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[rikibeth]

Tonight's dinner: stuffed acorn squash.

I could have sworn I posted about them a couple of years ago, because this is a recipe I threw together when I was working at Michaele's, but I just went through my archives from then, and I didn't write about it.

It's hardly a recipe. More of a concept.

Take some bread (I used a ciabatta loaf that I bought for the purpose, but any sturdy, nonsweet white or wheat bread would do), slightly stale by preference although you can dry it in the oven if you only have soft squishy bread, and cut it into cubes, or chunks roughly approximating cubes. Dump all the cubes into a largish mixing bowl.

Toast a handful of pecans in the oven for five minutes or so, and chop them if they are not chopped already. Put them in with the bread cubes.

Throw in a handful of craisins.

Chop up a stalk or two of celery, a couple of onions, and a few cloves of garlic, and sweat them in butter (or oil, or a combination thereof). Season with salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Fresh thyme and sage are wonderful but dry from the spice rack will do. Mix these into the bread cubes too.

Pour over enough broth (as I am now cooking for TWO vegetarians, I used No-Chicken Broth, but you can use real chicken broth, or turkey stock, or veggie broth, or what you will) to moisten all the bread cubes. Yes, I know, I told you they ought to be dry in the earlier step. This is because moist bread has very little flavor and broth has lots. Trust me.

Beat an egg with a fork and pour it over the mixture, stirring until it's well combined. If you're a vegan, I'm not sure what to tell you, because the egg helps bind the stuffing together as it bakes. Maybe just deal with looser stuffing.

Take two acorn squash and poke them several times with a fork, and microwave them on high for five minutes. This makes them easier to cut open. Let them cool long enough so you don't scorch your hands off picking them up. Cut them in half, grab the scoop from the pumpkin carving kit you were just using a couple of days ago (okay, a spoon would work too, but the carving scoop gets lonely, doesn't it?), and scoop out the seeds and strings. Rub the exposed surfaces of the squash with butter or oil, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Mound the stuffing into the hollows of the squash. Cover it with foil (so the stuffing doesn't scorch) and bake at 375 for an hour, or until the squash is soft and cooked through.

I remember this as being very, very tasty. We will see what the fussy eaters think.

ETA: They did not like it. It managed to hit every flavor and texture issue eternaleponine had, I think, what with the stuffing being both crunchy and squishy and the squash being stringy, the Dreaded Celery in the mixture (I swear I am just not going to TELL her about celery next time I use it in something), and the craisins adding little nuggets of sweet to Dinner Food.

melovechocolate just thought the stuffing wasn't yummy EXCEPT for the craisins and pecans, and didn't enjoy the flavor of the squash.

I confess that the squash was not as richly-flavored as I remember. It was paler inside than the ones I'd used before. Roasting them at a higher temp before stuffing them might have caramelized more of the natural sugars and made them yummier.

But I ate all of MINE, and I enjoyed it.

*sigh* There's another one I won't be making again.

Comments

[auspeople.livejournal.com]

I think it sounds lovely. And I, too, am the only one in my family to like squashes of this type. Or sweet potatoes. So I guess I'll have to come over to your place some time for din din.

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

It sounded good to me. I do something similar with Delicata squash stuffed with quinoa pilaf.

[paper-crystals.livejournal.com]

That sounds like it would taste great.

[kebbykate.livejournal.com]

Sounds yummy. It would never go over at my house, for a similar constellation of reasons.

There should be a potluck where everyone brings the-food-that-their-family -won't-eat, but should because it is delicious.

[rgljr69.livejournal.com]

My wife makes something similar. She uses either butternut or acorn squash, which ever is available, and she doesn't put in raisins or cranberries or any raisin type fruit. And only occasionaly will she add some kind of nut, again depending on what's available. And she leaves out the celery.

With those differences, I believe everything else is pretty much the same. And at our house, my wife loves it, our boy likes it, I will eat a little and our girl can't stand it.

Oh, by the way, the concept was handed down to my wife from her mother.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

I think it sounds terrific! I will have to work on a WW friendly version when I get back from China. :)

[actual-size.livejournal.com]

Sorry it didn't go over well at your house. I thought it sounded good enough that I'm making it tonight for myself and Tanya, substituting chopped Granny Smith apple for the craisins and omitting the pecans and possibly the celery unless I can find a small enough amount of it at the store. Cubes of yummy Whole Foods rosemary bread are spread out on my kitchen counter as we speak.

This will be the first time I've ever eaten acorn squash. What I like about your recipe/concept is that it does not call for brown sugar, maple syrup, marshmallows or any of that other sweet glop. Keep that crap outta my dinner and put it in the dessert where it belongs!