Brownies

[kimmer]

I'm totally enjoying your baking experience, Jack!!!!  And I'm delighted you enjoyed the stress fractured brownies.

Now I'll have to think up something else with which to stretch your cooking abilities.


-kimmer


PS: Threads merged as you requested.

[Jack W]

Here it is already close to noon the folowing day and I haven't even had any more of the 'Brownies'.

But, I did have four (4) of them last night. They were kind of misery size (2"x2"). I first had 2 (the ones that were on my plate when I wrote that last message.) Then I just HAD to go into the kitchen and snag two more!

This am I slept in till 8 then took a bath.
Then I cooked some oats for breakfast to go with my Orange juice.
I always add brown sugar, then mix in Enlish Walnuts and Raisins.
Scrumptious and healthy except for the brown sugar. (But you gotta add that!)

Then I had to clean out and recharge my Hummingbird feeders.

When I was getting ready to write this reply, there was a knock on my door.
It was the FedEx lady delivering my new Sherwood  RX-4105  100Wx2  Stereo FM/AM Receiver.
So I had to open that, but I had enough self-control not to hook it up yet. — Later.

Now the neighbors will know there really is somebody down here!
I'll try to be controlled, and never after 10:00 at night!

Oh Oh, I  know  those Brownies are in that container just waiting.
Might have to have a couple for lunch with a glass of milk!

Later people, Jack

Lunchtime!

[kimmer]

Oh my gosh! If I ate 4 brownies, I'd be suffering for 2 days with the chocolate hangover.

Oats and brown sugar - you sound like Sneakers.

So did you fire up the new Sherwood RX-4105 100Wx2 Stereo FM/AM Receiver and munch down on more brownies?

[krissel]

Jack, your post sounded like it would be perfect for Twitter.  


And darn it, all I can think of now is chocolate...

[Xairbusdriver]

Congratulations! Ain't it fun to learn from doing?! I'm particularly fond of learning from eating!

As for how long to wait before eating brownies, my rule of thumb is: as long as one can be excavated from the baking pan, it's fair game! Makes no difference if they might be a little too 'flexible' to be held in the hand! Just dump the piece in a bowl (doesn't even need to be microwavable!) and go for it. It's even better if you can cool it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...

QUOTE

Hey Jim, I'll bet even you could do this one.

I restrict myself to spice cookies around Christmas. Don't want to give my wife too much competition...

QUOTE

Now you'll probably tell me you already are a gourmet cook!

Never, in my life, have I (or my wife, for that matter) ever cooked (or even prepared/frozen/bought) a 'gourmet!' Are they in the fresh meat section of the grocery? Or is it some kind of vegetable?

[Jack W]

Showing much better constraint now. Only had two browies for lunch yesterday, and none last evening.
And none yet today at 11:25am.
I'll bet you all find that hard to believe! But lunch is coming soon!
 
Got the Sherwood all installed last night. Took a while, also had to install the CD player and the cassette tape.
Also hooked the audio from the TV up.
Haven't had time to play with it, still busy unpacking boxes and trying to organize.

Well, last evening for dinner, I fried up a couple of chicken thighs.
Whipped up a batch of instant (ok, I'm starting slow, the from real potatoes come later, so cut me some slack) mashed potatos, and had some creamed corn.

AND, I even made gravy! 4 ounces of milk, butter and 1/4 cup flour with a little S&P. Put in the skillet with the chicken drippings and simmered.
Not bad, but not anywhere as good as my ex-wife used to make.

I'll have to get some advice from you cooks out there for how to make good chicken and beef gravy.
All suggestions welcomed!
I have a beef roast in the freezer rarin' to get cooked, along with a recipe.
Good chicken, beef and pork gravy are at the top of my list, along with mashed taters!

Part ? in a series of z posts on bachelor gourmet cooking :Where's that guy rolling in the aisles laughing: when you need him?

Signing off for now. More trials, fun and tribulations later.

I'm really enjoying this bachelor life!

- Jack

[pauline]

Ingredients


500g/1lb 2oz potatoes, such as Maris Piper
50g/1¾oz butter
25ml/1fl oz double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and chop them in half.

2. Place the potatoes in a large pan of water over a high heat. Add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil.

3. Boil the potatoes gently until tender. When you can break the potatoes with a fork or cut them easily with a knife, they're done. Drain them in a colander.

