Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding...a Guest Post

It's beautiful spring, everywhere...although here, in South Florida we do not know the difference, because for us, as they say "spring has sprung"...and it sprung quite early which we consider a truly spring weather, was back in February, and March. Even April is very nice, but soon as May is around the corner, our summer has begun, just like for all you folks up north. I hear it's about in the upper 80's in Cleveland, my old home town...less than what we have here today, in the low 80's.

Enough, about the weather. What I really would like to mention is my guest post for my dear friend Ping! Would you believe that when I first met her and we started following each other's blogs, which is almost 2 years for me...I was calling her blog Ping's Picklings...as in pickle?...she graciously corrected me that it's PICKINGS, and not the pickle kind!

I am so thrilled and honored to guest post for my dear friend Ping, whom I had the pleasure of meeting since we both started our food blogs, nearly two years ago... and have been supporting each other throughout the entire time. Ping has a meticulous food blog, and is very specific about her photos...no more than one, or two, and always a specific size...unlike my photos, which vary in sizes, and step-by-step directions when time permits. Ping has an amazing sense of humor, and always has the right thing to say, on any subject given...only in a "lighthearted" way! Her photos are always perfect, and immaculate, her choice of dishes, desserts, and baked goods are "dropped dead" gorgeous, and makes you want to see, and get more! She is kind, and caring, and you will feel blessed to have her as a friend...a beautiful friend, indeed!

Thank you Ping for asking me to guest post..."the second time around!" 

For my recipe...just click over to  Ping's lovely blog @ Ping's Pickings

Simple One Bowl Brownies...and more Awards!

Since my daughter Lora came back from Italy recently...I had about 2 nights of sleep in my own place, my poor kitties hanging around me and sleeping on my bed, which my little Persian hardly ever does except if it's storming outside, that can also be the reason why she snuggle up at the foot of my med on her very own little pillow.
Now, I'm back again house and dog sitting for a beautiful black Lab at my son's house only a few blocks away from my daughter, and myself. They are off to NY city, and to the country in NY state for two weeks. After all, d-in-law Cara's family resides in NY...so more the reason to visit! BTW-if any of you friends out there need a good pet sitter out there, just give me a holler...LOL, I'm getting really good at this for the last few years now.
I'm really good company for pets...dogs, or cats...they understand my "language" and actually really miss me when I leave, but in this case I don't go far.
This is the simplest one-bowl brownie you'll ever make, and this time I drizzle a simple sugar glaze on it, and just made a design with a fork to pull to one side...but you have to work fast with the design, as you can see the sugar glaze hardens really fast, which is good, because your don't want it to be a sticky gooey mess.
After you have the ingredients mixed in one bowl, all you have to do is to pour the batter into an aluminum lined 8x8 bake pan and bake for no longer than 20 minutes for a fudgy result...I baked it for 25 minutes, not so dense and overly fudgy!

Simple One Bowl Brownies
adapted from All Recipes.com

4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Microwave chocolate and butter or margarine in large bowl at HIGH for 2 minutes or until butter or margarine is melted.
3. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts
4. Spread in greased 8 x 8 inch pan. Bake for 20- 25 minutes (do not over bake).

For the glaze:
I used 1 cup powdered sugar, and 1 Tbsp of whole milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Just mix all together in a small bowl, with a fork, and drizzle over top of the brownies after you have cut them. Important to cut the brownies first, so drizzle will not be messed up, You can see in the above photo, how I did, and also made design with fork pulling in one motion. By the time I got to the last row, the glaze had already dried...so it's a good sign.)

My spoiled and pampered kitties...home alone!

I have to apologize to you all for not being able to upload...or even copy and paste the second award I wanted to pay forward to you...I am working on my son Joe's computer, and apparently he has a tight security system where it prohibits, copying, and pasting...although I was able to finally upload the award after a few attempted mistakes, but now I don't know which file I put it into. (I'm in so much trouble when son finds this...LOL)...at some point I will be going to my place to check on my kitties, and will try to upload it from mine, and pay it forward!
Finally did go to my place, and was able to copy and paste the award...will pay it forward...actually getting there, now!





