Camberville Cuisine

The Supernatural Brownies recipe that was in the Times a few weeks ago has been getting test-kitchen levels of practice chez moi, between baking for choir and friends under the weather, and it’s almost to the point where I’ve got it memorized. It’s incredibly simple, but so moist and fluffy it’s worth the extra 15% effort above and beyond box-brownies. And it scales very easily, too; I’ve quartered the recipe for a personal pan-size one and the only weirdness was that the baking time was still almost exactly the same. Buh?

Best Brownies Ever!

2 sticks butter, plus a little extra for greasing
8 oz chocolate (whether chocolate chips, baking chocolate bricks, etc. This is a marvelous way to use up the ends of various chocolates you have leftover.
4 eggs (the fresher, the better; the “Live Poultry Freshly Killed” place on Cambridge Street across from the New Deal Fish Market gets fresh eggs in near-daily for Very Cheap; the Brookline Farmers’ Market also sells fresh eggs on Thursdays from mid-June to early October.)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar (Hyoun introduced me to demerara sugar, which has larger grains than brown sugar and doesn’t clump together the same way, but works really, really well here)
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour

Instructions: Line 13×9 pan with parchment paper and grease it with butter. Put butter and chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl, then melt in the microwave in 30-second bursts on high, stirring between each one. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, beat eggs, then add the salt, sugars, and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Stir the chocolate into the egg mixture, then fold in the flour until just combined; you don’t want to overstir at this point. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the brownies are shiny and beginning to crack. Cool in pan, then slice and eat!

On a lighter note, it was an excellent food weekend. We were accidentally non-sacrelicious on Good Friday as Hyoun brought home sushi-grade tuna, salmon, yellowtail and toro; I did a sort-of ceviche thing with the tuna; Hyoun made temaki out of the yellowtail and nigiri out of the salmon, and we ate the toro unadorned sashimi-style. (Other of our friends went out for bacon-double-cheeseburgers, per tradition.)

Then Saturday, we made mini-tacos with steak tips, red peppers, and onions. It was late, so the supermarket was closed, but I did have a carton of Greek yogurt in the fridge, and it makes a really good substitute for sour cream, better than regular yogurt! Hyoun said it was a little sweeter than sour cream, but I didn’t really notice a major difference; then again, I rarely buy sour cream unless I’m planning to use it for a specific dish.

Sunday afternoon, we ate with friends who had made Cubano food for Easter “dinner” (well, late lunch), including a yummy meat-and-potatoes hash and black beans. Hyoun and I contributed KFP Coke to the fete, and discovered to my delight that it makes for MUCH foamier coke floats. Sweeeeet.

Then we were driving home, making the turn onto Somerville Ave from Park Street, and the Wings Over Somerville shop was FINALLY UP AND RUNNING. So on our way home, we stopped by and picked up an F-16 of honey lime, garlic parm, and barbecue. Hooray, another Amherst import! Now if only we could get Antonio’s into Davis Square … (Also, you have to love that they managed to get 666-WING for their phone number. Ahh, Somerville phone exchanges.)

And finally, I found out this morning that Popeyes in Kenmore finally opened last week, too! With 10% off coupon! Chain they may be, but I grew up with them in California, and they do make yummy chicken ‘n biscuits, so. Not only that, Recipezaar has their “Cajun Sparkle” spice combo recipe, so methinks I shall probably apply such to chicken breasts later in the week. Minus at least half the salt, though.

So this weekend kinda turned into “Jesus is risen, let’s eat meat!” But I’m okay with that sometimes. :)