4. Leave the potatoes in the colander until the steam has evaporated (about 3-4 minutes). If the potatoes are still wet when you start to mash, you will end up with watery mash.

5. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and mash them with a potato masher. The harder you work them, the lighter and fluffier they'll become. Don't use anything electrical. Electric whisks or food processors will ruin the texture. If you get tired, stop for a minute, shake your arms and then get back to it.

6. Once you're sure there are no more lumps in the potatoes, add the butter.

7. Mash the butter into the potato. Once it has melted into the mash, add a splash of cream. Mash again and check the consistency, adding more cream if necessary. Taste and add a bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper, to your liking. You can add ingredients to your mash to complement your dish. Try wholegrain mustard with lamb, horseradish with beef, chopped chives with fish and caramelised red onions with bangers.



Jack, i just love this recipe for purrrrrrrfect mash. It requires a bit more effort than tearing open a packet of instant but well worth it. it also benefits from giving your upper body a bit of a work out while mashing! Pauline ( will try to dig out an old recipe i have for gravy)

[Xairbusdriver]

Has anyone here tried using a 'ricer' instead of actually 'mashing' the cooked potatoes? Apparently that is supposed to break the pieces down rather quickly and allow only a minimum of 'whipping' which keeps the starches from sticking together. May just be a 'trick' to sell 'ricers!'

Of course, if you don't have a 'ricer' or even a 'masher,' you can always just pop a tater (large ones [Idaho?, Montana? ], of course, not those little red "new" potatoes) in the micro and cook them that way. Then, just take them out, spit it down the middle and make a few slices in the 'meat' and then dump on your favorite toppings; butter, pepper, salsa, pickle relish, chutney, you name it! Or put several of them on at once!

[kimmer]

QUOTE

Has anyone here tried using a 'ricer' instead of actually 'mashing' the cooked potatoes?

If you like really, really smooth mashed taters then a ricer is the way to go. That's what my mom used. When she was younger she used a wooden spoon and finished the whipping by hand, as she got older she used her electric mixer. My personal opinion is the more you rice, whip, let sit ... the colder the taters get and ickier they taste. Totally my opinion and I don't know anything about the starch and stuff. I just know what has worked for us ... but keep in mind that we also like our mashed taters slightly lumpy and hot (not spicy). So take my comments with a grain of salt.

I prefer to nuke my taters and do them with a hand masher to keep them slightly lumpy. I use minimal butter and wee amts of milk or cream, add in pepper and mash by hand. I'm afraid I don't measure so I can't give you amounts.

Oh, and I think (not sure) that Maris Piper would be similar to the Yukon Gold's sold here in the US. I like to use red taters too (sorry Jim), and I don't peel either one of these brands. I do peel the Russets.

Gravy ... I'm no expert -- that would have been my Aunt Grayce; but here's what I learned from her:

If you have juice from your meat, use it. If not then you need canned broth (and personally if it isn't Swanson's low sodium, I don't use it). Anyhow ... for the 2 of us:

1 Tbs butter, melted in 2 qt. sauce pan. Add 1 Tbs. flour and stir (a whisk is easiest, but you can use a spoon) until butter/flour mixture is golden brown in color (don't burn the butter).

Slowly add in the broth/juice from your meat (about 2 C worth), stirring constantly. I sometimes use 1 1/2 C of juice from the meat (or canned broth), and add 1/2 C black coffee, but not everyone likes that flavor. Add in some pepper (and salt if you are a salt addict). My mom often added a dash of garlic powder. Depends on your taste buds.

Bring to a slow boil, turn down heat and simmer and stir until the gravy is the thickness you like.

[Jack W]

QUOTE(kimmer @ May 23 2009, 05:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE

If you have juice from your meat, use it. If not then you need canned broth (and personally if it isn't Swanson's low sodium, I don't use it). Anyhow ... for the 2 of us:

1 Tbs butter, melted in 2 qt. sauce pan. Add 1 Tbs. flour and stir (a whisk is easiest, but you can use a spoon) until butter/flour mixture is golden brown in color (don't burn the butter).

Slowly add in the broth/juice from your meat (about 2 C worth), stirring constantly. I sometimes use 1 1/2 C of juice from the meat (or canned broth), and add 1/2 C black coffee, but not everyone likes that flavor. Add in some pepper (and salt if you are a salt addict). My mom often added a dash of garlic powder. Depends on your taste buds.

