CHOCOLATE ALMOND BROWNIES

Thank you all so much for your precious comments on my Interview in Women's Era Jan 2011. You guys rock!! Now let me get my feet firm back on the ground! :-) It still feel so surreal! Anyhow, I baked a batch of brownies  before 'the' news broke but I wanted to share that  with you more than the baked goodie, so the brownie post had to wait.
There's something with me and brownies. I just cannot let go off a single recipe! I read through it and try to compare to what I have made before. And I bake a batch of 'em. This happens all the time including this time :-) Jobin doesn't seem to get fed up with it, so it's kind of OK with me baking brownies every now and then. This one is again from Alice's new book and is definately a delicious one.I just realised that I should tell you about my 'certain' food problems.

Whenever something (obviously food!) catches my fancy,I have to make it at home,whatever it may take and however long I have to wait! Initially it was the Joconde Imprime on the Chocolate Mousse Cake I found in Bangalore then it was Brownies and now I have many many more to add to my list and all of them are WIP (Work In Progress). I hunted for the perfect homemade brownie and made an American Brownie using my friend's mom's recipe.But now, my taste has definately refined over the years and I am looking for much more intense flavoured, chocolate-y stuff. Of course, I have my go-to recipe for a good brownie...but I still love that anxiety,that excitement, that wonder, the pressure of getting the crackly crust and the perfect texture inside it. That makes me go on and on baking brownies one after another!

Now, I have laid my eyes on a few things which I really want to try at home and someday I will. Till then, let me leave you with yet another intensely chocolate-y brownie recipe :)

CHOCOLATE ALMOND BROWNIES
Recipe:Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich. Pg 225


Ingredients:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
11 oz (approx.300g) chocolate chips
2/3 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 large eggs,cold
1/3 c plus 1 tbsp  unbleached all purpose flour
1 c almonds

Method:
Line an 8-inch square tin, the bottom and all 4 sides with foil.
Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F and position the rack in the middle.

Melt the chocolate and butter together, till smooth.
Stir in the sugar, salt and vanilla, if using.
Add 1 egg, stirring until it is incorporated. Repeat with the second egg.
Stir in the flour and beat with a wooden spoon or spatula until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the sides of the bowl; it is critical that the batter pulls away, so do not stop mixing until it does.
Pour into the baking tin,spread it evenly but with lots of raised swirls and ridges and top with almonds.
Bake for 30-35 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs, not totally gooey.
Cool on rack, lift the foil ends to transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.

Verdict: Just like any other Alice's recipe, this one is equally good. It has a deep chocolate-y taste and the crunch provided by the almonds add to the delicious-ness! Gosh, I really hope somebody comes up with a rule of no more new brownie recipe ever again! ;-) This is a temptation which I find hard to resist. I mean, look at those soft-bellied chocolate squares...how can you just take your eyes off them ??

KATHARINE HEPBURN BROWNIES...best ever!

Phew! I rest my hunt for the perfect brownie recipe! That's what I mumbled to myself as soon as I had a bite of this decadent brownie. It had the perfect crackly crust that every brownie baker searches for. Sadly, you won't be able to see my crust as it was baked in a bundt tin and when you unmould it, it goes to the bottom.

I remember myself writing down all the possible brownie recipes available.I have seen this recipe many times, but deciding to make this was instantaneous. It was for my 2 little niece's in Virginia. Jobin's mom was with us for a month and she flew to Virginia this morning, so I sent a little package of these cuties along with her.

These are very simple to make, that one- bowl recipe that you are looking for when in a hurry to bake & take! I used the microwave oven to melt the chocolate & butter and that's how it was a one-bowl affair for me!

From my experience, to make good brownies, use your hand to mix the batter. Do not whip it up and trap air, it will be cake-y.The most important step is never to over bake the brownies. When you do the skewer test, it should come out with some of the batter/crumbs still clinging on to it.Then, let it cool completely! You need to wait for a while to take the plunge! :)


KATHARINE HEPBURN BROWNIES
Recipe source : Leites Culinaria

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter- 1 stick
Unsweetened Chocolate-2 oz ( I used 70% dark chocolate)
Sugar-1 cup
Eggs-2
Vanilla- 1/2 tsp
Flour-1/4 cup
Salt-1/4 tsp
Walnuts, chopped- 1 cup ,optional ( I skipped them as one of them are allergic to nuts)

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 325F .Prepare your baking pan.
• Melt the chocolate and butter together.
• Stir in the sugar until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Stir in vanilla and beat the mixture well.
• Fold in flour,salt & walnuts if using.
• Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 mins.
• Cool and cut into squares.

Verdict: These are one of the best brownies I have baked so far! This recipe is a keeper and I can see myself baking batches of it in future!

AMERICAN BROWNIES

She came across as a tomboy,least bothered about what happens with the rest of the world! But when we got to know each other better... I was so wrong!! She was indeed tomboyish with her short curly hair which reminded me of" George" from Enid Blyton's FAMOUS FIVE.

She is Ava, a mangalorian girl who joined us in 'Maria Sadan' during my days at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. Whenever she goes home, she used to comeback with a batch of freshly baked heavenly BROWNIES!! Never got enough of it since all of us were greedy about them!! Well! That's how the hostel life is!! :)

I remember asking her for the recipe.. that was like 4 years back!! She had e-mailed it to me and i happily wrote it down! But unfortunately.. i lost that paper( which i kept "SAFE"..so much so that i can't recollect where that was!! ) and at the same time my inbox had some technical problem due to which i lost that mail of hers!! How depressing can that be!!! :(

And years after.. few months back.. Dec'08... i was at my maternal home and flipping through my aunt's recipe book and there it was!!!! my precious recipe!!! No words could describe how happy I was then!!! :)

Later, after all my "Happy Scenes" me and my aunt had a long discussion as to how i lost that and how i found it amongst her recipes years later!! :)

Yesterday, while I was at work I had a huuuggge craving for Brownies so I thought il try and re-create Ava's Mom's magical brownies!!

Loved it!! :) I really hope you all would try this out..it's very very simple but the result is browine-blowing!! :D

AMERICAN BROWNIES
Ingredients:

Flour:200g
Sugar: 200 g
Butter:200g
Eggs:3
Baking powder:1tsp
Cocoa powder:3 tbsp
Vanilla essence:1 tsp
Walnuts/Cashewnuts: 1 cup (chopped)

Method:
Melt butter,add sugar and mix well.
Keep it down from fire and when slightly cooled ,add cocoa powder and mix well.
When completely cooled, add the eggs one by one and mix thoroughly.
Add the maida sieved along with baking powder and mix well.
Lastly add the nuts coated in a little bit of flour(so that it wudn't sink to the bottom of the pan).
Grease a pan, pour the mixture and bake at 180 C for 45 mins to 1 hour.

Hope you all like it!!
Keep coming back for more! :)