Live :: Love :: Laugh :: Eat!

Archive for April, 2007

There doesn’t seem to be much more to say about the tragedy that took place at Virginia Tech earlier this week. It was a huge shock, but the way the students there have handled it, at least from what I’ve seen on TV, has been impressive and inspirational. I’m proud to be an honorary member of the Hokie Nation, even if only for a day. And I’m thankful that my second cousin, Michael White, a Tech student, was not on campus that day.

Hey, there, I’m back, again. March 2007 was a pretty bad month for me, so rather than dwell on that, on to more fun blogging topics

My friends know I love to cook, but I don’t bake much. But a couple of months ago, this recipe for – love the name – “Man-Catcher Brownies” was printed in the local paper, so I decided to make them, even though I already have a man (Hi, sweetie!) I got great compliments on them from people who should know – my husband, my mother, and Paulie! I thought they were a tad gooey in the middle – actually, quite a bit – but everyone loved them anyway, because the chocolate flavor was so intense.

Then today, I went to Is My Blog Burning?, the central site for foodie blogging events, and there’s an event this month by browniebabe to blog brownies! And I just made the brownies again today! This time, I used a bigger pan, so they could spread out a bit more, and maybe cooked through this time. I’ll be cutting them later when they’re completely cool, but in the meantime, here’s a pic of my luscious brownies:

And here’s the recipe:

Man-Catcher Brownies

3 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups cocoa powder, sifted (natural or Dutch process)
6 eggs
2 cups white sugar
2 cups light brown sugar
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9″x13″ pan with nonstick cooking spray. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add cocoa powder, stirring to combine. Let cool slightly. Whisk eggs together, then add sugars and vanilla extract, stirring to combine. Add the cooled butter-chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour and salt until just combined; do not overmix. Spread evenly in the pan to the corners.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a crust forms on the surface and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack; cool completely before cutting.

This was the original way I made them, with the gooey results. I used a 10″x15″ pan today.

And here’s a shot of a single brownie: