Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Sweet Meat Squash

I have never been a big squash fan.
But I do enjoy eating what I've
grown in my garden.
This year I grew an abundance
of colorful squash and didn't
want to lose the opportunity
to preserve the harvest.
Below are
Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins,
Carnival Acorn Squash
and
silvery blue Sweet Meat Squash
which my Dad was so fond of.


Last night I cooked up one of the Sweet Meat squash
for our evening meal.
It.was.good!
Here is what I did~


Because winter squash have a hard rind,
you will need to help your large knife
with a little persuasion ~ a hammer!



Cut/chop your squash in half.



Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp and
discard, compost, feed to your chickens
 or wash the seeds for roasting.
(Wash and completely dry seeds.
Toss 1 1/2 C. dry seeds with
2T. melted butter
1T salt, garlic salt or other seasoned salt.
Spread out in single layer on baking sheet.
Bake 275* for 15-20 minutes or until
lightly browned.)
Continue to cut your squash into quarters.
Place squash into a parchment lined baking
pan skin side up.
Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes
or until easily pierced with a fork.
(Sorry, forgot to get a picture of this part)


Carefully remove from pan and scoop the flesh into a bowl.
(I let mine cool till easily handled without getting burned.)
I used and old fashioned potato masher to
'squash' my squash. ;~P
I set half of the squash aside for putting into freezer bags
and freezing for later use.
With the remaining squash
I added butter and brown sugar and
salt and pepper to taste and warmed it in the oven, covered,
and served.
~*~
There are a variety of ways to serve your squash but
this is how my Gramma did it so that is how I do it, too!
This squash also makes delicious 'Pumpkin Pie'!