👨‍🍳 Cooking in the Time of COVID 👨‍🍳

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Acorn squash is a reliable mainstay of supermarket produce aisles year-round. Sweet, as well as a good vehicle for stuffing, it’s frequently seen sporting a British racing green exterior but it also comes in white and gold models; the plush interior is always yellow-orange. (Talk about your mixed metaphors.) I think of it as falling somewhere in the middle of the dry/satiny-smooth <-> moist/squishy-pulpy texture continuum.

This photo of Maple Sugar Acorn Squash with Spicy Roasted Pepitas was taken at last year’s Thanksgiving extravaganza; if you’re curious, here’s very approximately what I did:

Using an extremely sharp, heavy knife, very carefully slice it in half, pole to pole; remove the seeds and strings. In each half, place about 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of grade A dark amber maple syrup and bake in a hot oven until completely soft. Pour off and reserve the liquids, scoop out and mash the squash adding back the juices, a little freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of dried rosemary (a little goes a long way) and more melted butter if you like. (I like.)

The topping involves pepitas sautéed in hazelnut oil (with a few drops of sesame oil for good measure) dredged in a combination of sugar, salt, ground cumin, ginger and cinnamon, with a pinch of cayenne pepper. This dish, originally sans crunch, had always been a welcome addition to our Thanksgiving feast, but the topping turned out to be its sine qua non.

Next up, autumn frost squash.
 
(For those who are just joining us, the saga begins here.)
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. ❤️