 ...and now, for the 2nd award received from Purabi, Cosmopolitan Currymania...thank you Purabi!

I would like to pay forward to 15 bloggers this really nice award...congratulations...well deserved! I do apologize for missing out others, but I still have one more award from Purabi!

Petra

mellissina2

Mari

Christine's Pantry

marisz57

Claudia-What's Cookin' Italian Style Cuisine

Magic of Spice

mangiabella

Junia

Parsley Sage

Sandra

Kathy

SKIP TO MALOU

Quay Po Cooks

Chic & Gorgeous Treats

"Perfect Brownie Pan" Brownie...and a Giveaway!

In all my years of baking brownies, I have never come across a brownie bake set called, Perfect Brownie Pan. It's a
bake, slice, and serve pan, with a cooling rack, that is included with it. Just to prove how easy it is, I put my 5 year old granddaughter Mattia to the test...but first check out this gadget!

Hi friends-here's the link to Wal-Mart for the Perfect Brownie Pan Set


I'm linking this to: Full Plate Thursday, 6-2-11 @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage

I did not purchase this brownie pan...my friend Barbara gave this to me as a gift. They sell it at Wal-Mart and she said it literally flies off the shelves. She should know, because she works there. Now, if you take a good look, the way the slice that I featured on the first photo...is a "fluke"...really, it turned out that way because I decided to take the cutter insert out of the pan before I baked it, and then put the divider back into the brownie pan, so when the brownie was done, some of the slices came out with little borders around them that was kind of cute!

Actually, the brownies turned out extremely yummy...recipe book that was included with the brownie pan has a nice selection of brownie and other sheet cake recipes.

Traditional Homemade Brownies
adapted from Perfect Brownie Pan recipe book

2 1/3 cup butter (1 1/2 stick)
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup all purpose. flour

Preheat  oven to 350 degree F. Melt butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder in a saucepan, or in a microwave proof dish in the microwave. Whisk eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, as in the photo on the right. Stir in most of the chocolate chips, and leave a few for the top, just before baking, scatter some on the top of the batter.

Granddaughter Mattia  volunteered to be my helper...standing on her little stool.

Add the melted chocolate, cocoa, and butter mixture, and the vanilla. Whisk until smooth without any lumps.
Spray brownie pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, for fudgy brownies, or 30-35 minutes for more firm.

You can of course bake this in a regular brownie square pan, or a rectangular pan, but if you can get a brownie bake pan like this it's really easy, and fun. The bottom of the pan is removable for easy handling.

This is a classic photo...while 5yr old Mattia was taking the photo of her "work well done"...I clicked my own photo, as well. At any rate, the brownie was a winner:D

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day...we had a very nice relaxing day, with mostly sunny skies, and a delicious cookout. My son is a very neat grill cook. He has to have everything neatly set up, The flank steak marinated, the asparagus already marinated as in my previous post for the indoor pan grilling, salmon burgers as well.

 A beautiful combination of potatoes being roasted...by d-in-law Cara!

Have you ever seen a more perfect, tender and juicy flank steak?...perfectly grille by my son!

Thai, the 13 yr. old Black Lab mix, was keeping my son company at the grill...we came inside to eat, because it was quite hot outside...even at 5:PM...She darted right to the back patio door.

She was patiently waiting at the door to be let inside...She is such a sweetheart, so sweet, loyal, at the ripe old age of 13, still going strong and is quite healthy and happy:D

Now...about my Giveaway!

It's another great cookbook (a thrift find)...which in this case is a rarity...autographed by the author, brand new book, 2007 edition. You don't have to do a thing, just let me know if you are following me on Twitter, on my blog, or on Foodbuzz. That's all! You can enter as many as 3 or 4 entries if you like...entries will close Fri. June 4th, 2011 and I will announce the winner on Saturday morning, June 5th. Winner will be chosen by Random.org generated number. It's really a great book, so don't miss it!

