Cooking for One: Brownies
As I wrote in the last column, Cooking for One has taken on a life of its own (perhaps even on its own) at Urban Home Blog. As with everything I write on the blog, the genesis of Cooking for One is daily living in our urban homes - in the plural since January when we started a second home in Los Angeles. We have shuttled between the two as both individuals and a couple, and however often we find ourselves together we are also often apart. During the apart time, daily living continues, influenced by the seasons and by locale. Some things, however, are constant, such as the need to feed oneself.
In John's and my circumstance, we have agreed that we will take care of ourselves while apart. As I wrote in the last Cooking for One, it is tempting for solo diners to skimp on meals. I have learned that some such is inevitable, for one of the freeing aspects of dining alone is that no one else is depending upon you for dinner. If you don't feel like cooking, you don't have to cook. So sometimes we don't. But throughout this year, for every meal I've gobbled from a take-out carton, I've also learned to appreciate the act of preparing and serving a meal to myself. Cooking is nourishment, and how profound it is to nourish oneself.
That is how I try to write Cooking for One, as a series of recipes that are easy to make, good to eat, and reverent of self-care. To that end, so far this year we have mastered the simple survival technique of keeping a bowl of tuna salad in the fridge for busy night suppers and midnight snacks; of taking advantage of spring's produce with a healthy vegetable sauté served with a toss of long noodles; of soul-satisfying bowls of lentils crowned with salmon and chicken nestled on rice. These are healthy, nutritious meals, and making and eating them reminds us that solo diners needn't expect short shrift at meal time -- or for that matter anywhere -- as our lot in life.
Which means that (yay!) we also get to eat dessert. At the risk of being perceived as giving readers leave to polish off a carton of ice cream and call that dinner, solo diners whose health and diets allow should not have to sacrifice treats. Frankly, I suspect that few of us do, for yes I investigate the cupboards when I'm in LA, as I'm sure John does when he's in New York, so we've both seen some of the shame that goes on in there. But if cooking for and feeding oneself is a meaningful experience, after sustenance the meaningfulness of eating is the purity of the act of tasting. Any baker will tell you that it's the love of making good things to eat that sends them to the mixing bowls. Solo diners should not be deprived of either dimension of the experience of eating.
One of the simplest foods in the world to make is brownies, and you'd be hard pressed to find a treat more welcome by almost everybody. Brownies are the cornerstone of a schoolkid's day, from the after school glass of milk to the weekend bake sale. Brownies situate themselves on the dessert table at almost any communal meal, from coffee hour to break room. Busy folk like brownies because they assemble in minutes and hungry folk like them because they taste so good. To this august list of accomplishments on the humble brownie's resume I add their appropriateness as a treat for solo diners that fulfills the criteria for a good cooking for one recipe: they are simple to make and good to eat, and are a way of taking care of oneself. As long as one restrains oneself from eating the entire pan for supper.
BROWNIES
These are your grandmother's simple one-pan brownies; you can get all of the ingredients in any grocery store. If you don't have a baking pan, get a basic 8-inch square pan; these are widely available.
For the brownies
1 stick unsalted butter
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Ground cinnamon
For the glaze
1 8-ounce box semisweet baking chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Unwrap the butter and place it into a saucepan.
3. Unwrap each square of unsweetened chocolate and place the chocolate into the saucepan with the butter.
4. Measure 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract into the pan containing the chocolate and the butter.
5. Place the pan on the stovetop and turn the heat to low.
6. While the butter-chocolate mixture is melting, butter the bottom and all four sides of an 8-inch square baking pan.
7. Measure the flour into a bowl. Use the tip of a knife to scoop out a pinch of ground cinnamon and add that to the flour.
8. Once the butter-chocolate mixture has melted together, turn off the burner and remove the pan from the heat. Place the pan on a hot pad. Use a wire whisk to mix the butter/chocolate mixture until it is silky.
9. Measure the sugar into the butter-chocolate mixture. Use the whisk to mix the sugar into the mixture until the mixture is silky.
10. Working one at a time, crack an egg over the chocolate mixture and, whisking swiftly, incorporate the both eggs into the mixture.
11. Stir the flour into the mixture just until the mixture is combined. Mixture will be thick, but do not overstir.
12. Working gently, use a silicon spatula to transfer the mixture to the buttered baking pan. Tilt the pan from side to side to ensure that the brownie is evenly distributed across the pan; use the spatula to spread the mixture across the pan if needed.
13. Gently place the pan in the oven and bake (no peeking) for 30 minutes.
14. While the brownie is baking, place the second stick of butter into a clean saucepan. Unwrap the semisweet baking chocolate and place the unwrapped chocolate into the pan with the butter. Measure 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract into the pan containing the butter and the chocolate.
15. Place the pan at the back of the stovetop where the heat escapes from the oven. As the brownie bakes, the butter and chocolate should melt together from the heat of the oven.
16. After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and check the brownie. It should be cooked through and slightly springy. If it isn't, cook for a minute or two longer. Once it is baked through, place the brownie on the hot pad and turn off the oven.
17. Check the glaze. If the butter and chocolate haven't melted together, carefully transfer the saucepan (the handle may be hot) to a burner and cook the glaze on low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is silken.
18. Once the brownie is cool enough to touch, use a silicon spatula to spread the brownie with the chocolate glaze. If the glaze runs too much to control, stop and let the brownie cool a bit longer before resuming.
