Martha Stewart's Brownies

Brownie is one of the well loved desserts. For me, this chocolate bar is an instant picker upper. On days when I just have the blues, a bite of this chocolate concoction gives me comfort like a tight hug from someone I love. Among the many variations of brownies, my favorite is the fudgy kind. I like it rich and chewy - the one that sticks on your teeth kind.

In search of the perfect brownies, I will try different well acclaimed recipes and rate each one. I am no btownie expert nor an experienced dessert chef. All ratings are based on my pereonal taste and preference.

To be fair, the chocolate that would be used will be constant. In this case, it will be Beryl's Gourmet Milk Chocolate Compound. A friend gave me a 1 kilogram bar of this chocolate and it was a great timing for this brownie battle. Since milk chocolate has more sugar content compared to semisweet chocolate, I have opted to reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup. This will also be constant in all recipe trials.

For my first attempt, I tried Martha Stewart's Brownies. The use of both semisweet chocolate and cocoa powder sparked my interest to immediately try this one. Surely, it did not disappoint.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces coarsely chopped good-quality semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.

2. Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until butter and chocolate are melted. Let cool slightly.

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; set aside.

4. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture; beat until combined. Add flour mixture; beat, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 35 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out brownies; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Brownies are so easy to make and so forgiving (not in calories, mind you). My two-year old was "helping out" in making these brownies. Getting caught up with a toddler as the assistant, I forgotten to beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla and instead just poured it with the flour mixture. Despite this mistake, the brownie turned out great! Well loved by my family.

Difficulty: 4 / 5
Taste and Texture: 5 / 5
Appearance: 4 / 5
Rating: 13 / 15

This recipe produced a fudgy brownie that is not so sweet and does not lack the chocolate flavor. Best eaten in room temperature.

Seafood Tomato Soup

We had a family gathering last week and a cousin brought a potful of seafood tomato soup that was consumed the moment it was served. I myself had two cupfuls of this hearty concoction. And who wouldn't?! It was no doubt, one of the most hearty and comforting soup I've ever tasted in my life.

My cousin shared that in a trip to Manila, he and his wife tasted Cibo's Tomato Soup, which his wife loved. Upon returning home, he experimented and tried to replicate the soup and came out with this winner! They shared the recipe and I immediately gave it a try as my darleng fell in love with the soup too.

Seafood Tomato Soup

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 ripe fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/4 kilo fresh shrimp, shelled
1 can crushed tomato
1 can tomato soup
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper

1. Saute onion and garlic in butter and olive oil. Add tomatoes. When cooked, add shrimp.

2. When shrimp turns orange, add crushed tomatoes. Mix.

3. Pour in tomato soup. Fill the can of tomato soup with water and add into the mixture. Season with dried basil, salt and pepper. Let simmer for 10 mins.

4. Add milk. Serve hot.

Initially I didn't use chopped fresh tomatoes and used canned diced tomatoes. It came out good but in the next attempt, I would follow the recipe above as I think it will come out more flavorful. This recipe would serve 4 to 6 persons.