapeños, sweetness from the red wine vinegar, and a nice tingle from the serrano peppers. Versatile.

Flyboy’s Salsa Medium

Medium Salsa

Ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, onions, cider vinegar, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, salt, serrano peppers, water, red wine vinegar, natural flavor. Contains sulfites.

Heat Level:

The jump from Mild to Medium is not a big leap. While the Mild has that little tingle from the serranos, the Medium kicks that flavor up a notch or so. The garlic really starts to come center stage here too.

I could eat this salsa everyday.

Even the mild has it’s heat, and the Medium kicks that up a notch and a half.

First is the big garlic hit… a little fresh green jalapeño flavor, followed by the sting of the serrano peppers. Hidden underneath is a sweetness from the red wine vinegar. Everyday use.

Flyboy’s Salsa Hot

Hot Flyboys’s

Ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, onions, cider vinegar, cilantro, serrano peppers, jalapeño peppers, salt, water, red wine vinegar, natural flavor. Contains sulfites.

Heat Level:

The jump from Medium to Hot is a bigger deal… 2 notches at least.

Still presenting and capitalizing on the fresh garlic “bang”, Flyboy’s Hot is a whole new creature. Funny, since the ingredient list is still basically the same, only rearranged.

The most flavorful of the trio, Flyboy’s Hot brings on big flavors, big garlic, and big heat – well, as big as a serrano/jalapeno combo can get. Deliciously Hot.

Overall Rating:

Overall Rating: – For great taste and quality, and for superb graphics, labels and artwork, Flyboy’s is a class act, and is worthy of your dollars! Tell them HotSauceDaily sent you.

Social Media: Flyboy’s Salsa can be found on Twitter and on Facebook as Flyboysalsa.

Where to buy? Purchase FlyBoysSalsa here: FlyBoysSalsa.com.

Listen in as Brian and Sean Ray talk about Flyboy’s Salsa:

Musashi Green Sriracha and Spicy Mayo sauces

by Brian Meagher : 04/21/2014

Yes, a green sriracha sauce called Midori Sriracha and a Japanese Spicy Mayo are now available in the US.

Musashi Two Bottles

Musashi Foods introduces first green sriracha and authentic Japanese spicy mayo in US

A few bottles of Midori Sriracha and Japanese Spicy Mayo arrived at HotSauceDaily headquarters recently. What in the world? Green sriracha? What will we do with these?

Homemade Egg rolls

Egg rolls to the rescue! Marilyn cooked up a batch of her homemade egg rolls (from scratch), and along with some veggie lo mein, we had ourselves a spicy brunch with Musashi’s new sauces.

Musashi Midori Sriracha

Midori Sriracha Bottle

It’s weird to see a thick and saucy green sriracha that tastes for all the world just like sriracha! Oh, there are unique aspects of the flavor – we’ll get into that shortly.

Ingredients: green serrano peppers, garlic, rice vinegar, brown sugar, salt, xanthan gum, less than 1% preservatives, red cabbage juice, turmeric, sodium bicarbonate, glycerin

Texture & Appearance: Thick and very green – almost a perfect consistency for any application.

Midori Sriracha texture

Taste Straight Up: The vinegar hit is pretty strong here. Next up is the heat and burn from serranos – a bit sharper in profile than your usual “red” sriracha sauces.

Heat Level: – Overall, fairly tame in heat compared to the venerable “rooster sauce” of Huy Fong. I would even say a bit milder than the other new kid on the block, Texas Pete’s CHA!.

Overall Rating: – I give this 4 stars for effort. Maybe if the garlic were a bigger flavor here I’d go higher. Also, there’s the bright green color that my brain thinks “wasabi” or a bigger olfactory hit of heat and burn.

It just occurred to me that this is a perfect “starter” sauce for sriracha newbies. Wife or hubby not into the heat of Huy Fong’s Rooster sauce? Have them try Musashi’s Midori Sriracha and I bet you get them converted.

Midori Sriracha on food

We dipped some delicious egg rolls into the Midori Sriracha for our taste test. I preferred the Midori Sriracha over the Japanese Spicy Mayo, whereas Marilyn preferred the Mayo. Go figure, different tastes for different folks!

Final thoughts

As I said, this might just be the perfect sriracha sauce to get your significant other to like sriracha. Also, I can imagine this sauce as a great base for sriracha wings.

Musashi Japanese Spicy Mayo

Musashi Spicy Mayo

I did not know what to expect from this sauce. Wow! What a big, sharp hit of heat – right to the back of the throat. This creamy, thin sauce packs some punch.

Spicy Mayo from Musashi

Ingredients: mayonnaise (soybean oil, water, eggs, vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard flour, spices and EDTA (preservative)), water, red serrano peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate (preservative), potassium sorbate (preservative).

Texture & Appearance: Very thin and runny. It looks just like a thin deli style mustard with its muted color and flecks of spices.

Taste Straight Up: This smooth mayo sauce brings with it a sharp, back of the throat hit of heat. This is not a timid sauce. It’s also not a killer sauce… most anyone should be able to handle it.

