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Chicagoist, that's who. Or, that's what we thought. As a kid, we refused to eat squash. Really? Squash. Ew! But a few weeks ago we saw it at the supermarket and decided what the hell. The recipe we made is pretty classic, and surprisingly, we loved it. We made the squash as a side to a main entree. Our friend brought over a French loaf, and let us tell you how delicious it was to dip the bread in the center.
Recipe and more photos after the jump!
First off, how to pick a good acorn squash. Wikipedia, our go-to for everything, says:
To find a quality squash, search for one with a smooth, dry rind without any cracks or soft spots. The rind should be dull -- a shiny rind indicates the squash was picked too early and will not be as sweet as is usually desired. Deep color is also a sign of a good acorn squash. For example, green acorn squash may have splashes of orange, but orange on more than half its surface is a bad sign. Also, acorn squashes should feel heavy for their size.
Next, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
With a knife, cut the acorn squash in half, lengthwise. You're going to need a heavy duty knife for this or you might have problems. Our Mac knife went right through it, but be careful here not to lose a digit if you don't have a great knife!
Scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff with a spoon; then score the insides of each half with a sharp knife. Place the halves in a baking pan, cut side up. And so the skins don't burn and get dried out, add about a quarter inch of water to the bottom of the pan.
In the inside of each squash half, put a pat of butter, a dash of salt, and a tablespoon of butter brown sugar. Then dribble in a teaspoon of maple syrup.
Bake the squash for an hour or so, til the squash is soft and browned. Let it cool off a little -- that butter will scorch your mouth! Enjoy!
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looks tasty!!
Yum! I love acorn squash. To keep the squash from drying out, try baking it upside down in about an inch of water without the butter and brown sugar for about 45 minutes. (Basically steaming it.)
Then take it out, drain the water, turn the squash over, add the butter and brown sugar and bake for another 15 minutes or so.
good idea, joanna. i forgot i was also going to add that james told me i should brush each with some veg oil or butter.
It is also very good with chopped apples and brown sugar and cinnamon in it.
I prefer acorn squash baked as you do but with butter, salt and pepper. I feel they don't need extra sweetening.
I'm going to go buy a squash now.
I agree about not using any sweetener.
I bake it upside-down, on an oil-brushed cookie sheet. Then scoop it out and add it to sauteed apples, white onion, and fresh thyme. V. delicious. Also, the more butter the better.
Yum, Rachel. Looks delish, although I prefer my squash souped, thank you very much.
I've recently tried drizzling about a tablespoon of Chambord (black rasberry liqueur) inside them before baking with very delicious results.
"In the inside of each squash half, put a pat of butter, a dash of salt, and a tablespoon of butter."
Err, I'm guessing that the second dollop of "butter" should actually be brown sugar. Although...
Mmmm, butter !
"In the inside of each squash half, put a pat of butter, a dash of salt, and a tablespoon of butter. Then dribble in a teaspoon of maple syrup."
I like butter as much as the next person, but what about that brown sugar in the picture? ;-)
Brown sugar is good, but I'm also a fan of a simple combination of butter and mounds of freshly-grated Parmesan. Yum!
@ yana/jenn & erik - yes! brown sugar. sorry!
Yes, looks pretty delish, but I definitely prefer baking cut-side down, with some oil -- makes a lovely crust (can I really call it a crust?). Just had it last night that way. I strongly recommend the soy-maple glaze variation of baked winter squash in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook -- yummy for my tummy.
We make it like this: fill each half with cut up apple pieces and sometimes raisins too. Drizzle apples with either a TBLS each of melted butter & brown sugar or Maple syrup . Cover each half with foil and bake. YUM!
I LOVE acorn squash. I sometimes make it as you described, but even better I like to fill the center with small pieces of pork sausage before baking. It makes for a surprising entree when served with a nice salad.