The essential fudgy brownie

Better cooks than I have perfected the fudgy brownie and while, as a noted glutenfree blogger recently observed, there's no such thing as a perfect recipe because everybody's tastes differ, there sure are recipes that come very, very close.

All of which is to say that I have found my go-to recipe for fudgy brownies and will not be deviating from this for a long, long time.

Behold, the Army of the Evil Fudgy Brownies. They tempt, they seduce, they beckon to you straight out of the oven. You know, on first sight, that they will be utterly rich, mouthfilling morsels of chocolateness without the irksome light cakey-ness of other brownie recipes. (You can tell which side I'm on in the great Brownie Debate). You know, with utter certainty, that the walnuts will add that counterpoint of crunch and depth. And therefore, faced with such temptation, you succumb. You swoon into submission. Resistance is futile.



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Fudgy Brownies

This is almost exactly Cindy Mitchell's recipe, except for these minor variations: I didn't use a square baking pan, I used a muffin pan with muffin paper liners, and then added 2 to 3 walnuts per "muffin". The muffin form makes it easy to eat and mercifully un-messy. I wanted the nuts to stick out and the brownies to look spiky, so I added the nuts after all the batter had been poured into the paper liners. I also omitted the vanilla and upped the salt from "a pinch" to a full quarter-teaspoon.

5 oz. (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
3 oz. (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour

Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square pan, line the pan bottom with parchment (or waxed paper), and then butter the parchment.

In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the butter and both chocolates (or microwave for a few minutes, being careful not to burn the chocolates). Remove the pan from the heat; cool slightly. Whisk in the sugar and then the vanilla and salt. The mixture will be somewhat grainy; this is okay. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, stirring each time until blended. Add the flour, beating until thickened and smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Pour into the prepared muffin pan. Stud each "muffin" with 2 to 3 walnuts. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs (not wet batter) clinging to it, 35 to 45 min.

Set the pan on a rack until cool enough to handle, around 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely (if you can manage to wait that long).

Midsummer blooms

As we move into August I'd say spring to early summer was the best time for garden flowers and they put on a FABULOUS show: daffodils, peonies, irises, begonias, primroses, even the buttercups, geraniums, French lilacs, columbines, all sorts of poppies, Scottish broom, irises, cornflowers etc made a grand parade. Now that summer is well and truly underway and the days are at their hottest, the garden is not as showy as far as flowers are concerned -- but the fruit and vegetables have kicked in, and H and I are happily coping with the masses of produce.

Still, the day lilies are livening up the yard with spiky orange clusters, and many wildflowers continue to bloom in the front yard, in the overhang around the house and out in the back of the house.

The daylilies in the front yard:



There's echinacea:



A few hydrangeas:



A pot of lavender:



And a whole host of others I can't identify:









I love looking at these little wild ones closely. They aren't as showy as the huge, lovely peonies. What they are are micro doses of sunny charm...modest bouquets of midsummer.

Hot-weather breakfast

Take four eggs and beat them lightly. Season with salt and pepper. Chop up your choice of herbs (mine was parsley and chives from the garden). Slice up a few large mushrooms, any kind. Slice up one leftover hotdog.

Take a frying pan and saute hotdog and mushrooms in a little bit of butter. Set aside. Next, add a small knob of butter and in low-medium heat cook the eggs until semi firm. Sprinkle with the herbs, mushrooms and hotdog and cook on low heat until egg is firm. Sprinkle with Parmesan and take it off heat.



I call this my omelette-pizza cos that's what it looks like. And for a light, easy breakfast in this heat, it can't be beat.