19. Once you have glazed the brownie, let the brownie cool until the glaze sets. Cut the brownie into thirds lengthwise and then cut across the thirds to form nine pieces in a tic-tac-toe pattern.
20. Serve.
In John's and my circumstance, we have agreed that we will take care of ourselves while apart. As I wrote in the last Cooking for One, it is tempting for solo diners to skimp on meals. I have learned that some such is inevitable, for one of the freeing aspects of dining alone is that no one else is depending upon you for dinner. If you don't feel like cooking, you don't have to cook. So sometimes we don't. But throughout this year, for every meal I've gobbled from a take-out carton, I've also learned to appreciate the act of preparing and serving a meal to myself. Cooking is nourishment, and how profound it is to nourish oneself.
That is how I try to write Cooking for One, as a series of recipes that are easy to make, good to eat, and reverent of self-care. To that end, so far this year we have mastered the simple survival technique of keeping a bowl of tuna salad in the fridge for busy night suppers and midnight snacks; of taking advantage of spring's produce with a healthy vegetable sauté served with a toss of long noodles; of soul-satisfying bowls of lentils crowned with salmon and chicken nestled on rice. These are healthy, nutritious meals, and making and eating them reminds us that solo diners needn't expect short shrift at meal time -- or for that matter anywhere -- as our lot in life.
Which means that (yay!) we also get to eat dessert. At the risk of being perceived as giving readers leave to polish off a carton of ice cream and call that dinner, solo diners whose health and diets allow should not have to sacrifice treats. Frankly, I suspect that few of us do, for yes I investigate the cupboards when I'm in LA, as I'm sure John does when he's in New York, so we've both seen some of the shame that goes on in there. But if cooking for and feeding oneself is a meaningful experience, after sustenance the meaningfulness of eating is the purity of the act of tasting. Any baker will tell you that it's the love of making good things to eat that sends them to the mixing bowls. Solo diners should not be deprived of either dimension of the experience of eating.
One of the simplest foods in the world to make is brownies, and you'd be hard pressed to find a treat more welcome by almost everybody. Brownies are the cornerstone of a schoolkid's day, from the after school glass of milk to the weekend bake sale. Brownies situate themselves on the dessert table at almost any communal meal, from coffee hour to break room. Busy folk like brownies because they assemble in minutes and hungry folk like them because they taste so good. To this august list of accomplishments on the humble brownie's resume I add their appropriateness as a treat for solo diners that fulfills the criteria for a good cooking for one recipe: they are simple to make and good to eat, and are a way of taking care of oneself. As long as one restrains oneself from eating the entire pan for supper.
BROWNIES
These are your grandmother's simple one-pan brownies; you can get all of the ingredients in any grocery store. If you don't have a baking pan, get a basic 8-inch square pan; these are widely available.
For the brownies
1 stick unsalted butter
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Ground cinnamon
For the glaze
1 8-ounce box semisweet baking chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Unwrap the butter and place it into a saucepan.
3. Unwrap each square of unsweetened chocolate and place the chocolate into the saucepan with the butter.
4. Measure 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract into the pan containing the chocolate and the butter.
5. Place the pan on the stovetop and turn the heat to low.
6. While the butter-chocolate mixture is melting, butter the bottom and all four sides of an 8-inch square baking pan.
7. Measure the flour into a bowl. Use the tip of a knife to scoop out a pinch of ground cinnamon and add that to the flour.
8. Once the butter-chocolate mixture has melted together, turn off the burner and remove the pan from the heat. Place the pan on a hot pad. Use a wire whisk to mix the butter/chocolate mixture until it is silky.
9. Measure the sugar into the butter-chocolate mixture. Use the whisk to mix the sugar into the mixture until the mixture is silky.
10. Working one at a time, crack an egg over the chocolate mixture and, whisking swiftly, incorporate the both eggs into the mixture.
11. Stir the flour into the mixture just until the mixture is combined. Mixture will be thick, but do not overstir.
12. Working gently, use a silicon spatula to transfer the mixture to the buttered baking pan. Tilt the pan from side to side to ensure that the brownie is evenly distributed across the pan; use the spatula to spread the mixture across the pan if needed.
13. Gently place the pan in the oven and bake (no peeking) for 30 minutes.
14. While the brownie is baking, place the second stick of butter into a clean saucepan. Unwrap the semisweet baking chocolate and place the unwrapped chocolate into the pan with the butter. Measure 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract into the pan containing the butter and the chocolate.
15. Place the pan at the back of the stovetop where the heat escapes from the oven. As the brownie bakes, the butter and chocolate should melt together from the heat of the oven.
16. After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and check the brownie. It should be cooked through and slightly springy. If it isn't, cook for a minute or two longer. Once it is baked through, place the brownie on the hot pad and turn off the oven.
17. Check the glaze. If the butter and chocolate haven't melted together, carefully transfer the saucepan (the handle may be hot) to a burner and cook the glaze on low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is silken.
18. Once the brownie is cool enough to touch, use a silicon spatula to spread the brownie with the chocolate glaze. If the glaze runs too much to control, stop and let the brownie cool a bit longer before resuming.
19. Once you have glazed the brownie, let the brownie cool until the glaze sets. Cut the brownie into thirds lengthwise and then cut across the thirds to form nine pieces in a tic-tac-toe pattern.
20. Serve.
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