Welcome to another edition of Top Comments diary sharing! I (asimbagirl) am the author of tonight's diary, and brillig has formatted the comments and mined the site for more submissions. I literally couldn't do this without her, and this arrangement has made it possible for me to take more diaries than I would otherwise be able to. I highly suggest you try it!
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It's been a nutso week here - I started back at school on Tuesday, studying for my Master's in Public Administration. So I have an instant and insistent time-suck on top of, well, the rest of my life - which hasn't graciously agreed to accommodate this newcomer.
Beyond that, I've got this newish job which has come with the introduction of some really wonderful new people into my life. Again, I'm left feeling like I'm squishing air out of a really full ziploc baggie called life. (And don't get me wrong - this is NOT a problem. It's a full on delight!)
So having new friends, new responsibilities, and my same old life has meant that time for cooking has temporarily vanished. I'm having too much fun being social again to worry about this. BUT! I couldn't think about anything to write about for tonight's diary, which led me to go to my favorite standby source, America's Test Kitchen. It seems serendipitous to me that in the time since I last checked the website and today, they introduced a homemade brownie recipe.
They started the episode asking people to taste test home made brownies against box mix brownies. The box mix brownies won, which surprised them. Turns out, it was due to texture - the chewiness of box mix brownies beats the superiority of flavor of home made brownies hands down.
Well, of course I had to try it. Because of course I had all of the ingredients on hand. (I'm still internally investigating exactly what that says about me. I'll get back to you.)
So join me as this:
Becomes this:
So first, you mix 8 1/2 oz of flour with 3/4 tsp of salt and set it aside. Preheat your oven to 350 and make sure you've got one shelf set to the bottom row. Next, mix 1/3 cup cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process if you can find it) with 1 1/2 tsp of espresso powder and 1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP of boiling water.
Add 2 oz finely chopped unsweetened chocolate. Whisk until incorporated.
add 2 tsp vanilla, 4 TBSP melted butter and 1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP vegetable oil. Whisk to incorporate, and don't worry if mixture looks curdled. It will. It's okay.
Add 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks. This will remove the curdled look. The eggs act as emulsifiers, binding the fat in the butter and oil to the batter.
Add 2 1/2 cups sugar. Whisk until incorporated.
Add chocolate mixture to flour mixture and combine using a rubber spatula. Don't overmix, as you don't want the gluten in the flour to overdevelop (thus jeopardizing the chewy texture of the brownies the recipe is trying to achieve).
Add 6 oz roughly chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks to batter. I use Ghiradelli 60% bittersweet chocolate for just about everything I make, because I like the taste better than anything Nestle or Hershey's has out there. These are intentionally chopped coarsely and will not melt fully to incorporate with the batter - it adds chocolate flavor without interfering with the alchemy of the recipe (involving sat fat/ unsat fat ratios) that makes the texture what it is.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for a minimum of 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Since I used a glass pan, my cook time was more like 45.
Cool for 1.5 hours (And try dealing with my family during that waiting period!)
If you don't know what comes next, I don't want to know you. :)
And now, I'll hand off the control of tonight's diary to the seriously amazing brillig, who has not just done the heavy lifting of formatting comment subs and mining on her own, but who also has been utterly fantastic in stepping in over the past few days to fill scheduling holes. Brillig, you are my hero. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING that you do.
= = = = =
::blush::
From cskendrick:
Here's a passel of pontifications for publication in Pinnacle Pronouncements.... er, Top Comments. (grins)
It's the Supreme Court Stupid Pointing out all the NEWS channels covered President Obama's Ireland speech today. (Just not Fox, with all that implies.)
psnyder cites a fine metaphor.
Not to be outdone, Ezekial 23 20 responds, and how :)
From the same diary NCJim nails it about Focus on the Family.
WARNING NOT FAMILY-FRIENDLY... hehe... but I loved mellowjohn's harsh on McConnell
From brillig:
Just when I think I've heard it all, I see a diary like Codenamechaz's Simply Disgusting: Kansas GOP Rep "Women should be prepared for rape. I mean, I carry a spare tire". G2geek simplifies the issue further, while Vita Brevis gets my nomnom for asking how in the hell do you plan ahead for rape?.
You know I had to give The Geogre's thoughts on Newt, because they mention Alice. Well, Humpty Dumpty...