Frabelle Foods has just concluded its first Frabelle Foodie Chef competition which had contestants inventing an original dish that incorporated the company’s extensive line of meat products.

With over 50 “foodies” joining the competition’s Facebook page, only five were chosen to showcase their dishes at the grand finals held on January 9 at Café 1771 in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Leading the panel of judges at the food tasting was no less than Frabelle Foods endorser, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who himself loves to dabble in the kitchen.

Among the Top 5, it was Neneth Tiongkiao Madrona, a happy housewife, who won the grand title. Her winning dish was a simple roasted chicken stuffed with loads of different Frabelle products including hotdog, cheesedog, bacon and ham.

In an interview with The Manila Times, Madrona shared the inspiration to her dish. “I have an 11-year-old child right now. He is at the stage where he’s content to eat hotdog every day.”

To break the monotony, Madrona found a way to incorporate Frabelle’s processed meat products with fresh chicken, mixed in healthy peas, carrots, corn kernels and squash with the stuffing.

The dish, Madrona described is “inexpensive but very tasty.” She even found a way to use the same stuffing recipe for lumpiang shanghai and baked pot pie.

For Frabelle Foods brand manager Kate Tan, what set Madrona’s stuffed chicken apart was that it “highlighted the flavors of Frabelle instead of overpowering it.”

“Frabelle Foods products can stand alone when it comes to the quality of taste. But with Mommy Neneth’s stuffed chicken, she was able to intensify the flavors of our products,” Tan enthused.

In fact, Madrona’s recipe was so good that it also emerged as the media and bloggers’ choice at the end of the competition.

Asked what she plans to do with her P20,000 prize, Madrona replied that she will put up a small business selling—what else but—Frabelle hotdogs.

Madrona’s recipe won over the Hickory Smoked Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken by Julian Garcia; Frabelle Trimeat Breakfast by Nathan Dapon; Frabelle Delish Muffin by Maridel Pacleb; and Frabelle Meatlover’s Dream by Marlon Cruz. The finalists received P5,000 as consolation prize.