Chewy Chocolate Chip Brownies

I have learned much about making brownies in the past few weeks. I have tried to make brownies from scratch before and found it a waste of time for several reasons. One is the bitter chocolate taste I would get with 'from scratch' brownies. I thought it was because I used too much cocoa, but now I am educated and experienced. It is not the amount of cocoa as much as the type of cocoa. To avoid that bitter or powdery taste, you must use Dutch processed cocoa or cocoa processed with alkalies. The alkalies neutralize the acidity of the cocoa and really change the flavor of whatever is being baked (brownies).

The second thing I learned relates to the texture of brownies. I had thought that there were only two categories of brownies: fudge and cake. I was wrong. There is a third category: chewy. I always thought that the brownie I like and was searching for and only found in a boxed mix was a fudge brownie because it is so moist and dark and sweet. But I tried recipes for fudge brownies and hated them because they tasted and looked like. . . fudge (which I really do not like). After making a few recipes and reading about brownies, I saw a description of a brownie recipe I liked and it was a chewy brownie. You see chewy is soft and fluffy but fudge is dense and sticky.




Chewy Chocolate Chip Brownies
1 c {2 sticks} unsalted butter
2 c granulated white sugar
4 lg eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp vanilla
1 c Dutch cocoa
1 c all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 c chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil. Grease or spray with nonstick coating.

2. Melt butter over low heat. Add sugar and stir heating till almost bubbling. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until smooth and shiny. Add vanilla.

3. Combine cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Pour butter mixture into dry ingredients and stir. Do not over mix, just stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.


Helpful Notes~
*Use Dutch processed cocoa, not American; or use cocoa that has been processed with alkalies.
*Line baking sheet with foil; when brownies are completely cooled just lift out and cut. THIS MAKES IT SO EASY TO CUT BROWNIES, no sticky gunk on your knife.



*To get a shiny crust on top of your brownies, continue to heat butter while whisking in sugar. Allow to get rather warm but not bubbly. Whisk in room temperature eggs one at a time. This should give you a flaky, shiny crust.



*Add chocolate chips to change the flavor to suit your targeted taste palette, semi-sweet or dark or milk chocolate.
*Mix with a spoon or spatula or fork, not with a mixer. Over mixing kills brownies. I used no more than 50 strokes when stirring the dry ingredients in and then just folded in the chips.
*Use white sugar with this recipe. I love brown sugar when baking but it did not work with this.

Juicy Round Roast with Caramelized Onions

Busy as a bee, that's what I have been. I know it is so cliche but it describes my life perfectly at the moment. With eight children, one who is three months old and quite demanding (though his cuteness makes up for all of that), and another who is three years old and wants constant attention that I don't have on hand to give him, my days are full. I don't possess the luxurious time for making dinner plans and shopping lists. So I don't. I just shop. Then I cook. But this all doesn't have to lead to a terrible dinner, or worse - take out.

Step in the humble eye round roast. I almost always skip this at the store, but on my last grocery trip (without a list mind you) I picked up a 4 lb package because the price was so much better than all the other cuts. I usually make chicken and know that the cooking style (sauteing, roasting, frying, etc) is really what determines the outcome~ how moist or tender or tasty it is.

Using a combination of high and low temperature roasting gave this lowly cut of meat a crown, literally, a rich brown crust that contrasted with the slightly rare and tender inside. And even better, it makes this a cinch to prepare. Which gave me more time to spend with this guy.



Juicy Round Roast With Caramelized Onions
eye round roast
salt
pepper

3 medium, sweet onions, sliced
4 tbsp butter
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 500 F. Season eye round roast with salt and pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper for 4 lb roast. Place roast in preheated oven and decrease temperature to 475 F. Cook for 5 minutes per pound, 20 minutes for a 4 lb roast.

2. Turn oven off after the roast has cooked and leave it in oven. DO NOT OPEN DOOR. Allow to sit in oven for 2 1/2 hours to complete cooking.

3. When meat has just half an hour more to sit, begin onions. Melt butter in large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once butter is almost all melted add sliced onions, thyme, salt, pepper, sugar, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden and sticky.

4. Slice roast into thin pieces and serve topped with caramelized onions.



Notes~ Why cook at such a high temperature?
*The preheated temperature keeps the oven hot even after it has been opened to place the roast in. Opening the oven causes heat to escape so beginning at a slightly higher temp allows the roast to cook at a constant temperature.

*Maillard (pronounced my-YARD) browning occurs when meats are heated above 310 F; similar to caramelization of carbohydrates. Cooking meat at a high temperature (the 475 in this recipe) creates a rich brown, tasty crust on the meat. But the high temperature needed to create the crust is only needed for a relatively short time. The lower temperature (once the oven is off but closed) cooks the meat slowly which makes it more tender and moist.

*The high temperature cooking may be done either at the beginning or end of the cooking but I tend to be persuaded that the meat dries out more if it is done at the end. Also, this is so much easier, just walk away from the kitchen after it has cooked for 20 minutes!



Pin It