Squash Anyone?

Recently, Mrs. Food and I have been eating a lot of winter squash. I was surprised to learn, after asking around the office and my friends, that a lot of folks don't know or are scared to try winter squash. Well, exactly what is winter squash anyway? Simply put, winter squash is just summer squash that has been allowed to fully mature. In its mature state, squash can be rather scary looking with its hard outer shell and strange shapes. Don't let this deter you from giving winter squash a try, its both easy to work with and from what Mrs. Food tells me, just packed full of fiber.

Mrs. Food has become a big fan of buttercup squash. Its creamy orange flesh is very similar in taste to the sweet potato. Extremely simple to cook, I just cut the top off and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds. I then place the squash into a 9x9 pan and add about a 1/2 inch of water to the container. After adding a large chunk of butter and maybe a sprinkle of pumpkin spice mix to the squash, I cover with foil and cook in oven for about an 1hr or so until tender, at 375 degrees. It is just that easy. When cooked, scoop out the flesh and let you imagination take you away. I am going to try and make a buttercup squash pie using a sweet potato pie recipe as my guide.

The Acorn squash might just be my favorite type of winter squash. Again, I just cut the top off and discard its seeds. Then I like to stuff the squash full of boudin or dirty rice. I have always been very fond of stuffed peppers so I just stuff the squash like I would the pepper. Cook the acorn squash the same way as the butter cup squash. Serve when the squash flesh is tender. If I remember correctly, Eastside Cafe; offers acorn squash with a ginger glaze that is just wonderful.

Winter squash has been around for a long time and like everything else it can be cooked a million different ways. I will let you guys know how my pie turns out. My friend Phil suggested making sausage out of squash. Is that a little crazy?