more decadence

[rone]

Tonight Kim cooked some smoked pork chops, and made some pesto to go with some angel hair pasta and asparagus from our garden, plus salad that contained fennel, broccoli and lettuce from our garden (and green onions from someone else's garden).  It was all fantastic, and i opened a bottle of Norman 2002 Mephistopheles zinfandel (PDF).  It's dark, rich, complex, obviously tannic for a zin but not too much so, and hot (œnospeak for "high in alcohol").  Kim then whipped up a batch of Mrs. Donnelly's Brownie Mix, which cost $20 (!), but, hey, the samples at the store were unbelievable.  And the brownies do rock, and pair very well with the wine.  I also have a Norman `02 old vine zin waiting in the rack... mmm.

Comments

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmmmmm.

[matrushkaka.livejournal.com]

DAMN IT I'M ON A DIET STOP TALKING ABOUT FOOD!

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

I should be on one too, but have obviously veered from that path.

[nyar.livejournal.com]

I've had a bad day so I will rain on your parade... I bet I could have made just as good if not better brownies for, say, 1/3 of the price.

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure you could have. This brownie mix was a total impulse buy on rone's part. But since he bought them, of course I had to make them.

I'm sorry you had a bad day. Bad days seem to be raining down almost as much as the actual rain we've been having.

[mezdeathhead.livejournal.com]

Twenty dollar brownie mix had better be diamond encrusted. Or at least have some illicit substances in the mix.

Did it taste like $20 worth of delicious?

Twenty dollar brownie mix?

[joepro.livejournal.com]

Those who saw the movie Pulp Fiction may find this funny. This is the first thing I thought of when reading this thread:

BUDDY
How 'bout you, Peggy Sue?

MIA
I'll have the Durwood Kirby burger
-- bloody -- and a five-dollar
shake.

BUDDY
How d'ya want that shake, Martin
and Lewis, or Amos and Andy?

MIA
Martin and Lewis.

VINCENT
Did you just order a five-dollar
shake?

MIA
Sure did.

VINCENT
A shake? Milk and ice cream?

MIA
Uh-huh.

VINCENT
It costs five dollars?

BUDDY
Yep.

VINCENT
You don't put bourbon in it or
anything?

BUDDY
Nope.

VINCENT
Just checking.

Buddy exits.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

If you're all about the decadent brownies-of-death, I cannot recommend this recipe (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102992) highly enough. Use a high-fat/low-moisture butter like Plugra, top-notch choc. and cocoa like Valhrona or El Rey, and line the pan with parchment as these can be a little difficult to get out of the pan cleanly. The reviewers are right, these are *much* easier to slice if you wait a day or so after baking -- but they're so rich that folks who've had them before will probably clamor for you to cut and serve them ASAP.

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

I had a glass of that "seven deadly zins" last night. It was like saying hello to a sweet old friend I hadn't seen in years. Lots of caramel on the finish.

The last "hot" bottle of wine I had was the 2002 Newton claret. I really like it, but wow, it's on fire. Something like 15.8%; the fruit can't stand up to it.

I love it when you post about wine, btw.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I had the SDZ at a restaurant in Sac'to when Kim and i were visiting pen_shui. Your description jibes with mine.

I appreciate the compliment. I don't do it too often because i go on and on and i'm afraid of turning into one of those horrible people who break out the thesaurus when writing about wine.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Is it wrong that i like Plugra on English muffins?

[matrushkaka.livejournal.com]

It's hard to stay on, isn't it?

I gorged on sushi Wed night, but had rice and applesauce and water with lemon yesterday and today ...