Category: Comfort Food

Only the Finest Decadence from Van Houten Chocolates

Chocolates. I’ve always loved them ever since I was a little kid. I mean, who didn’t enjoy the sweet flavors of chocolates when they were children? Back then, I only knew how to chomp them all up ’til my nanay would tell me I’ve had enough. It was after over 2 decades when I learned how to enjoy chocolates the "right" way. And a few weeks ago, at Society Lounge in Makati, Van Houten reminded me of how I can truly savour the decadent goodness only quality chocolates can offer.

Van Houten chocolate bars

Van Houten has been around for 180 years. I remember having my first taste of it when a family friend who came from the US brought us a canister of their chocolates back when I was in my teens. I can still recall thinking that they were indeed imported, high quality ones because I haven’t tasted anything that good from any loot my nanay brought home whenever she goes on her bi-monthly sweets shopping for us.

Van Houten's Legacy and what Cocoaphilia is all about

Van Houten is widely available here in the Philippines and they now offer varying flavor combinations that would surely please the cocoaphile in you.

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Celebrating 10 Years of Heartwarming Goodness from Bizu Patisserie

Bizu Patisserie and Bistro in Greenbelt

Last week, Ken and I, along with fellow foodies, were invited to Bizu Patisserie and Bisro’s Bloggers Party over at their Greenbelt branch. Having been there during the Cadbury Chocoholic night, we were both looking forward to having a taste of more dishes from this pastry shop / restaurant.

Bizu Patisserie Bloggers Party - CertifiedFoodies.comI took this photo using my new Nikon D3100. Woot! Stay tuned for better photos soon 🙂

The dinner was graced with the presence of Aaron and Annie Tanco who started it all. They shared with us how their pastry shop was conceptualized, including how they came up with the name of their restaurant. It was all very interesting, especially the part where Aaron told us that Bizu came about after her mom Annie dreamt of people kissing each other on the cheeks (beso-beso) at a restaurant. They decided to use the French word for “kiss”, which is “bisous”, but added a twist by spelling it the way it’s pronounced.

Aaron Tanco, Chrissy of Marketing and Annie Tanco from Bizu Patisserie

I just want to mention this – I enjoyed how Aaron and Annie spoke to us about their restaurant. You can really feel they’re truly passionate about their food and the service they offer to their diners. They were all very accommodating, even laughing and sharing stories with us throughout the night. Even Chrissy, the lovely lady in the middle of the photo above, was very cheery. 🙂

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Ken Takes On the KFC Demolish the Tower Burger Challenge

We can’t help but admire how Kentucky Fried Chicken or simply KFC remains at the top of their game in the fast-food industry. One key strategy to their success is innovation. People from KFC Philippines are not afraid to experiment. Every now and then they come out with their latest creations which are quick to become huge knockouts to KFC-fans nationwide. Remember that only a few months ago, we all went gaga over the California Maki Twisters and their Double-Down Burgers (also released in other countries), and now comes another surprise – the KFC Tower Burger.

KFC Tower Burger - CertifiedFoodies.com

KFC Tower Burger: Php 110.00 (Ala carte) or Php 140.00 (with Fries and Drinks)

The KFC Tower Burger, proudly standing at 2 1/2 inches tall, is layer after layer of So Good – an Original Recipe chicken fillet, blanketed by a layer of premium cheese, topped of with a crispy hash brown, dressed with lettuce and mayo,  and sandwiched by two halves of a sesame seed bun!

Our KFC Tower Burgers - CertifiedFoodies.com

I really had a hard time finishing the burger by myself in one sitting, so just imagine my shock when I was challenged to devour the whole thing in under two minutes! My inner competitive self took the best of me, so I gladly accepted the challenge. Bring it on!

Here’s a recording of my attempt to demolish the tower:

 

The challenge is to completely finish the KFC Tower Burger in 2 minutes or less to get a chance of winning a trip for two to Singapore and witness the 2011 Formula 1 Night Race.

KFC Demolish the Tower Burger Challenge - CertifiedFoodies.com

So do you think you can beat my record time of 1 minute and 47 seconds OR even make it before the timer hits 2 minutes? If yes, then what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a KFC Tower Burger and start demolishing!

How to Join:

  1. Buy one KFC Tower Burger.
  2. Take a video of yourself eating the Tower Burger in 2 minutes or less. For video to be considered valid or qualified, it must show:
    • That 1 Tower Burger is completely consumed within 2 minutes.
    • The video is not edited, cut, or spliced together.
  3. Upload video on YouTube.
  4. After the successful upload, get the YouTube URL of your video and enter it into the KFC Demolish the Tower Facebook App, together with your name, mailing address, email address, and mobile number.

 

Note: Deadline of uploading of videos is on September 16, 2011 (12 midnight).

Good luck! For more info, check KFC’s Facebook Page.

