All posts by certifiedfoodie

About certifiedfoodie

CertifiedFoodie is a food enthusiast in Houston. She's a fearless adventurer whose palate will bravely taste absolutely anything (!) once. A motto which have led to profuse tongue-scrubbings, cussing, and back-to-back food poisoning. When not eating and/or traveling, she's a loving wife and mom and a career woman involved in healthcare.

We Beat Harvey

It started with the total eclipse, followed by first day of school, panic-buying at the grocery stores, tornadoes, a bitch of a hurricane, more tornadoes, then the flooding…and more flooding…and even more flooding. The last two weeks were action packed. Two weeks of my life I could certainly live without.

But life goes on. My family and I were fortunate enough to live through this historic catastrophe unscathed. And while i have never felt so relieved, my heart bleeds over my neighbors and friends who were not as fortunate.

Through it all, there was food. As the news broke that it was going to be a big catastrophe, I knew people would panic. So before leaving for work, I did my grocery shopping at 6 in the morning. My freezer was packed so I had to start cooking some stuffs to give them a longer life in case we lost power. I have ordered the most amazing oxtail from Wisconsin so I cooked that, along with some baby back ribs and steak (for sandwiches).

This is Filipino kare-kare. It’s oxtail with peanut sauce topped with vegetables. 

This is my trademark tornado dish. We were hiding out in the safe room for almost a day, sneaking out to eat and this is what we’ve been eating. I don’t think I’ll be eating this anymore. Not good for my PTSD.

The following days of tornado and hurricane were harrowing. I had to make comfort foods. Noodles are the Asian mac n cheese. There is something about hot noodles that make me feel like i’m home and safe.

Noodle dish 1 – Beef Udon. I use thinly sliced rib-eye, the one that’s used for pho.
Noodle Dish #2 – Pancit Bihon — stick noodle and vermicelli, with pork and chicken
Noodle Dish #3 – Garlic Noodles

Yes, these are not calorie-friendly. We each gained an easy ten pounds during these most trying times.

Finally, Harvey is gone. The rivers have crested and we did not flood. We had bad case of cabin fever so we went out to celebrate. Beans was out helping his friends clean up the neighborhood and requested take-out. We went to our local Jap restaurant (Akashi) then to B’s wine bar.

Had a celebratory margarita and ahi tuna tower.
Sashimi!!! Food without grease, finally.
We topped the evening with some wine at B’s
Not the best we’ve had, but it was just nice to be out.

Tomorrow, we bring the stuffs down to the first floor. It will be a long day. Like everyone else in the city, we will rebuild and bring everything close to what it was pre-hurricane.

We prevailed!

We will rise.

Cafe Annie

It’s been a long 2 weeks since we dined out. Once again, my regular job gets in the way of my culinary pursuits. Thankfully, no new worthwhile restaurant opened, so I’m pretty much on track on the list of restaurants I have to try. No FOMO here.

Cafe Annie is in the same building as la Table. D has been here a couple of times for corporate dinners. He’s been wanting to take me because he knows how much I like rabbits. The last rabbit dish I had was back when we were in Nice 5 years ago.  I am hoping that this will be as good.

We started with Cote du Rhone and a summer mule
Crab Meat Tostada
Wood Grilled Rabbit Loin and Leg with Adobo Sauce in Banana Leaf

The flavor reminds me of Filipino barbecue. Kinda salty sweet with the pungent smell of smoked banana leaf.It is very different from what I had in Nice but still delicious. It was not gamey and it tasted really lean and clean.

D’s Filet Mignon with Poached Garlic Sauce
Texas Pecan Pie with Bourbon Ice Cream
It’s dinners like this that make long weekdays bearable.