Update on Proust

[webcowgirl]

I am still working my way through Remembrance of Things Past, which suffered a bit as I raced my way through Charlie Stross's Singularlity Sky. I'm now at page 886, and Our Hero is deep in the throes of adolescence. Much like Harry Potter, I'm finding that the character is becoming insufferable. Who cares about baby's first hangover, anyway, no matter how floridly you describe it? And I'm feeling like Proust is falling prey to exactly the critique levelled in the book against, I think, a fictional author, in that later in his writing he becomes almost a caricature of himself, at least in terms of his writing style. At any rate, I'm heading well toward the finish line, page 1018, and I'll decide at that time if I will read the rest of this book and learn about his great romance with Albertine.

For the rest of you, something far more interesting: an article about brownies from the New York Times. I've attached the recipe for the "best" brownies, as defined by the author. You know I'll be cooking them soon.

Recipe: Supernatural Brownies

Adapted from “Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers,” by Nick Malgieri (Morrow Cookbooks, 1998)

Time: About 1 hour

2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional.

1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.

2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.

Yield: 15 large or 24 small brownies.

Note: For best flavor, bake 1 day before serving, let cool and store, tightly wrapped.

Comments

[webcowgirl.livejournal.com]

2 sticks=one cup, roughly the typical size butter is sold in here. Me, I'd be cross-checking to make sure I got it right. It's hard for me to cook here!

[adjectivegail]

Yes, but, I'm sorry, but how much is a cup? Butter is sold here usually in either 250g or 500g 'bricks', the thought of this recipe using 250g of butter for up to 24 brownies is slightly scary!

I do actually have a set of measuring cups at home, I guess since I'll have to be using them for all the other measurements as well, I can just make sure that the butter's soft and squidge it into a cup, too...

buttery goodness

[webcowgirl.livejournal.com]

Let's see, I've got (http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/gram_calc.htm) 1 T butter = 14.2 grams of butter, so 227 grams, those would be very rich brownies! But that's the point, I think.

MmmmmMMMmmMMM!