The Kind of Brownie I Like

I just made some amazing brownies. When I pulled them out of the oven, a little undercooked, it seemed like they were going to fall apart. I started imagining all baked goods in which the crumbs never fuse together, but instead form individual crumblets that stay in the pan shape until cut into. Like a Monet you've come too close to, or a dream that disintegrates when you wake up.

But with brownies, as with life, patience is a virtue, and once the recalcitrant crumbs had cooled down, they formed a dense chocolaty interior with a glistening crust, and held together just fine when I lifted my second piece out of the pan (just to be sure it was any good).

This was the kind of brownie I liked. Dense and gooey and not at all cake like. Not too sweet, with a dark chocolate richness enhanced with a touch of espresso. No nuts, no frosting, no embellishment of any kind.

There are a lot of brownie recipes out there. Besides the wide variety of plain ones, there are recipes for mint brownies and cheesecake swirled brownies and caramel brownies and the brownie's sweeter, gentler younger sister the blondie. And you could try all of them. You should try all of them, to find the kind of brownie you like. Take your time and enjoy the search.

Double Chocolate Mocha Brownies (Gourmet, Dec 2002)

This recipe uses unsweetened chocolate squares, but cocoa powder works just as well. Since cocoa powder is just unsweetened chocolate separated from the cocoa butter, you can substitute one for the other by altering the butter or fat in the recipe. The substitution rate I've seen is 1 oz unsweetened chocolate = 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon butter. Don't be fooled by the chocolate chips in this recipe. They melt away and you'd never know they were there. If you're like me and hate a strong coffee flavor, cut the espresso in half. Also, I cut the recipe in half, using 3 oz chocolate and 5 tablespoons butter, in an 8x8 pan, and baked for only 15 minutes. It was perfect.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 5 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant-espresso powder or instant-coffee granules
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan with foil, allowing 2 inches of foil to hang over ends of pan, and grease foil well (except overhang) with 1 tablespoon butter.

Melt remaining 11 tablespoons butter with unsweetened chocolate in a large metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and whisk in sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt (mixture will be grainy), then add eggs 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until batter is smooth.

Toss together flour and chocolate chips in another bowl and add to batter, stirring until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake in middle of oven until top is firm and edges just begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 20 minutes (do not overbake).

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then carefully lift brownies from pan by grasping both ends of foil and transfer to rack to cool 10 minutes more. Cut into 32 squares and lift brownies off foil with a spatula.

all about VITAMINs

mari membangun habit konsumsi makanan sehat, termasuk buah dan sayur ;)

Vitamin A

terkandung pada: wortel, tomat, pepaya, bayam, daun katuk, bit merah, labu kuning, mangga.
manfaat utk kesehatan (terutama anak2): sebagai antioksidan, membantu kesehatan mata, pertumbuhan tulang, kesehatan kulit-gigi-rambut, meningkatkan daya tahan tubuh terhadap infeksi.


Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)

terkandung pada: kacang panjang, buncis, kacang kapri.
manfaat: mengubah karbohidrat menjadi glukosa yang menjadi bahan bakar sistem saraf dan otak, menjaga selera makan.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

terkandung pada: sayuran warna hijau seperti bayam, brokoli, sawi hijau.
manfaat: membantu pertumbuhan anak, menanggulangi anemia-gangguan susunan saraf-penglihatan yang kurang baik, membantu metabolisme karbohidrat-lemak-protein, menjaga kesehatan kulit-kuku-rambut-mulut-bibir-tenggorokan.

Vitamin B3

terkandung pada: kacang2an, kurma, alpokat.
manfaat: mengurangi kelelahan, menjaga kesehatan kulit, mencegah anemia.

Vitamin B7 (biotin)

terkandung pada: kembang kol, kedelai.
manfaat: meningkatkan daya serap tubuh terhadap vitamin B yang lain, memperkuat kuku, membantu produksi dan penggunaan lemak serta asam amino.

Vitamin B9 (asam folat)

terkandung pada: jeruk, kol, brokoli, wortel, lobak, kentang, bayam, sawi hijau, asparagus.
manfaat: menstabilkan mood, mengurangi depresi, mencegah anemia, membantu pertumbuhan anak, meningkatkan selera makan anak.

Vitamin C

terkandung pada: pisang ambon, pepaya, tomat, jeruk, jambu biji, mangga, sayuran hijau.
manfaat: meningkatkan imunitas/daya tahan tubuh terhadap infeksi, pemeliharaan kesehatan gigi dan gusi, menjaga kekenyalan dan elastisitas kulit, membantu penyerapan zat besi.

Vitamin E

terkandung pada: taoge/kecambah, brokoli, alpukat, tomat, bayam, sawi hijau, daun katuk, asparagus.
manfaat: sebagai antioksidan yang melindungi sel dari kerusakan, menghalangi oksidasi lemak dalam tubuh, menjaga kesehatan kulit dan otot.

Vitamin K

terkandung pada: bayam, brokoli, lettuce/selada, kol, kacang polong segar.
manfaat: penting untuk proses pembekuan darah, membentuk tulang yang kuat.
source: Buku Pintar Jus utk Bayi & Balita, Ayu Bulan Febry K.D.,S.Km. & dr. Zulfito Marendra

Tips about Juice

mau jus buah atau campur sayur, ternyata ada pantangan juga loh...

Hati-hati , Jangan asal mencampur !

1. Jus wortel dengan jus anggur dapat menyebabkan perut kembung.
2. Jus jeruk tidak tercampur baik dengan jus lobak. disamping itu, rasanya juga tidak enak.
3. Jus tomat dan pear kurang dapat tercampur dengan baik. selain itu, rasanya juga tidak enak.

Cara menyimpan Jus dengan baik

sebaiknya jus diminum sesegera mungkin setelah dibuat karena mudah teroksidasi oleh udara, terutama vitamin A dan C. selain itu, enzim aktif yang terkandung didalamnya juga akan mengalami kerusakan bila disimpan terlalu lama dan dapat terjadi perubahan warna sehingga rasanya masam. tetapi, bila ingin disimpan maka caranya:

1. Jus ditaruh dalam wadah tertutup rapat. dan simpan dalam lemari pendingin a.k.a kolkas.
2. Tambahkan sedikit jus jeruk lemon pada saat membuat jus buah dan sayuran untuk mengurangi oksidasi vitamin dan zat gizi lainnya, serta menjaga warna alami jus.

source: Buku Pintar Jus utk Bayi & Balita, Ayu Bulan Febry K.D.,S.Km. & dr. Zulfito Marendra
gambar jus dari sini.

Questions???

We gals were just sitting around coming up with all kinds of ideas for our next blog entry. None of them seemed to be working tonight though. Soooooo.....we thought you could help.

Have you ever thought of a question you'd like to ask us? Any question. Here's your opportunity. That's right, readers...ask us any question you want and we will answer. You can direct your question to one of us specifically, or to all four. We'll answer every question we get.

There's only one condition...we don't have be truthful. ;)

We'll post the questions and answers on a blog post one week from today. So get your questions in soon!

Hmmm....this could be very interesting. Have fun!!!

Well, duh.

Where on earth have I been? (besides Cambodia, of course).  My friend Laura sent me a FB message today asking if she could be updated whenever I post a new blog entry. 

It took me two seconds to figure out that I could add a "follow" button to my blog.  Why didn't I figure this out earlier?

Just go to the top bar on the blog and click on the "follow" button which is on the left.  You can sign up either publicly or privately.  Or, not at all.  Just wanted to let you know it's an option which is now available.

Thanks, Laura!