Author Topic: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash  (Read 8940 times)

2ndTimer

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Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« on: November 14, 2014, 10:44:16 AM »
Growing up we just baked them with a little brown sugar and butter but I would like to do something more interesting.  So favorite frugal squash recipes, everybody.

Siobhan

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #1 on: November 14, 2014, 11:40:24 AM »
I bake them with the brown sugar, then stuff them with a quinoa pilaf of quinoa, toasted pine nuts, raisins or cranberries and a bit of garlic roasted in olive oil.  Top with cilantro and parmesean cheese and pop it back into the oven until browned on top.

daizy744

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #2 on: November 14, 2014, 11:43:19 AM »
Soup! Saute onions and garlic. Peel and de-seed the squash and cut into chunks.
Add squash to the pot and cover with broth. Once the squash is cooked, puree with an immersion blender. Yum!

tmac

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #3 on: November 14, 2014, 11:47:32 AM »
Roast, then mash with potatoes, garlic, parmesan, oregano, butter, and salt to taste. Holy schmoly, it's good. I grabbed several acorn squashes at our last farmers market of the season, and they're earmarked for this. I may roast them ahead and freeze.

Alchemilla

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #4 on: November 14, 2014, 11:52:29 AM »
Fry ginger, nutmeg and coriander (cilantro?) Add onion, carrot, diced squash and stock. Perfect soup with optional cream and black pepper.

rubybeth

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2014, 11:55:40 AM »
I do a variation of this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/sweet-roasted-rosemary-acorn-squash-wedges/

Except I just microwave the whole acorn squash (poke a few holes in it with a sharp knife), and then scoop it out, adding the rosemary, brown sugar, and butter after it's cooked. Rosemary and squash is a surprisingly good combination!

socaso

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #6 on: November 14, 2014, 12:11:54 PM »
I do stuffed squash with acorn squash and it's a good way to use up leftovers. The last one I did had quinoa, leftover green beans, leftover mushrooms, and a leftover pork chop. I mixed in a bit of Parmesan and sprinkled some over the top. I also really like doing veggies and sausage in a stuffed squash.

MicroRN

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2014, 12:24:40 PM »
I like mashed acorn squash, with curry powder and butter.  I just bake the squash, mash the innards, toast some curry powder in butter, and mix it all together with a little salt.  Most hard squashes are so sweet, I think they need a savory flavor to offset them.       

Hotstreak

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #8 on: November 14, 2014, 05:23:34 PM »
Growing up we just baked them with a little brown sugar and butter but I would like to do something more interesting.  So favorite frugal squash recipes, everybody.

Skip the sugar, add more butter, and put some cinnamon on top.

2ndTimer

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #9 on: November 14, 2014, 06:52:32 PM »
Wow, thanks.  Several new-to-me combinations here.  Never thought of cranberries or rosemary with squash. 

mrsggrowsveg

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #10 on: November 17, 2014, 08:04:55 AM »
These were 99 cents at Aldi and I bought a bunch.  A couple of my favorite recipes so far were Acorn Squash Ravioli with Bolognese sauce and Acorn Squash and Chickpea Massaman Curry.  I love acorn squash, but they are very hard to peel and cut.

rubybeth

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #11 on: November 17, 2014, 11:17:06 AM »
These were 99 cents at Aldi and I bought a bunch.  A couple of my favorite recipes so far were Acorn Squash Ravioli with Bolognese sauce and Acorn Squash and Chickpea Massaman Curry.  I love acorn squash, but they are very hard to peel and cut.

That's why I just nuke the whole thing, with a few holes punctured with a sharp knife. Same thing as 'baking' a potato in the microwave. Length depends on how big your squash are and your microwave's power, but I think I recently did one for 8 minutes and it was totally soft and was able to easily pop it open and scoop it out with a metal spoon.

2ndTimer

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #12 on: November 17, 2014, 12:48:25 PM »
These were 99 cents at Aldi and I bought a bunch.  A couple of my favorite recipes so far were Acorn Squash Ravioli with Bolognese sauce and Acorn Squash and Chickpea Massaman Curry.  I love acorn squash, but they are very hard to peel and cut.

That's why I just nuke the whole thing, with a few holes punctured with a sharp knife. Same thing as 'baking' a potato in the microwave. Length depends on how big your squash are and your microwave's power, but I think I recently did one for 8 minutes and it was totally soft and was able to easily pop it open and scoop it out with a metal spoon.

Brilliant!  I will b doing this in the future.

rubybeth

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #13 on: November 18, 2014, 07:50:35 AM »
These were 99 cents at Aldi and I bought a bunch.  A couple of my favorite recipes so far were Acorn Squash Ravioli with Bolognese sauce and Acorn Squash and Chickpea Massaman Curry.  I love acorn squash, but they are very hard to peel and cut.

That's why I just nuke the whole thing, with a few holes punctured with a sharp knife. Same thing as 'baking' a potato in the microwave. Length depends on how big your squash are and your microwave's power, but I think I recently did one for 8 minutes and it was totally soft and was able to easily pop it open and scoop it out with a metal spoon.

