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I made these brownies on the weekend, and oh my god, those things are good! Letting them 'stale' didn't really work, we ate the whole lot in about two days, but damn they were delicious! This recipe is definitely making a reappearance to the kitchen. The only slight change I made is adding an extra ten minutes to the cooking time, but that might just be my oven.

The sugar can be reduced by 1/8 to 1/4 cup to enhance the flavor of the salt. Saltiness will also be affected by the use of fleur de sel v. kosher salt.

@semarr: Hah. You're not alone in this dilemma. Though they're texturally very different baked goods, the brownies hot are just as great as they are several days in. We've enjoyed them fresh out of the oven and as stale as a week old ... plus all the days in between!

@Potluckcraft: Gosh, I'm really sorry to hear about your brownie soup. Would you give us some details regarding the type of baking pan and chocolates used, and also your oven rack placement? Did you also fold chopped dark chocolate into the batter as an end step? (If mailing you a less melty batch might make up for your brownie loss, I'd be happy to do so; just lemme know.)

These are great suggestions! I recently got a KitchenAid mixer for a friend's wedding and they love it! Since it's summer, if you're looking for some new grilling gear, check out: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/06/elizabeth-karmels-grilling-tips.html

AmericanHunter.org has some great suggestions!

I hear that virgin coconut oil is whats really good for you. I have found that the virgin coconut oil has the strong coconut flavor and the regular (organic) does not. I use the regular kind to cook veggies and meats because I don't like the coconut flavor in those things. I use the virgin in my smoothies. Does anyone know if both are considered good for you? is it just the virgin? I hear mixed things about coconut oil and I have been using it A LOT. I want to make sure this is okay

OOps I forgot to tell you to run the hand-blender through the pot for about 2 minutes once seasoned before garnishing to get a nice even texture.

I'm very late on this but the book was almost a total loss for me. It's holding up my computer screen otherwise I would say it is a total loss.

The recipes are disappointing. The taste always leaves me scrambling to fix it and sadly most of the time it doesn't get beyond a 2 out of 10 when I do fix it a bit. The methods leave me with undercooked, overcooked, never cooked right items.

And it does stupid things like the recipe that calls for putting flour in the boiling water. Now beginning cooks may think this does something but those who have been cooking for a while will suspect that Ms Madison was on something and so was her editor when that got into the book.

Your right about your feelings about the book. Thank Goodness I bought mine at a library sale where someone else junked it too no matter if it said "To .... Love Dad and Mom." So it was poor Mom and Dad whoever they were who wasted the cost of the book. And the kid was smart enough to dump it the next year. Smart kid.

No Knead bread is a metaphor for getting into heaven -- it's a lot easier than the high-priests say it is.
I've baked for years according to the rules (there are a lot if them, aren't there), then tried the Lahey method. Except that I kept eliminating steps. Now I do this:
Mix the flour (4 cups), water (2 cups) (cold), 1/4 c starter or 1/4 t instant yeast or 1/2 t Active yeast, 2 t salt. Do this between 3 pm to 8 pm - it will take about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter.
After anything from 10 to 20 hours, I use a rubber spatula to pull the sticky, holey mess off the sides of the bowl and push/pour it into a covered baking dish (with a shot of Pam to keep from sticking). I have both the clay and ceramic types - no difference. Don't fuss with it much, just get it in there. Put the cover on. Skip the floured cloth and shaping/resting stuff.
Put in a cold or hot oven. If cold, bake at 475 for 40 minutes, then 10 minutes with lid off at 400. Or leave the lid on and baking for 50 minutes/475 degree total. Cool on a rack.
The crust will be chewy and the interior more moist and chewy than store bread (but fully cooked) - that's the way I like it. Lots of holes.
I've used 1 c beer, replacing 1 c water, and added 1 c of 1/4 inch cheddar cheese cubes. Add when you first mix everything.
And I've added 1 c of the cheap parmesan cheese, 1 T of italian spices, 4 cloves of roasted garlic.
This system has lots of forgiveness. And it's soooo simple. I make two batches in the evening in different mixing bowls (ten minutes), then bake in the morning (about 50 minutes including cleanup).
I'm about to start with the Hertzberg method. This is fun finding the real basic to MAKING BREAD; lots of room to play and try to achieve different flavors by tweaking the approaches. And it's GREAT not having so many rules to follow :-)

I don't own the book, but I checked it out from the library a few years ago and copied down three recipes that I make quite often: the potato and chickpea stew is out of this world, especially with some romesco sauce swirled into it--I don't use her recipe for the sauce, I use one I found on the internet. I also love the lentils with wine glazed vegetables, covered in puff pastry, and the winter squash galette. I think she is a wonderful recipe writer, she has a knack for creating dishes that use simple ingredients that just work together.
I agree with renzata too--Vegetarian Suppers is wonderful. I just got it a few weeks ago and have made about 4 things out of it--the root vegetable ragout with goat cheese sauce is delicious. I skipped the wild rice pancake and just put them in the buckwheat crepes from the previous page. I highly recommend this book for those looking to cook more vegetarian meals.
I also have Mark Bittman's HTCEV, and I would say that it's more for people who haven't a clue about vegetables. That doesn't mean it's not a good book, because it really is, especially the wide use of nontraditional ingredients to bring depth of flavor (umami, I guess) to vegetable dishes.

I bought the book soon after publication and use it now and then, often for inspiration when I have some vegetables to use up. There are quite a few personal favorites in the book. Off the top of my head: the carrots and hijiki seaweed, the sunflower-seed bread, the chickpeas with ginger, and the oat bread.

Thank you so much for all your information, fellow eaters. I have literally hundreds of cookbooks, not to mention a disgusting glut of magazines and periodicals. One thing that has been sorely lacking as a resource is a really great vegetarian book in the collection. I have browsed Deborah's VCE several times and also Bittman's new one. I recently discovered Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking and have to admit I was impressed (not as much with Cooking .01) but she does take really scrumptious photos of her food also, which goes a long way with me. I have a somewhat difficult time with cookbooks when they don't present a delicious photo of their finished product. (Julia is about the only one who gets a pass on this point with me). We're not committed vegetarians, however we are making a concerted effort to have one or two total veggie days a week for many reasons.

Now I can't wait to look for Veganomicon and Madhur Jaffrey's books. I have come so close to purchasing and always back out because I just want one that I know I'm really going to use. A lot. Any other suggestions for the favorite go-to vegetarian cookbook would be most appreciated for my little research project.

If anyone lives in the mid-west, have you been to Chrissie Hynde's new restaurant Vegetaranian in Akron, OH? Looking forward to that sometime this year.

I was ready to leap to the defense of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, but when I took a moment to think about it I realized that I have more "favorite recipes" in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. (I, too, eat everything but have cut back a lot on meat.) I think the Deborah Madison book is great resource for people who don't know what to do with most vegetables and need to be told how to saute greens or bake a potato. Some of the recipes I DO love and make repeatedly from the Madison are eggplant and chard lasagna, quinoa chowder (sounds weird but is yummy), peanut sauce for tofu, and pretty much all of the soups. Some of the basics are very good, too, like her recipes for pita bread (so fun and easy to make it yourself!) and fruit crisps.

I don't have this cookbook, but I've had two others of Madison's in the past -- The Greens Cookbook and The Savory Way -- both of which I ended up giving away. Even when I was a pescetarian, I'd crack her books for ideas, but typically didn't find much of anything appealing. I found them not very helpful, not very inspirational, and barely used them at all. Personally, I don't care for her approach, her style, or her recipes.