Valentine’s Day encourages many of us to think of romance and chocolate. What could be more romantic than perhaps a weekend getaway that includes a barefoot stroll on a warm beach just before sunset, a dinner out, followed by a show and then a late night dessert of decadent chocolate brownies when you return home to your RV?
My husband scored big points achieving this concept of Valentine’s Day this year by booking an RV trip to Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida for a few days. Anticipating the popularity of the area at this time of year along with Valentine’s Day falling on a Saturday, he booked an RV spot early at the Orange Harbor Co-Op and RV Resort-a Good Sam Park in Fort Myers. Next he secured tickets to a show he knew I would love seeing in the area featuring Alton Brown, a television celebrity and author of the recipe books Good Eats and I’m Just Here For The Food.
Driving to Fort Myers will be an adventure in and of itself because the trip gets us out in our RV again after being settled in one spot for a good portion of the winter. Fort Myers is also close to Sanibel Island known for its white sand beaches and seashells. That takes care of the first two items on our list for romance.
We will get there early enough to make some inquiries about a good restaurant, preferably Italian because I don’t count calories on Valentine’s Day. The show tickets arrived in the mail a couple of days ago for Alton Brown’s Edible Inevitable Tour at the Barbara Mann Performing Arts Hall at Edison State College.
That leaves decadent chocolate brownies. Here is a version of Alton Brown’s recipe for Cocoa Brownies adapted from the foodnetwork.com site.
Ingredients:
1-cup sugar
1-cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted, melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1¼-cups cocoa
½-cup flour
½-teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line an 8×8 square glass or metal pan with parchment paper. Pre-measure all ingredients.
Place the sugars in a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times. Employing the whisk attachment, use a stand mixer to beat the eggs at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugars to the eggs and beat at medium speed until combined. Add melted butter and vanilla extract to egg and sugar mixture beating again until combined. Add cocoa, flour and salt to food processor and pulse 3 or 5 times then add to egg mixture and combine all ingredients.
Pour into prepared pan and spread to cover the parchment paper. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on rack until mostly cool before cutting.
The recipe is easy to make and the brownies are yummy. You can store them in an airtight container and they will remain deliciously decadent for several days. They are so rich a mere 1” square will suffice for any chocolate lover’s palate.