Brilliant!  I will b doing this in the future.

I actually just made one last night and it took about 11 minutes. After it's cooked, I was able to cut it in half with a butter knife and scoop out the seeds and then scrape the deliciousness out with a large metal spoon.

GuitarStv

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #14 on: November 18, 2014, 08:05:37 AM »
They've given you a terrible food, probably out of spite.  The only way out of this situation is to escalate the violence.  Give them a Christmas cake.

:D

2ndTimer

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #15 on: November 18, 2014, 08:27:46 AM »
They've given you a terrible food, probably out of spite.  The only way out of this situation is to escalate the violence.  Give them a Christmas cake.

:D

Thank you for opening my eyes to their antisocial behavior.  In keeping with the Powell Doctrine of Overwhelming Force, I will immediately purchase a really large tray of inedible candied fruit complete on a weird shaped cutting board complete with a useless fancy silver fork and have it delivered by a costumed carol singer.

lavar

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #16 on: November 18, 2014, 09:27:53 AM »
Cut off just enough of the bottom so it will stand, cut off the top and scoop out the seeds. Fill with minute rice, dried cranberries, some salt & butter and pour in a few tablespoons of orange juice. Then set in a crockpot with some water in the bottom and cook on high for 2.5 hours. It's delicious. I was going to eat this on my day off Tuesday but I managed to buy a bad one that grew mold after 3 days :(

Dry minute rice?

Better Change

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #17 on: November 18, 2014, 09:31:13 AM »
Roast in the oven, scoop out the innards, and add them to a nearly-finished risotto with sage, rosemary, and Parmesan cheese!  great fall dish.  I'll be consuming those leftovers this evening.

RelaxedGal

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #18 on: November 18, 2014, 09:41:47 AM »
I use cooked squash in all sorts of recipes that call for canned pumpkin.  I usually bake the squash while making something else but now that RubyBeth has opened my eyes to microwaving I don't have to wait.  Though I will miss the roast pepitas!

My favorite is Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes.  Acorn is a little stringy so I whizzed together all the wet ingredients in the blender before adding to the dry.

-Amy

GuitarStv

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #19 on: November 18, 2014, 11:46:00 AM »
They've given you a terrible food, probably out of spite.  The only way out of this situation is to escalate the violence.  Give them a Christmas cake.

:D

Thank you for opening my eyes to their antisocial behavior.  In keeping with the Powell Doctrine of Overwhelming Force, I will immediately purchase a really large tray of inedible candied fruit complete on a weird shaped cutting board complete with a useless fancy silver fork and have it delivered by a costumed carol singer.

Ooooh . . . an arms race!

2ndTimer

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #20 on: December 05, 2014, 11:06:42 AM »
For all you folks eagerly awaiting news of the acorn squash:  I just cooked, baked potato style, in the microwave (Great idea, much easier than the way I grew up cooking squash)  When it cools I will scoop it out, run it through the blender combine it with chicken broth, coconut milk, chopped chicken breast and some Thai spices and serve it with bismatti rice. 

Zikoris

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #21 on: December 05, 2014, 11:22:32 AM »
I would put in in a nice pot pie with potatoes, carrots, celery, herbs, some sort of protein, and a super flaky home made pie crust.

But I'm biased - we're pie-crazy in this household and just had Hungarian-style pot pie last night that's still on my mind.

2ndTimer

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #22 on: December 05, 2014, 12:14:22 PM »
I would put in in a nice pot pie with potatoes, carrots, celery, herbs, some sort of protein, and a super flaky home made pie crust.

But I'm biased - we're pie-crazy in this household and just had Hungarian-style pot pie last night that's still on my mind.

Tell me more about the Hungarian style pot pie.  Now that the squash is almost history I need a new interest.

Zikoris

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Re: Neighbor gave me an Acorn Squash
« Reply #23 on: December 05, 2014, 02:12:49 PM »
I would put in in a nice pot pie with potatoes, carrots, celery, herbs, some sort of protein, and a super flaky home made pie crust.

But I'm biased - we're pie-crazy in this household and just had Hungarian-style pot pie last night that's still on my mind.

Tell me more about the Hungarian style pot pie.  Now that the squash is almost history I need a new interest.

It was really good! I wasn't planning on cooking last night so I had very little fresh ingredients on hand, and have always found the best things to do with random ingredients is make pie. I fried up some onions, then added vegetarian ground beef, frozen peas, and chopped up potatoes and carrots. Lots of paprika, black pepper, and fresh parsley, little bit of salt. Threw in about a tablespoon of flour to lightly coat everything, then about a cup of water. Simmered it until everything was soft. Made half my usual pie crust recipe and just did a top crust because a) I was lazy and b) I wanted to decrease the time between me walking into the kitchen and pie being in my stomach. Dump the filling in a casserole dish, roll the pie crust on top, bake for half an hour at 375. Voila, Hungarian pot pie!