Grand Marnier Almond Brownies

from the Touch Family Recipes

		    Grand Marnier Almond Brownies
		   Joe Touch (from Janice Luteran Hess)

Janice Luteran, now Janice Hess, was a classmate of mine in
college at the University of Scranton. Yes, in Scranton, PA. She was
an electrical engineering major, and a townie (At the UofS, commuters
are called townies; town residents were just 'locals').

Janice made these for me, during a visit to her in Endicott after
college, when I was in grad school at Cornell. See, I cook lots of
things for my friends when they come to visit, so some of them try to
impress me with their cooking when I visit them. Which is much more
interesting than knowing a good restaurant, and gives us a chance to
catch up on stuff during the preparation.

I don't know where Janice got the recipe from, but it's MINE NOW!

Ingredients:

make single batches, which make a standard brownie-pan

	2 sticks butter		(half margarine and half butter works,
				but, given the rest of the ingredients,
				is it really going to help?)


	6 oz bittersweet or	(not unsweetened; I use chocolate chips
	  semisweet chocolate	to avoid the whole chopping thing)
	  finely chopped


	5 small eggs 		(yes, 5. Or 4 extra-extra large ones)

	1 1/2 cups sugar

	1 teaspoon Grand Marnier (I use a shot or a shot-and-then-some,
				any orange liquor works, but this is the
				whole reason for making the cookies, so
				just get a bottle. You'll use it :-)
	
	1 teaspoon grated	(don't measure - just grate one, very
	  orange peel		bright orange orange. Grate only the
				dark orange off - not the bitter white pulp)

	1/8 teaspoon vanilla	(I use 1/2, but it doesn't matter much)

	2/3 cup sliced almonds,	(not-toasted works too. Or omit. Don't use
	    toasted		any other nut, though. Almonds and oranges
				together are great; the same isn't true
				for all other nuts)

	2/3 cup flour		(yup - that's it!)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter and flour the bottom of a 9x12"
baking pan.

Melt butter and chocolate in heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat.
(I melt the butter first, then put the chocolate in, which seems to
avoid the sticking/burning problem). Remove from heat, and let cool
slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until blended. Stir in Grand
Marnier, orange peel, and vanilla. Blend in almonds (this can actually
wait until the batter is complete, and you're just about to pour it
into the pan!).

Add the chocolate mixture (pour in slowly, while running the mixer, to
avoid having the warm chocolate cook the eggs, or else make sure the
chocolate is only warm, not hot).

Add flour, and fold until just blended (don't overbeat - it's bad for
brownies!).

Bake until edges crack and a toothpick inserted in the center comes
out clean (the standard brownie test). Takes about 25 minutes
according to the recipe, but usually takes more like 30-35. Check it
starting about 25, and every 5 minutes thereafter.

Cool in pan on a rack about 30 minutes, cut into squares, transfer to rack
and cool completely. Stack with waxed-paper separators only after cool.