piecedgoods

Impressions of a total amateur

Now that I’ve been taking an oil painting class and have done, oh, 6 oil paintings, I feel qualified to theorize on the Impressionist period of painting. The one with Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cassatt and whole bunch of others.

I enjoyed the Pre and Post Impressionist exhibits at the De Young Museum in San Francisco this year and last. It’s always a thrill to see paintings in person. There’s no amount of web interaction – as terrific as Google’s Art Project is – that can replicate standing in front of a great painting.

Here’s my theory – Painting in the Impressionistic style was way faster than painting in the realistic style. All those tiny brushes, and highlighting layers that ended up getting yellowish over the centuries anyway were unnecessary for those Impressionists.

And there you go. Art theory from a nincompoop.

Brownies

These here brownies are super fudgey. The ones in the picture above. If you want less fudgey, cake-ier brownies, go elsewhere. You could try the recipe below in the Betty Crocker Dinner for Two cookbook illustrated by Charley Harper, but I wouldn’t. I’m not a big fan of shortening where butter can be used. And I can already tell that the ratio of chocolate to other stuff is not high enough.

You could save time and use a mix, says Betty Crocker. But I wouldn’t to that either since the amount of time you save wouldn’t be worth the difference in taste and fudginess.

Anyway, if you want really good ones that really taste like chocolate, and have that little crusty bit at the top, this is the recipe. They are worth the calories.

Melt: (I do this in the microwave for a minute, stopping to stir the melted butter at the 30 second mark with no negative consequences, but it depends on your microwave and your level of attention to it. The chocolate can easily be burned this way. It’s safer to use a double boiler or bain marie, but I’m a risk taker)

1 stick (1/2 C) Butter
3 ounces Unsweetened Chocolate

Mix in:

1-1/2 C White Sugar

Then mix in well:

3 Large Eggs
1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Add in then:

1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
3/4 C All purpose Flour

Optional Add ins:

3/4 C Chopped Walnuts or Pecans
1/2 C Chocolate Chips

Pour/Scrape batter into a buttered 9×9 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes , until the brownies look a bit dry on top, and the batter doesn’t jiggle when you wiggle the pan. This will not pass the toothpick test if you’re used to doing that with batter. By the time it does pass that test, you’ll have dry brownies. Bummer brownies.

If you eat these warm out of the oven, they’re mushy, but excellent with ice cream. They get firmer when they sit at room temperature.

In case you’re wondering, these do not have any leavening in them. I didn’t forget.

By the way, if you have anyone that is on a gluten-free diet, you can substitute an equal amount of almond flour for the all purpose flour and end up with a very nice gluten free brownie.