Caramel-Walnut Oatmeal Bars

OK, as much as I love chocolate, sometimes one just craves for caramel. Here is a simple recipe that incorporates that caramel craving while adding some nutritional value, oats. These bars are absolutely delicious and will certainly satisfy your sweet tooth while not harming your waistline. OK I'm all about indulging here and there, but this bar is definitely healthy, I swear! The caramel just oozes throughout the bar and the extra nuts we added really give the bar the extra crunch without drying the dessert. This recipe makes a decent portion that can be cut into small pieces to share with your neighbor.

Here is the recipe:

My Valentine's Day Dinner

This is a bit of a belated post, but I thought still worth sharing. To return the homage Tricia paid me for her birthday dinner back in January (see post here), I figured I'd tell everyone about the surprise meal she planned for me the weekend before Valentine's Day when I went down to PA to visit her. For those that haven't followed us closely, it's worth noting that Tricia typically specializes in the sweet treats that we share here on The World Tasters. This foray into cooking a fancy meal for two was one of her first, but I must say that I was impressed. I will state that she didn't do everything you see on her own: I helped by buying her the flowers that served as the backdrop for some of these photos and I took the pictures of her cooking this delicious feast!

Market Street Grill - West Chester, PA

On a recent weekend spent down in Pennsylvania with Trish, we explored the little town of West Chester. About 15 minutes from Tricia's place in Malvern, West Chester is a unique and food-filled locale about 30 miles west of Philly. Lined with boutique-style shops and small upscale eateries, West Chester has the hybrid feel of a college town merged with a ritzy village. While there, Tricia and I sampled the renowned Eclat Chocolates at their storefront location (they are partners with Iron Chef Jose Garces in one of his markets in Philly and their truffles are marketed nationwider through Williams-Sonoma), went olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting, and shopped at a local Italian Market for fresh prosciutto and taleggio (Carlino's - awesome place/highly recommended!). But the highlight of our visit, as always, was the meal that we had. After being tantalized by all of our food shopping (and shots of pressed oil), we were starving and looking for something hearty. Chatting around, it was recommended that we try out the Market Street Grill for eats. As soon as stepping in, we were struck by the decor - old-style diner with walls lined with pop art prints depicting comic book heroes, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and movie posters. All of the art was by John Stango, a Philly-based artist (Website) (see his work above!). Very cool.

Layered Hazlenut Cake with Nutella and Coffee buttercream

Hello fellow bakers! For Siddharth's annual Super Bowl party, he asked for a layered cake for dessert. For this dessert, I made a two-layered white cake with a generous layer of nutella in the middle to give the cake some softness and extra sweetness. The trick for making this cake look nice is to make the layers and let it harden the nutella layer harden in the fridge for a little bit. Then ice your cake with this delicious buttercream. I chose coffee buttercream after heading back from Dunkin Donuts. Hazlenuts and coffee? Oh yes that would work! I'm not going to include my coffee buttercream recipe because I ran into a few problems, but I strongly suggest browsing the other blogs like Joy of Baking or Browneyedbaker; they always inspire us for recipes.

We bought these chocolate covered coffee beans from Ithaca Coffee Co. located just down the street from Siddharth's apartment to use to decorate. Siddharth also made a hazlenut brittle that was also to die for.

Recipe is as follows:

Spicy Tomatoe Bisque (and Grilled Cheese)

Grilled cheese and tomato soup - an American classic. It's an incredible combination for those cold winter afternoons up here in Ithaca. While people across America might go with Kraft singles and Campbell's to do this at home, it's quite easy to punch this up into a more interesting meal. On a recent weekend, I did just that! It's simple and easy and was well worth the minimal effort of freshly chopping some vegetables instead of reaching for that condensed soup can.

Paper-wrapped Sponge Cake

My parents and I share a love for Chinese pastries. Any chance we get, we would stop at a Chinese bakery after a dim sum lunch to pick up pastries for our weekday morning snacks. At a Chinese bakery, you can purchase a plethora of savory, sweet, meat-filled or paste-filled buns, breads and tarts. If you've never been to one in your local Chinatown, I strongly suggest you find one! I guarantee you you will find a pastry that you will love. 