Heat Level: – Just a tad above average in heat, the thin, spicy mayo from Musashi will hit you in the throat with the serrano peppers – this time they’re red serranos. Interesting!

Overall Rating: – I can’t get past the thin consistency (nowhere near a mayo thickness) and saucy appearance.

Mayo is mayo, and if you are going to create your version of a spicy mayo, it should be thicker. In my opinion.

Musashi Japanese Spicy Mayo on food

Marilyn loved this on her egg rolls – even more than the Midori Sriracha. I was the opposite.

Final thoughts

Musashi on food

Marilyn had a half dozen suggestions for this sauce – deviled eggs, sandwiches, egg salad… pretty much anything you’d put mayo into.

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Available on Amazon

Both sauces come in 12 ounce squeeze bottles and are available with our affiliate links on Amazon:

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Or you can order directly from Musashi:

http://musashispicymayo.com/order/green-sriracha and

http://musashispicymayo.com/order/japanese-spicy-mayo

Are you up for a green sriracha sauce? Or a spicy mayo with Japanese overtones? Leave a Comment below and let us know.

Salinas Salsa Mild Angel Hot

by Brian Meagher : 11/18/2013

A fresh salsa created in small batches that is authentic with every mouth watering bite. A homemade taste like no other.

Salinas Salsa Mild Angel Hot Salsa

Salinas Salsa, Co. is heating up Texas and beyond with their line of super fresh salsas. They are winning awards like the 2014 Worldfest People’s Choice Champion for Salsa Challenge.

This first review of 3 salsas begins with their “Mild Angel Hot” salsa. Salinas Salsa Mile is orange in color but green in flavor with cilantro and jalapeños and serrano chiles.

Nice texture.

Ingredients: fresh variety of tomatoes and onions, cilantro, fresh jalapeños & serrano peppers, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, fresh herbs and spices & sea salt.

Small, chunky texture is satisfying.

Texture & Appearance: 5/5 – Beautiful bright salsa with a medium grind texture. Remarkable for the consistent size of tiny chunks of tomatoes and chiles. I love the “chew” factor and crunch. Superb.

Taste Straight Up: 5/5 – Big taste of tomatoes and onions – almost like a “pico de gallo” flavor, without the big chunks. The garlic flavor is there, with the vinegar in the background with a fresh lime taste supporting the bright flavor of the chiles. The serrano peppers bring their own unique flavor without an overpowering heat. Classic.

Heat Level: 1/5 – The heat in Salinas Salsa Mild would appeal to everyone from Mom and Dad to Uncle “Chilehead” Ed. Just the right amount of heat and flavor to please everyone. Satisfying.

Nice cut-out style label.

Label/Graphics: Very classy with a “cut-out” designed label, but a bit on the dark side with the fonts. It’s hard to read from a distance, but the shape is recognizable once you become familiar with it. Original, but hard to read. On the plus side, the label doesn’t cover up much of the jar, so the contents are easily seen. Innovative.

Final Thoughts

Salsa, salsa, salsa. Red, red, red. That’s pretty typical, isn’t it? Salinas Salsa Mild is a green tasting salsa with a bright orange look. It is incredibly fresh tasting for a jarred salsa. It is truly green only in flavor and concept. Highly recommended.

We did the dip and chip standard taste test…

Made for chips and dipping.

…and heated some up on some nachos with taco meat and cheese. Delicious.

Perfect on nachos anyway you like them.

Stay tuned to our reviews of the other Salinas Salsa Co. offerings – That’s Good Hot, and Hunter’s Habanero Hot.

About Salinas Salsa Co.

Salinas Salsa, Co. is from the founder Eliseo ‘Shane’ Salinas, Jr. – created to make a natural homemade taste & spicy blend to match the flavors he grew up with. This a natural homemade taste that infuses Texas & Mexico together to give you the authentic taste and feel of the deep TexMex south.

Social Media: Follow Salinas Salsa Co on Facebook, Salinas Salsa on Google+, and on Twitter.

Where to buy: You can visit http://salinassalsaco.com/ to purchase all of their salsas, and as usual, please tell Shane that HotSauceDaily sent you.

If you are a fan of Salinas Salsa Co., please let us know in the Comments below. Are you a fan of green salsas? What do you like in a salsa? We want to know that too!

Frankie V’s Kitchen Salsas review

by Brian Meagher : 10/15/2013

Frankie V and the Serranos – Frankie V and the Habaneros – two salsa offerings from Frankie V’s Kitchen of Dallas, Texas that also make Spooky White and Fiery White hot sauces.

Frankie V’s Kitchen Salsas

FRANKIE V’S GOURMET HOT SAUCES AND SPREADS are made using the freshest and highest quality ingredients, local when we can and 100% all natural, Texas Style! Frankie V’s passion for cooking was the inspiration for transforming the ordinary into a culinary masterpiece. Made from scratch with attention to detail, every jar is inspected and approved before it leaves Frankie V’s Kitchen. Great food that’s great for you!

