KATHARINE HEPBURN'S BROWNIES

I am back from two glorious weeks on the Maine coast, where I came upon this recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl. The kitchen shelves of our summer rental were filled with wonderful cookbooks, fortuitous, since unwinding takes some time, and there is nothing like a good cookbook read while sitting on a porch overlooking the ocean. When I flipped open the book this was the first recipe to catch my eye.

"There are as many brownie recipes as there are flowers in the meadow," the late novelist and food writer Laurie Colwin pointed out. Her favorite came from a friend who got it from the magazine article about Katharine Hepburn. This was apparently Hepburn's favorite family recipe. "They are fudgy and a little slumped...pile them on a fancy plate...with a little blob of crème fraiche and a scattering of shaved chocolate." I might just put some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on mine.

KATHARINE HEPBURN'S BROWNIES

Makes 16 Brownies

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) chopped walnuts (optional)

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan, knocking off excess flour.

Melt butter with chocolate in a 2-to 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla, then beat until well combined. Stir in flour and salt until just combined, then stir in walnuts, if using.

Pour batter into baking pan. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a rack, then cut into 16 bars.