My mom and I share a favorite pastry - the sponge cake that is wrapped in paper - that is the literal translation of the pastry. Mom loves this pastry because of it's cake-like texture that isn't too sweet - yes, my mom doesn't like a lot of sweet things. Light and airy, this pastry is heaven and so much better than angel food cake and my mom would agree! To achieve this pastry, you need to bake them in tall paper cups that are lined with parchment paper. The height of these cakes help with the airy texture, so don't use your muffin tin.  This pastry is best when made fresh because the cake often dries out unless the sponge cake is kept wrapped with the paper. Try this with a cup of Hong Kong style tea!

Monkey Bread Muffins

Hello fellow bakers! Happy new year!

I was just reminded by Siddharth that I haven't contributed much to our blog. My apologies and to make up for it, I have compiled a few recipes that I have tried since the holiday season.

My first recipe I tried is monkey bread with apples and cinnamon. I've made this before for Siddharth, thinking he's never had it, but to my surprise, he told me this is a pretty common baked good he had in elementary school. Monkey bread does not have bananas (that was my first guess) but it is simply sticky bread. Some say the etymology of monkey bread comes from the fact that the bread looks like monkey puzzle tree while others say that peeling the pieces of the monkey bread resembles monkey behavior. Who knows, who cares, right? This is a great, fast recipe that will give your guests something to munch on in place of coffee cakes and fruit muffins. This recipe calls for a can of prepared can of biscuits, cinnamon, sugar, butter and apples. I used Pillsbury's Grands Homestyle buttermilk biscuit dough and modified the recipe by Pillsbury to make muffins.

Lump Crab Cakes

 Ever since my allergy scare with lobster, I've been pretty cautious with shellfish. I miss lobster a lot and thankfully, it's only lobster that does not seem to agree with me. I can still enjoy crab, oysters, clams and the like - at least for now.

After a long day at work, I was craving for something - a buttery protein, some sort of seafood. I drove past a Legal Seafoods restaurant on my way home and automatically thought, "crab cakes!" I stopped at the restaurant, thinking to do a take out order of their famous crab cakes, but some voice in the back of my mind stopped me. The voice said "Trish, how hard can it be to make crab cakes? You can do it yourself, you can DO IT!" With the challenge in mind, I got back in my car and drove to their nearest grocery store, Wegmans. Wegmans sells lump crab for about $15 for 8oz, not a bad price since 2 crab cakes at Legal Seafoods is about $24. With 8oz, I was able to make 5 delicious crab cakes with a side of roasted brussel sprouts and and baby portobello mushrooms at a total of $26! Wahoo!

Char Siu

Char siu is quite possibly the most famous Cantonese dish of all. Literally meaning "fork roasted," char siu is pork that is marinated in a sweet and thick blend of sauces and then roasted until it becomes crisp and almost candy-like on the outside. Traditionally, char siu is made over a charcoal fire, but my recipe here was simply done in an oven (although I think I may try it in the grill come warmer weather!). To be honest, I was quite impressed with myself for making this - it was my first try and it came out delicious (not to mention gorgeous to look at)! For those that have only had char siu prepared at a restaurant or at a Chinese deli, I think you'll be impressed by how tasty and relatively simple it is when made at home.

Les Plats Copieux - Ithaca, NY

Happy January everyone! January can be quite an exciting month for most people; singing happily for a new year, relaxing after a holiday week of family dinners, opening gifts and holiday shopping. For me, January is my favorite month because that's when winter starts hitting with snow - and not to mention my birthday. Yes, I'm one of those girls that make a big deal of their birthday. And actually, I don't just make a big deal on my birth DAY, but more like my birth WEEK(driving Siddharth crazy). But, this year, even with my egotistical ways, Siddharth was completely selfless and took me to a fancy French restaurant for my birthday - complete surprise! The restaurant is called "Les Plats Copieux" or hearty dishes, situated in snowy Ithaca. More specifically, the restaurant was in Siddharth's house where he transformed his entire kitchen into a real French cuisine. Everything felt French: the French baguette, the French wine and even the dinnerware. The only thing that wasn't French (and rightfully so) was the nonstop playlist of Blue in Green by Miles Davis in the background. 

I haven't been to many French restaurants, but we all know that there's some sophistication in preparation, presentation and flavors in French cuisine. And this particular meal easily satisfied every one of those characteristics of French food. Now, before going on, I will preface that I am partially biased to the owner of this restaurant, but as you see these pictures yourself, you'll want to try it too. And from the looks of it, it can easily be replicated in your own home too!