This is it! The big Samsung Cook Off!!! If you remember a few weeks ago I announced this contest in my blog. It should be hard to forget, as this wasn’t just any ordinary giveaway but one of the biggest contests I ever ran in this site. The mechanics were simple: the most creative and yummiest recipe wins a Samsung Smart Oven, and would go on to compete against two other winners in a cook off (these are the winners of mommy bloggers www.annalyn.net and www.animetric.blogspot.com). The grand winner gets to take home a Samsung RT6000 Refrigerator, which is the newest and most innovative refrigerator in the market today! This was the culmination of that contest–an exciting day where three amateur chefs went head to head in a nail biting cook off which was judged by Chef Ernest Reynoso Gala and members of the Samsung team.

The chefs in competition were Roki Ferrer (my winner) who made Chicken Tagine with Couscous and Tzatziki, Lorraine Lorenzo (Annalyn’s winner) with her recipe, Thai Chicken Nuggets in Red Curry Sauce, and Vic Ejanda (Rowena’s winner) with his Roasted Chicken in Basil and Lemongrass. The common ingredient for the three was chicken, which was a funny coincidence. (I love chicken, so I was taking notes the entire time.) The contenders only had one hour to prepare and cook their recipes, which required their complete concentration. Each one also had to explain what they were doing while cooking the dish, which was probably the most difficult thing about this competition. Our blog winners were such pros though, they really brought their A-game and prepared their dishes with such ease and precision. And to top it off, the whole thing was televised! This Samsung cook off will be shown on the Lifestyle Network very soon, so watch out for it!

***

This is Lorraine Lorenzo, Annalyn’s winner. She prepared her best recipe: Thai Chicken Nuggets in Red Curry Sauce, which is the favorite school baon of her kids. The dish is made from scratch using all-natural ingredients. This is definitely a healthy (and tasty) lunch alternative for kids. Her children are so lucky to have a mom like her who cooks so well and experiments with different dishes. This recipe was pretty amazing. It’s definitely not your typical chicken nuggets. The chicken was so tender while the red curry sauce gave it a flavourful kick. What an ingenious recipe!

***

The next contender is Vic Ejanda (Rowena’s winner), who is a food scientist. He enjoys experimenting with food (apparently he also makes his own beer) and he also uses natural ingredients like herbs and spices to make this yummy dish. His recipe, Roasted Chicken in Basil and Lemongrass was incredibly good. I am still amazed at how he was able to roast an entire chicken in less than an hour (of course, you need time for preparation). The chicken was roasted all the way through and its flavors were just delightful–basil and lemongrass really go well together!

***

This is my winner, Roki Ferrer. He works in PR at Globe Telecom and is also a food blogger, though he hasn’t updated his blog in ages (I kept urging him to get blogging again–this is his site if you want to check it out: http://dkitchenbitchen.blogspot.com). He loves to cook and experiment with different cuisines. His recipe, Chicken Tagine with Couscous and Tzatziki is a Moroccan dish he created from his love of spices. He stocks up on spices during his travels so he doesn’t have a difficult time making his favorite recipes (smart move). This dish was really excellent–I love the exquisite flavor of the tagine. Its taste is really distinct (and delicious). It paired perfectly with the couscous!

This was also the winning dish at the Samsung Cook Off!!! Which meant Roki won both the Samsung Smart Oven and Samsung RT6000 Refrigerator! And since I chose him to represent my blog, I also won these prizes!!! I let out a scream when Roki’s name was announced, because I’ve been dreaming of these appliances since I blogged about them. My husband and I are still in the process of buying our major kitchen appliances, and these were exactly what we needed!!! THANK YOU, Samsung!

CONGRATULATIONS, Roki Ferrer!!! 🙂 Your dish was superb! I can’t wait to try it at home.           The three contenders for the Samsung Cook Off: Vic Ejanda, Lorraine Lorenzo and Roki Ferrer.

Bloggers unite: me, Annalyn and Rowena.

So happy and proud of Roki and his wining dish.             For those of you who want to try making Roki’s yummy dish, here is the recipe:

Chicken Tagine with Couscous and Tzatziki