VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Mike Harrison]

I'm going to attempt to duplicate a family favorite: brownies. But I'm unfamiliar with one thing: the instruction "Melt margarine and chocolate and blend well." I've already found several suggested procedures for melting the chocolate (without scorching or seizing it) but, because I've never melted margarine before, can I assume it's just going to go all liquid? Any suggestions (or requests for the recipe) would be most welcome.

Many thanks!
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[Moe Egan]

Throw the margarine away and use butter. But, seriously, best way to melt margarine is in a microwave- :10-:30 seconds at a time. Stirring in between goes. Much like the chocolate, you want to keep an eye on it so it doesn't get nasty while you're melting it.
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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
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[Moe Egan]

Oh- and yes, I'd love a copy of the recipe please. I love family/vintage recipes. I have a collection of 'church ladies' cookbooks, the kind churches put together for fundraisers, full of old family recipes.

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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

[George]

Seconded on wanting the recipe. I love baking*

Seconded also on ditching margarine and using butter instead almost all the time. HOWEVER. Using butter vs using margarine vs using crisco creates some consistency differences. Example: my wife's favorite oatmeal cookies are made with crisco because she likes them to be chewy. When I use butter instead they tend to get crispier.

If you want to combine your fat source (margarine) with chocolate and melt together the way -I- would do it (read: the boring way), get a pot on the stove with a little water in it, find a glass/pyrex mixing bowl that is larger than the radius of the pot, put your chocolate and margarine in the mixing bowl, turn up the heat, and use the secondary heat to melt but not destroy those two items. Alternative double boiler.




* like, actual baking of food items. not what the kids mean when they say baking. i think.

[Mike Harrison]

I may try a version using butter in the future but, for now, I want to try to duplicate a brownie I last experienced in the mid-70s.

The recipe for the brownies, as well as a few other nifties my mom would often make (although I do not know if they are her own recipes), is here.

Thanks for the feedback!
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[George]

Oh yeah that's going to be delicious. Those sour cream twists look out of this world too.

[Lee Gordon]

If you're going to melt the chocolate in the microwave, do it at 50% power. And no more than 30-45 seconds at a time before checking it. The margarine (or butter) will, indeed, turn to liquid, which is exactly what you want. As I'm sure you know, that bakers chocolate is the unsweetened kind.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

[George]

Yeah that's a good reminder Lee. I missed that it was bakers chocolate on the first read. Important detail, given that other forms likely are already sweetened and would make for a very puckering experience at the end result.