Bring to a slow boil, turn down heat and simmer and stir until the gravy is the thickness you like.

Sounds good kimmer. I used way too much flour the last couple of times.

I'll try yours the next time.

One question: Is it a lot better to add the broth to the butter/flour, or can you do it the other way?
Second question: Do you ever add a little milk to the butter/flour?

Thanks, Jack

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Jack W @ May 23 2009, 06:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One question: Is it a lot better to add the broth to the butter/flour, or can you do it the other way?

Better to add the broth to the butter/flour, otherwise you don't get the light browning of the flour -- plus you have to battle the flour lumps.

QUOTE

Second question: Do you ever add a little milk to the butter/flour?

I never have, but it sounds like a good idea. I would add it when I add the liquid and if you add more than a Tbs, add equally less broth/meat juice. You’d likely have a slightly creamier gravy. I'm gonna try this next time I do a pork roast. Good suggestion, Jack.

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Do you ever add a little milk to the butter/flour?

I always add milk! but it has to be in a thick walled glass that has come from the freezer. Root beer mugs work fine, if they are glass and don't have too much advertising on them, depends on how formal the dinner is. I try to keep several glasses in the freezer, just in case we have company, it's not polite to enjoy your ice-cold milk in front of guests. Besides, if you want a second glass, I'll need another frozen glass!

In truth, I didn't grow up drinking from frozen glasses. My dear wife discovered my liking of extra cold, but ice-cube free (if I wanted it watered down, I'd... ) milk, when we were dating. She came up with the idea of keeping some short, but sturdy glasses in their frig. "The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Works for me!

[Jack W]

I finished that first batch of brownies a couple of days ago. How did they ever last that long???  

And that was after taking two (2) over to my Ex last week. BTW, she loved them too. See, there are some things that we both like.Thanks kimmer for pointing out that recipe!!

Anyway, my best friend's birthday is tomorrow, and I've been invited! So I called him this am and asked it he thought that Joyce would mind if I brought over a batch of brownies with me. He said she would probably not want me to. WE had a good laugh over that one. He asked if I just planned to drop them off and then leave. HaHaHa! FAT chance! He's a real joker.

Anyway Skeeter and Joyce have been my best friends for quite a while. They both gave me a whole lot of support during my trials and tribulations of the last several month. But thank goodness I have learned to be thankful, and move on. Joyce makes beautiful wire-wrapped stone jewelry using gold and silver wire. I take pictures of them for her with my Canon PowerShot S2 IS digital camera, then print them out for her. She likes that.

Skeeter will be 62 tomorrow. Poor young guy! He and I have a lot of interests in common - archaeology, rocks and minerals, historical and archaeological research, and exploring. And we both like to eat greasy hamburgs.

So I whipped up another batch of brownies before dinner. It is much easier the second time since you know what to expect, and are better prepared.

Then what the heck. I decided to fix dinner. — 3 strips of bacon, 3 eggs over easy and a couple of frozen waffles with syrup of course, along with some Dole orange-pineapple juice. As you see, I always eat really healthy. One of my favorite meals! Low calorie brownies and low cholesterol fats. But my blood cholesterol is lower than most. And my doctor is always astonished with my blood test results. Lots of hiking and other good activities.

My other best friend passed away last year at 101 years old, just a couple of months shy of 102. He was our mentor in archaeology and history, and had an extremely active brain. Read a lot, and remembered most of it.

And, as James Bond says "You Only Live Twice". And, damned if I'm not going to enjoy it the rest of my shortened life.

I even ordered a Viewsonic VX2260WM 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor to replace my Sony Multiscan 400PS 19" monitor, even tho the Sony is still working great after 6+ years. It comes tomorrow, getting anxious!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

- Jack

[kimmer]

Jack ... you put a big smile on my face. Sounds like you have (and have had) some terrific friends.

I'm so glad you are enjoying that brownie recipe. Have fun tomorrow, and wish Skeeter HB from us'n here in Oregon.

Breakfast for dinner works for me. I like breakfast ANY time of the day.

And I agree .. Life is good! ENJOY!

[Jack W]

kimmer,

made my fourth batch Friday!

I am becoming addicted.

Thank goodness I've been sharing the wealth with friends and family.
Otherwize my weight loss of 25 pounds would be for naught.

Thanks again!!!!!

- Jack