We met the inimitable Frankie V at the NYC Hot Sauce Festival, where Frankie V’s Kitchen won a 1st Place Screaming Mi Mi Award for Best Artwork as well as a 2nd Place Mi Mi for his Serrano salsa.

Frankie V at NYC Hot Sauce Expo 2013

Frankie V & The Serranos

Frankie V’s Serrano

I’ve mentioned many times publicly and here on this blog, that serranos are one of my top 2 favorite chiles for salsa (the other being chipotle chiles), and when you combine serranos with tomatillos, you have the makings of a very green, very flavorful salsa or hot sauce – if done right.

Texture & Appearance: This sauce is of a very fine grind. Think apple sauce consistency. And you can see in the pics that it has a bright green color.

Frankie V’s Serrano up close

Taste Straight Up: First up, a big hit of sweetness from the pear and pineapple give way to what you may perceive as vinegar… nope. That would be the tomatillos. A light garlic flavor finishes with the mild heat of the serrano chile peppers – with the lime juice adding a slight “tang” to the whole mix. This green serrano-based salsa with tomatillos and pineapple really brings on the fresh, citrusy flavor of a good mild salsa. And surprisingly, there is no vinegar in this salsa.

Heat level: – ½/5 A very mild salsa with a big “green” flavor.

Frankie V’s front label

Label/Graphics: Some of the best graphics we’ve seen in awhile. With a simple black & white “turn of the century” sideshow/circus “silent movie card” style of flourished fonts and embellishments – the front panel and side panel graphics are inventive and entertaining. Some would argue the panels are hard to read, and indeed some of the text is very tiny (ingredients among them), but there is a reason Frankie V’s won best graphics at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo.

Frankie V’s side label

Ingredients: tomatillos, pear, pineapple, mango, onion, agave nectar, garlic, serrano pepper, cilantro, lime juice, coconut oil.

Overall Rating: – Frankie V & The Serranos could be just a bit hotter to get our favorite rating of 5. But for flavor and quality it’s up there!

Frankie V & The Habaneros

Habanero salsas, in my opinion, can be like habanero hot sauces – you either love ’em or not. I think it takes a true stroke of genius to craft a hot sauce or salsa with mainly habaneros, and not have it turn out to be simply hot for hot’s sake. Before the onslaught of the “superhots” (ghost, scorpion, jolokia), the habanero chile was the venerable king of the hottest chiles. Ok, this has been a few years, but stay with me here. And at its inception as a hot sauce chile ingredient, habanero salsas and sauces were all simply salt, vinegar and habaneros.

As a result, I was really late to the party as a fan of habanero sauces. To this day, there are still some that are simply the trio of ingredients. But things have changed! As the hot sauce crafters’ world has grown, and with the influx of chef created and inventive sauces, I’ve come around to actually liking habanero based products. Frankie V & The Habaneros Salsa is yet another one that raises the bar.

Frankie V’s Habanero closeup

Texture & Appearance: Not surprisingly, this salsa is of the same “apple sauce” consistency as the Serrano. Not that that’s a bad thing. Consistency, folks. A nice, fine grind (and I’m a fan of the fine grind as well as the coarse, chunky grind) – this is a medium-hot salsa that would just go over as gangbusters at your next tailgating/foo-foo dinner party. Yea, it would fit into both worlds.

Taste Straight Up: Wow. This just may be the most unique habanero based salsa we’ve ever had at the HSD HQ. Again, like the Serrano, sweet taste from the pineapple comes on strong, supported by the mango. Even the tomatoes lend a bit of body and sweetness – but ultimately, it’s the habanero and garlic that bring on the heat.

Heat level: – 1½/5 I’m pushing the limits of 1.5 stars here. I really want to say just 1 star, but there is the undeniable zing and heat and flavor of the habanero involved. And even though there is the habanero chile pepper in this salsa, it still remains a mild-medium salsa.

Ingredients: tomatoes, pineapple, mango, white onion, habanero, raw agave nectar, lemon juice, garlic, coconut oil, chili powder.

Overall Rating: – Again, Frankie V & The Habaneros would garner our highest rating of 5 if only it packed a bit more heat. But we realize not everyone is a Chilehead, and to cater to the masses, you have to compromise a bit. Still, it’s a stellar salsa, that you can accompany with vegetables that you can cut with the best knives from https://www.all-knives.org.

Final Thoughts: Of course we had these salsas with chips, and the obligatory pizza slices. But they really shined when added to a small plate of nachos.

Frankie V’s Habanero on left, Serrano on right

Frankie V’s Serrano nachos

Frankie V’s Habanero nachos

Where to buy: You can purchase any Frankie V’s Kitchen products on their website https://www.frankievskitchen.com/

You can also follow Frankie V’s Kitchen on Facebook.

Which of the two do you think you would most enjoy? The Frankie V & The Serranos or the Frankie V & The Habaneros?
Tell us in the Comments below.