Rainy Day in Boston

Is there anything better than waking up at 11:30 to rain pouring down outside and absolutely no obligations for the day?  I don't think so.

So what was my first thought when I woke up this morning?  Rainy day = soup.  Soup = Monica's.  So I geared up for the rain and ran down to get some of the best soup in Boston.  Don't you worry, one of these days there will be a whole post about Monica's and the great guys that run one of my favorite places in the North End.

After Kaston, Nick, and I devoured the soup, I decided that Rainy day also = baking.  So that's just what I did.  Since I started this blog I've become quite obsessed with looking at other food blogs.  One of my favorites is called Honey & Jam.  Her recipes always sound so delicious and her pictures are amazing to say the least.  As I was reading the other day I found a recipe for Gooey Cocoa Brownies that I just had to bookmark.  So today I tested it out to see if her recipes were really as good as her pictures looked.

And they were.  This is easily my new favorite brownie recipe.  Brownies are such a simple thing to make but far too often they are lacking in some aspect.  I find that they turn out to be either far too dry or just completely lack the rich flavor that they should have.  This recipe was the perfect amount of gooey combined with a rich chocolate taste and not a bit too sweet. 

Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Directions:
First preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Spray an 8x8 square baking dish.
Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a medium bowl and microwave for 1:30 minutes.  Remove and stir until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Set aside until it has cooled down just a bit.  Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon.  Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one.  When the batter is think, shiny, and well mixed, add the flour stirring until it is all blended in.  If using nuts, stir in at this time.  Spread evenly in the pan.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Can't have brownies without a cold glass of milk.

The thing I loved about this recipe is that it seemed very back to basics, not using a mixer for example.  I adore finding recipes that don't involve some fancy cooking utensils (even though they can be great at times).

While I was baking the brownies, I was listening to Dave Rawlings Machine and the perfect song came on for my rainy baking Friday that I just had to share.  Sweet Tooth.  Here it is.

Get to baking and enjoy!