Fudge Brownies

After I met Perle in 1975 and started cooking for real, I decided there were 3 recipes which needed perfecting: chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake and brownies. The cookies were easy, it's in Joy of Cooking (chocolate chip drop cookies). The cake was my mother in law's variation of her friend's recipe which substituted orange juice for milk (thereby making it parve), but not baked as long so it stays moist. It is still the cake of choice for anyone's birthday.

The brownie recipe, however, took a long time to find. Many people and books and magazines promised the ultimate brownies, but they were inevitably too cakey for my taste. Then, when my childhood friend Paul Harris was visiting and I mentioned the brownies, he said "My wife Kathy makes the best brownies". I said, sure send me the recipe, skeptically. They were exactly what I was looking for! Chewy in the middle and crispy on the edges, they are great fudge brownies. Make sure they are completely chilled before serving. They are much more like fudge than cake.

Kathy's Brownies:

¼ pound soft butter (1/2 cup)
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla or liqueur
2 eggs
4 oz. Unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 Tbsp hot water
1/3 cup flour

preheat over to 350
cream butter and sugar
add vanilla
add eggs
add chocolate
add hot water
add flour – beat only until smooth
put in 9x9 greased pan
bake at 350 for 35 minutes

let cool completely, refrigerate