About Impress for Less by Hope Fox

In Impress for Less!, Hope Fox takes recipes from 100 of the top restaurants in the nation, and re-creates them with ingredients that can be found in the grocery store. Impress for Less! already is resonating with celebrated chefs, authors and personalities, like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Bob Bowersox and Patti LaBelle. And, restaurants, retailers and cooking schools are lining up to sell it. Impress for Less! hits store shelves nationwide in early August 2007.
Ever since Hope was a little girl, she was taught to entertain with a full heart and cook with love. For more than 30 years, she has been entertaining with a generous yet simple approach and style. Hope makes every occasion – from birthdays to holidays to afternoon summer picnics – inviting and memorable. She makes the complicated look easy and takes the ordinary to extraordinary, whether it is planning for a fabulous dinner party or connecting with viewers on television.
For the past 10 years, Hope has regularly appeared on QVC, the world’s largest and most successful electronic retailer. Her keen sense of what women want has helped her capture their attention and sell some of the world’s most respected brands, like Conair, Farberware, Pollenex, Sabatier and Weight Watchers, to more than 90 million households.
Outside of television, Hope is a passionate cook, fervent entertainer and regular restaurant patron. She simply loves food, style and people. Hope has more than 200 cookbooks in her personal collection and frequently combs through them to share recipes with family and friends – and even strangers.

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

I was so determined to make these brownies from my Bon Appetit magazine, but I just hesitated because I have never made brownies with browned butter. I do like browned butter on pasta, but have not tried it in a cake or brownie recipe. Browned butter does have a rich, and nutty flavor, so why not add it in the brownies. Also, one other important result, that the recipe did promise, is the fudgy  and chewy outside, with a shiny, crackly top. Just look how it turned out...yumm! It was not very popular with my little ones, (my grandchildren)...my grandson was trying to pick out the walnut pieces, but I had one cup of toasted walnut pieces in the batter. It did not call for toasting the walnuts, but I know that toasting nuts would release the oils from the nuts, and would make it more tasty, and crunchy.
Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts slightly adapted from Bon Appetit magazine, February, 2011

Nonstick Vegetable spray
10 Tablespoon s (1 1/4 stick) unsalted butter
cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
(spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon unbleached all purpose unbleached flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Position rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat to 325 degrees to 325 degrees F. Line 8x8x2 inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2 inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray.
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and brown bits form at bottom of the pan, stirring often about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat: Immediately add sugar, cocoa 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot.) Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition.When mixture looks thick, and shiny, add flour and stir until blended.
Bake brownies  until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean, with a few more crumbs attached. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack.

Using for overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. Makes a total of 16 brownies. Store in airtight, at room temperature.
(I put mine in the fridge for a more firm fudge effect.)


(In my opinion, these brownies were fabulous, but 1/2 cup flour is not enough to spend all this time, and just make a small amount. The amount should have been 1 cup of flour, and double the recipe. You could still make it in a 8x8 pan, but then it would have to make at least 45 minutes.The best part was, that all you need is just the one saucepan to mix everything together. I set up my bowl to mix, but it was not needed. The easiest way to get everything right, is to have all your ingredients set up...sure makes your work faster, and more efficient. This is the first time I made these brownies, and will make it again, soon...but without the walnuts for the kids.)

Removing pan from heat immediately, add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and salt: stir  to blend.

Cool 5 minutes, mixture will be still warm, but you can add 2 eggs, 1 at a time.

Stir until thick and shiny. Next, add the flour.

 Add flour, and stir until blended. Beat vigorously, 60 strokes.

Stir in walnuts

Transfer batter to prepared pan, and bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees F.

This is the part I hate...the cleanup...ugh! Just look at the sticky mess, that have to be soaked in soapy water. Good thing I don't have any other dirty dishes than the ones I used, but the outcome is so well worth it. The best brownies...ever!...smiles...

Trim the ends and cut into 4 even pieces, then into 4 smaller pieces from each section...total of 16 pieces.

Four large pieces of the brownie, so perfect, not too gooey, or fudgy, just the right amount of sweetness. I used 1 cup of sugar, and not 1 1/4 cups, like the original recipe suggested.

Just look at the perfect shiny crackly top...just the way it's supposed to look. The browned butter certainly added an amazing flavor, alone with the toasted walnuts, which was my adaptation. Enjoy!