Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The veggie I have no idea how to fix.

I've had butternut squash once in my entire life.

It was yummy.

Someone - I can't remember who for sure - made the dish and gave it to our family. It was fluffy and buttery, and oh so good. We all sat around the table and commented on how wonderful it was, and marveled that we hadn't tried the vegetable before.

In spite of that experience, years have gone by, and we still haven't tried fixing butternut squash for ourselves. It wasn't on purpose - it's just one of those things that you say "oh, we'll have to try that sometime," and never put on the grocery list.

But this week Mom and I dropped by a family-owned, old-fashioned, veggie-selling place, not far from us, and I spotted butternut squash.

"Oh Mom, can we get some, please?"

We came home with two nice-sized squash.

Two nice-sized squash that are going to go bad very soon if we don't do something with them. I don't even know if they need to be refrigerated or not. ...Or if the outsides are edible.

I'm calling on y'all for help. Do you have tried and true recipes that will turn out for sure and certain, and taste great - so that Mom will agree to get butternut squash again some time in the future?

Please respond soon!

8 comments:

Dianna said...

Cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, rub it with butter, and put it face down (skin up) on a baking sheet. Throw it in a 400 degree oven for . . . uh . . . half an hour? An hour? Well, anyway, take it out when you can poke the outside with a fork and it goes in easily.

Then scrape the flesh away from the skin, and whip it up with your electric mixer with a bit more butter and some salt. Yummy!

Momzoo said...

I usually bake mine. I will cut it in half (clean out the seeds) and set it in a baking dish with a little water on the bottome, maybe a half inch and bake it for about 30 minutes at 350 or 400 degrees. I serve it with a pat of butter on top and sprinkle with brown sugar (it is really good with maple syrup or honey drizzled on top). We just scoop the soft insides with a spoon...you don't eat the tough skin.

Don't worry about your squash going bad, it will store in a cool dry place (not the refrigerator) for months. That is one of the nice things about winter squash, they have a long shelf life. When we harvest our winter squash I put it in our basement and they keep there very nice. I have eaten squash that is 4 or 5 months old on many, many occations and they are still yummy!

Enjoy

Anonymous said...

here is a link to a recipe that I saw on barefoot contessta... it is for a soup..so if they get any worse...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/butternut-squash-and-apple-soup-recipe/index.htmlrse...

good luck...

Ashley said...

Hehe, my old friend butternut squash. I had a butternut and bean soup at a friends house one time. It was pretty good. So I asked for the recipe. I made it one day (a double batch). Well, it turned out soooooo gross. My family would not eat it. Except for Dad, who ate it just to make me feel good I think. Needless to say, I haven't cooked it again. But we have one on our counter, that needs to be eaten. I think I will bake it. That would be good. Just don't make soup out of it! Lol. I hope I can get a good recipe from someone on here. Oh, and you don't eat the skin.

Kristen Michelle said...

Hey, Amber. We like Butternut squash, too. You don't refrigerate butternut squash until after it's cooked. The outside is not edible. We keep ours in the cupboard. When we're ready to cook it, we peel the outside and cut it into cubes. Then we steam it until it's tender. When it's done, we put it in the kitchenaid and mash it up/mix it until smooth. Then we add butter, salt and pepper. Sometimes we add marsh mellows on top which makes it really yummy!

That is my knowledge of butternut squash.

Anonymous said...

You can flavor butternut squash however you like your sweet potatoes.

To cook it, cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds & strings. Put the halves, cut side down, in a casserole dish with an inch of water. Bake at 400 for 1 hour.

Let it cool for a while, then scoop the flesh out of the rinds. Use the flesh as you would cooked sweet potatoes.

mub said...

The best way to have squash is with butter and brown sugar! Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Then put in a dab of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar in the center. Cover with foil and roast in the oven at 350 for a half an hour or so (you can check them with a fork to see if they're done). They actually keep for quite awhile if you keep them in a cool dark place.

Civil Folks said...

Amber,
We peel ours then cut it into chunks and steam it until done.

Then, after mashing the pulp up, use it like you would for Pumpkin Pie, same spices, same flavorings.

Our family doesn't eat Pumpkin Pie anymore,..it's Butternut Squash Pie all the way!
You will be delighted!

Respectfully,