Robina Farms Big Boy Hotdogs

If there’s one thing our refrigerator’s always have a stock of, it’ll be hotdogs. We love hotdogs because you can quickly cook them any way you want to serve for breakfast, snacks or even for lunch or dinner when no one at home feels like preparing anything real special. And we’ve bought, cooked and tasted almost all hotdogs we can find at the grocery so we knew we just had to give Robina Farms’ Big Boy Hotdogs a try too.

Robina Farm Big Boy Hotdogs - CertifiedFoodies.com

They come in 2 variants – regular and the cheese hotdogs. Shown here are their jumbo-sized hotdogs.

Here’s a closer look at Big Boy Jumbo hotdogs, which are about the same size as the other branded hotdogs.

Closer look at Robina Farms' Big Boy Classic Hotdogs - CertifiedFoodies.com

Here at home, we usually love to boil our hotdogs. Why? No oil and boiling gives it a subtle, tasty flavor. And, so, we just gotta do it with Big Boy’s. We cooked them 2 ways actually – through boiling and grilling in our oven so we won’t have to use any more extra oil.

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Plates of the Caribbean: Surf and Turf Goodness from Fish & Co

Fish & Co - CertifiedFoodies.com

Ahoy, mates! Fish & Co., the Singapore-bred restaurant that has enticed the Filipino palates with their best-selling seafood fare, had set sail across the Atlantic Ocean and captured the flavors exotic to the islands of the West Indies in their latest menu addition the “Plates of the Caribbean”.

Plates of the Caribbean - CertifiedFoodies.com

Being a Filipino, I’m accustomed to having rice and meat combinations in most of my meals, so a dinner of merely “fish and chips” may deem unsatisfying to my appetite. Relatively, Fish & Co. recognized the need to introduce more meat dishes in their menu as a strategy to reel in more rice-and-meat-loving Pinoys.

Early this year, they launched the Fish and Ribs as a means of testing the waters to see how their meat dishes will fare in the market. The dish was well-accepted by their guests, thus resulting now to the creation of the Plates of the Caribbean, which promised to incorporate more fish, seafood, chicken, pork, beef, and vegetables into Fish & Co’s menu.

The Plates of the Caribbean presents 5 new surf and turf dishes named after five island destinations in the Caribbean. They are the islands of Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, and Saint Lucia. And to complement these five sumptuous fare, three new refreshing beverages were also added – the Juice Almighty, the Cool Cucumber Breeze, and the Veggie-Fruit Blast.

Fish & Co's Plates of the Caribbean - CertifiedFoodies.com

From Top Left: Saint Lucia, Montserrat, Dominica, Barbados,Bahamas, Juice Almighty, Cool Cucumber Breeze, and Veggie-Fruit Blast.

 

For Sharing or for the Lone Pirate?

The Plates of the Caribbean are available in Regular and Just For Me portions. Regular is enough to feed 2-3 hungry pirates, while the Just For Me portion is for those pirates dining alone, or for those who prefer smaller servings of the dishes.

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Healthier Snack Time with California Crunch Cassava Chips and GIVEAWAY

Because of the nature of my offline and online work, whenever I need a pick-me-up or something to keep me alert in the middle of the night, I have chips ready for me to snack on with a cup of hot tea. I know how unhealthy some snacks can be, especially when I’m munching on them when my body should already be resting. But, a few weeks ago, I discovered a healthier snack for me to enjoy – California Crunch Cassava Chips.

California Crunch Cassava Chips we received as a prize

My first time trying these cassava chips was when I got them as prizes in their Facebook contest. I was anticipating getting a taste of California Crunch Cassava Chips to know how they compare to potato chips. So, how was it?

Well, to sum up how much we enjoyed it, there are no photos of the actual chips here. Why? Ken and I loved it so much that we forgot to take photos. Hahaha. I promise to update this post with photos of the chips. 😀 (UPDATE: Scroll down for a closer look on the chips)

And, yes, there were 2 packs of each variant – Sour Cream & Onions and Barbecue. We gobbled them up like there’s no tomorrow. 😀 California Crunch Cassava Chips in Barbecue and Sour Cream and Onions

What we particularly liked about these cassava chips is the crunch. The chips are thicker than your regular potato chips so you’d get all that crunchy goodness matched with more flavors packed in each piece. Ken hogged the barbecue variant and I kept the sour cream all to myself and my nanay.

Closer look at California Crunch Cassava Chips

Cassava is known to have more fiber and potassium than potatoes. Plus, they’re 30% less fat than potato chips and it’s 0% cholesterol. So, you can enjoy a pack or two of California Crunch Cassava Chips without the guilt of eating something unhealthy for you or your kids. And it’s not as messy to eat, too, as the chips aren’t as greasy. 🙂

Cassava is healthier than potatoes(credit)

We here at Certified Foodies highly recommend you try California Crunch Cassava Chips so much that we’re giving away THREE (3) packs of these healthy snack to our readers and fellow foodies.

