Continuing the Clean-It-Out recipe march, today is a super-flexible quickbread recipe (see PB Bonbons and tomorrow, granola bars!).  Based on a recipe from my dear Classics professor in college (the type who called tests “Opportunities” …for his students to show him their abilities–his recipe prowess was much more appreciated than his sense of humor).

3 1/2 cups flour (any mix of whole wheat, oat, almond, or all-purpose flour that you need to use up…)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg (plus some  allspice, and/or cloves–whatever you need to use up, or whatever strikes you for the fruit flesh you’re using)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup butter, melted (or oil, or margarine, or smart balance…)

2 cups canned pumpkin (or a whole can, or one-to-two large roasted sweet potato(es), or three-to-four large bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup water

3 cups sugar

Combine wet ingredients + sugar in one bowl, and dry ingredients in another bowl (this particular loaf used 3 eggs and 1/4 cup ground flax, because I had a lot of that to use up,too). Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry, then pour into either 1 bundt pan, or two loaf pans (or two round cake pans, maybe?).  As you can see, this batch *also* had a good helping of walnuts; you could add coconut (i wasn’t bold enough–i didn’t know if the flavors would work out), or chocolate chips, or raisins or dried cranberries…

bake at 350 degrees (F) for 75 minutes.

…microwave necessary.

1 pkg chocolate chips

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (2 1/2 sleeves–if the box is the classic 3-sleeve style)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups PB

Combine butter & PB to melt in microwave.  Crush graham crackers, or be smart & buy a box of crumbs.  Graham cracker crumbs + powdered sugar + butter/PB.  Spread in 9×13 pan.  Melt chocolate chips in microwave (short bursts w/lots of mixing after initial 30 seconds).  Spread over top of PB crumb mixture.  Refrigerate for at least an hour, then cut into square.

aren’t they just the best little food containers?  my obsession started a few months ago.  somehow i stumbled upon this brilliant idea: stuffing chocolate chip cookie dough into them, an inch or two deep, and baking them in the oven for 10-15 minutes–the deep-dish cookies are crispy on the outside, and still gooey on the inside.  they’re especially perfect with a perfectly spherical scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

the delicious, hot, texturey dessert sated me for a week or two, and then i found a recipe on Tasty Kitchen for a five-ingredient chocolate molten cake, designed to be enjoyed in a ramekin (of course).  everyone’s had a chocolate molten/lava cake, but this one only has five ingredients (my husband has made it himself!), comes together, in 5 minutes, and aside from the sugar, doesn’t have much against it, health-wise.  here are a few changes i made to the recipe you’ll find above: instead of the 60% cacao they suggest, i had 100%–and i loved it.  i halved the recipe, because 2 cakes is the perfect size for our two-person family, and instead of adding a yolk, or half one, i just used 1 egg.  for most of my baking recently, i’ve started using Smart Balance butter blend, and have loved it.  finally, i found that while powdered sugar really melts into the batter, usual granulated sugar, or even raw sugar, adds a nice crunch, too.

this morning, i tried a new egg-scramble method, outlined in this month’s Bon Apettit–crack 4 eggs into a small saucepan with 1 T butter.  heat over med-low heat, whisking constantly, till eggs thicken and begin to form small curds.  it’ll take longer than you think it should to thicken & curd, but once it starts, it all cooks very quickly.  don’t let it stay on the heat too long, just make sure most of the mixture is curdy; then, because special eggs deserve special presentation, i scooped them into ramekins and snipped flat-leaf parsley on top (i read last week that parsley is a great anti-inflammatory, so i’ve been putting it in everything).

TONIGHT: sticky toffee puddings in ramekins….