Death by Chocolate Brownies

I was so excited about starting this blog: I probably went through my recipe books a dozen times trying to decide which would be the best to start with. Sour cream and apple cake was a strong contender followed by pineapple crown cake or maybe maple bacon doughnuts.

Ultimately Death by Chocolate brownies won because nothing says happy woman more than double delightful dark chocolate brownies. And I figured maybe chocolate would translate into a few people reading the blog.

It was a great idea except my recipe disappeared. It should have been in the blue binder where all the multiple chocolate recipes are. (The green binder is veggie dishes, red is for meats and blue, orange and purple are all desserts. I just bought a yellow one for soups but that’s for another blog post.)

If a recipe goes missing, the first place to look for it would obviously be the kitchen. So I left the computer and wandered down to the beginning of the end of my normal life.

I’m not being dramatic either.

The kitchen looked like a hurricane swept through which it might have if the hurricane was named Lou. My cousin Louise Sherry Stone, also my roommate (co-owner of the house our Grandmother left us) and the bane of my existence. Oh I love Lou, I really do but she’s a mess and leaves one always in her wake.

She had obviously attempted to make my brownies but left in the middle of the making. There was melted chocolate in a bowl and on the counter, there was my flour canister opened with a spoon sticking out and the good better sitting on the kitchen island softening around the edges.

Do you know how much the good stuff costs? Thank God I hide the Tahitian vanilla.

I should have left it for Lou to clean up but that woman approaches housework the same way she treats anything inconvenient: ignore it and someone else will ultimately take care of it.

That someone is usually me.

So yes, I started to clean up the mess and since the brownies could still be made I figured why not? I got my camera and took pictures as I creamed the butter and egg, added the ingredients. This was how the Pioneer Woman started and who wouldn’t want to be that popular (as well as married to a rancher and have her kitchen?)

There was a mixture in my yellow bowl that I dipped my finger into and tasted. It had melted bitter chocolate and a slight licorice taste. I’m not a licorice fan but Lou must have wanted to add the taste for some reason. So I mixed it in.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean so I washed bowls and cleaned the kitchen and then downloaded my photos until the timer dinged.

You know that moment when you pull something out of the oven and it smells so good and you just made it and there’s nothing to clean because it’s all done and put away so all there is, is you and the delish smelling thing and it just needs to be cooled a little off then you can cut it and eat it, or in this case lay it on a pretty plate, take a picture for the blog and then eat it?

Yeah, that moment.

I didn’t get to know it either.

“Smells great,” said a deep rumbly voice in the kitchen where I’d been alone one second before.

I screeched and dropped the pan of brownies except they didn’t fall, they stopped in the air and just waited while the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen hopped off the counter where he hadn’t been a second ago and picked the pan out of the air and put it on the kitchen island.

“Who the hell are you?” I might have squeaked at that point because Mr. Gorgeous should have been writhing on the floor with burnt hands and instead he was looking down at me with a smile.

“Appropriate question, I suppose. Especially the Hell part. You can call me Nick. You summoned me. Here I am. What’s up mistress?”

I was up. Didn’t pass out from shock which was quite an accomplishment.

“What are you talking about?” I definitely squeaked at that point.

“You summoned me,” Nick said. “The ingredients in the brownies, the charm.”

“God damn her!”

So maybe at this point I should mention that Grandma was a practicing witch which she learned from her Grandmother from ‘the old country’. Said country was Russia and as far as I know the family were potato farmers and beet eaters with the occasional horse thief thrown in. But Grandma loved her magic and swore it passed down to every other generation so Lou and/or I was bound to be touched.

Lou believed her. I didn’t. Except that I had a six foot, dark haired, blue eyed, get a woman damp in the panties hunk of supreme better than real manhood standing in my kitchen who hadn’t been there a minute before.

“Louise!” I screamed.

She had probably been in her workshop because she came in a moment later with that slightly glazed look in her eyes which meant she’d been using the glue and she stopped dead still and stared at Nick.

“Are you….”

He looked at her disinterestedly. Most men looked very interested when Lou walked in a room, she’s one of those perfect redheads with the alabaster skin and wavy hair and the bitch is taller and thinner than anyone who comes from peasant farmer stock has a right to be.

I’m short and dark and could easily still be in the field picking potatoes.

Bitch.

“I knew it,” Lou crowed. “I called a demon. Oh my God, I did it.” She fist-bumped and danced in place. “Woo-hoo. Go me. I got a live one. I rock. Yay Louise.”

“Is she always like this?” Nick asked.

“Unfortunately,” I answered. “Um, excuse me Lou but do you want to tell me what the hell you were thinking by calling a demon?”

“It was in Gram’s grimoire,” Lou said. She couldn’t stop grinning. “It said that you can call a demon using a simple spell and ingredients and he has to grant you one wish. If you promise to release him immediately, there should be no repercussions. And it worked. Thea, it worked.” She grabbed my upper arms and squeezed. “I can use him to get the concession at the boutique and get my jewelry out of the craft fairs and into higher society.”

Of course. Lou had been working her ass off trying to find someone who would take a chance on carrying her designs. Only she would think that a demon was the answer.

“Louise Stone,” I said exasperated, “there’s no way this isn’t going to bite you in the ass. Demons always come with repercussions. And wishes are never granted without karma coming to do some harm. Are you nuts?”

She took a step back and looked at me like I was a vegetable trying to squeeze onto her dessert plate. “Whatever Thea. I should have known you’d discourage me. Come on Demon, we got some work to do.”

She turned and Nick watched her as she started out of the kitchen. He didn’t move. I didn’t move. I was pissed and hurt and worried. And pissed. Okay, I was really pissed.

Lou tossed her hair. “Are you coming?” she asked Nick.

“No.” He turned away casually and grabbed a knife. I took a deep breath, demons and knives usually spelled out bloodbaths. Instead he cut a square of brownie and lifted it from the pan and took a bite. We were staring at him like we’d never seen someone eat before. Then again, watching someone that handsome eat a brownie with obvious enjoyment was something that one rarely does see.

He was the definition of ‘oh my’.

Bite me George Takai.

“I summoned you,” Lou said.

“Not really.” Nick licked a crumb off his lower lip and my heart stuttered. “You started the spell but Thea finished it. She mixed it and cooked it and it was her recipe anyway. I’m her Demon, not yours.”

Oh shit.

Some days it doesn’t pay to go for the brownies, after all.

 Death by Chocolate Brownies:

4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2-ounce pieces
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-ounce pieces
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon Tahitian vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream
4 ounces chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 325 degrees .  Coat a 9 by 1 1/2-inch cake pan with 1 teaspoon of butter. Flour the pan with 1 teaspoon of flour, shaking out the excess.

Mix together 1/4 cup flour, 2 tablespoons cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt onto waxed paper. Set aside.

Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 4 tablespoons butter, and 2 ounces semisweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Heat for 4 1/2 to 5 minutes, remove from the heat, and stir until smooth.
 

Mix 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Whisk on high speed until slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and whisk on medium for 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients, whisk on low for 10 seconds, then on medium for 10 seconds. Add the sour cream and whisk on medium for 5 seconds.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to thoroughly combine ( also add and combine 4 ounces chocolate chunks ).

Pour the brownie batter into the prepared cake pan, spreading evenly. Bake the brownie for 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan at room temperature for 5 minutes.