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Hansel Premium Cheese Sandwich

Update: I found boxes of Hansel Premium Cheese Sandwich at SM Hypermarket today (December 22, 2011) so I guess this is now widely available. Yayy! 🙂

A few weeks ago, there was this hype in our local internet scene over the Hansel Premium Cheese Sandwich. Yes, from the same people who brought us the Hansel Mocha Sandwich. Being a cheese lover, this new snack intrigued me a lot, especially when I saw a growing number of bloggers joining the meme (see here) where they take a photo of themselves with a box of these cheesy delight.

So, I was convinced. I just had to taste it! When we were at Ortigas for a friend’s birthday party, we saw a 7-11 branch near the area. We headed off there and luckily found 2 boxes of this baby.

Hansel Premium Cheese Sandwich I bought at 7-11 - CertifiedFoodies.comI took the photo right at the counter, beside the barcode scanners at the 7-11 branch.

Each box only costs Php 37.00 and most people have reported that it’s only available at 7-11 stores in the Metro. Here’s what you get inside, or at least 3/4 of it as I couldn’t help but gobble up about 3 pieces while I was taking photos at home.

You can share a box of Hansel Premium Cheese sandwich with someone or hog 'em all! - CertifiedFoodies.com

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Kettle Korn Kornados

One of our favorite snacks here at home is popcorn. Partner it with your favorite soda or juice and you’re good to go, whether you’re watching a flick or even playing an online game. And on top of our popcorn snacks is Kettle Korn.

Kettle Korn popcorn, one of our favorite snacks, perfect to get energized while playing games - CertifiedFoodies.com

I particularly love the Sweet & Salty and Cheese variants. Ken enjoys their Barbecue flavor. We can literally gobble up one whole big pack of each all by ourselves. 😀

So, when we learned that they came out with a brand new line of snacks months ago – Kornados – we just knew it’s another quality snack from Kettle Korn.

Kettle Korn Kornados is a 3D corn snack shaped in cones. It comes in 3 different flavors – Original (red), Cheese (blue) and Barbecue (black).

Some may be asking why it’s called a 3D corn snack. It’s because of its cone shape. You can even place/wear them on your fingers and pop them in your mouth. Who said we can’t play with our food? 😀

Kettle Korn Kornados 3D Corn Snack - CertifiedFoodies.com

The cheese flavor reminded me so much of one of my old school favorites from way back – Kornets. Being a cheese lover, of course, I hogged the blue-packed Kornados. 😀

Kettle Korn Kornados comes in 3 flavors - Original, Cheese and Barbecue - CertifiedFoodies.com

For sure, you’re going to enjoy this one. Kornados is available at SM Hypermarket branches and other leading grocery stores nationwide so it won’t be hard to find. 🙂

Visit Kornados on Facebook for more info. 🙂

Carol’s Texan 5 First Bloggers Buffet

I know that this is a super duper uber late post (exaggeration was intentional), but it’s never too late for you to learn about Carol’s Texan 5.

Weeks ago, me and Ken had the privilege to be included in the shortlist of bloggers for Carol’s Texan 5’s first ever bloggers buffet. The restaurant was inspired by American cuisine, particularly from the South, hence the Texan theme. And if you knew us well, you’d know we LOVE their food.

Tristan and Carol, the owner of Carol's Texan 5 - CertifiedFoodies.com

We met Carol, the woman behind Carol’s Texan 5. That’s her with Tristan of Ten Minutes Tops who organized the buffet. Carol told us the story behind the beginnings of her restaurant. It was truly inspiring to hear, especially now that my bro and our family are hoping to start our own restaurant in the future. Carol shared that she only used to prepare food for her friends and officemates. They loved her food so much that they encouraged and pushed her to open her own restaurant.

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Certified Foodies’ Pasko sa Agosto Giveaway – Win a Celebrations by Sharon Mixes from Maya Gift Pack!

Yes, we know, we still have an ongoing giveaway to celebrate Certified Foodies’ first anniversary (update: extended until the end of the month). But, we know you’re all up for another giveaway.

That’s why for this month, we, along with our fellow generous bloggers, are giving away awesome prizes in a much-anticipated giveaway caravan – Pasko sa Agosto.

Pasko sa Agosto

For our food blog, we are giving away this Celebrations by Sharon Maya mixes gift pack:

Win a Celebrations by Sharon Maya Mixes gift pack from Certified Foodies' Pasko sa Agosto giveaway

This goodie bag contains FOUR mixes – Banana Cake Mix, Party Cupcake Mix, Crinkle Cookie Mix, and Fudge Brownie Mix. You can easily bake these at home. The instructions are at the back so that should make it quick for you. You can even bake them on your oven toaster! 🙂

Celebrations by Sharon Maya Mixes

We haven’t used these mixes YET, but knowing that these are from Maya, the brand that brought us the popular and yummy hotcake mix Fluffy n’ Tasty, we’re pretty sure we’re going to love them, too. But, stay tuned for our feature of these mixes on here, aight?

So, how do you join exactly? Well, we made this VERY EASY for you. Just follow these instructions:

Continue reading Certified Foodies’ Pasko sa Agosto Giveaway – Win a Celebrations by Sharon Mixes from Maya Gift Pack!