I don’t mean to step on any toes today, but we are going to celebrate a quintessential autumn dish. September 7 is National Acorn Squash Day!
You probably think acorn squash is a vegetable. That’s the kind of thinking that’ll get you tossed off the island, mister! (If you were on an island and you’re a man). Fact is, much like the tomato, it’s technically a fruit dressed up like a vegetable. In other words, an impostor. Squash is indigenous to North and Central America, and was one of the staple food items of Native Americans, along with beans, corn, and strawberry Jell-O. Named for it’s shape – that’d be an acorn, not a corn – acorn squash is related to zucchini, but much smaller in size. It’s typically dark green with a splash of orange, and has distinctive ridges across its surface. The flesh is yellow-orange and sweet. Acorn squash is best baked, and often served stuffed. It can also be sauteed or steamed. Just be sure to remove the fibers and stems before cooking. Unless you happen to like fibers and stems. If that’s the case, go ahead and leave ’em in. It’s your digestive tract. Other names for this fruit include winter squash, žalud squash, agern squash, ng bunga ng oak kalabasa, courge poivrée, eichelkürbis, makk squash, acorn leiðsögn, squash dearcán, squash ghianda, zīle drūzmēties, gilė skvošas, Żołądź squash, abóbora, ghindă squash, calabaza, acorn boga, ekollonsquash, meşe palamudu kabak, and sboncen fesen.
We had never tried acorn squash before, though I buy it almost every year. Like candy corn, it’s a festive way to celebrate fall (and Halloween). I often have decorative gourds on display. We baked it, with a little butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup – the recipe follows – and served it as a side dish with some fried chicken and potato salad. We were both amazed by how delicious it tasted!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Acorn squash
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
- Dash of Salt
1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Using a strong chef’s knife, and perhaps a rubber mallet to help, cut the acorn squash in half, lengthwise, from stem to end. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff in the center of each half. Score the insides of each half several times with a sharp knife. Place each half in a baking pan, cut side up. Add about a 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the baking pan so that the skins don’t burn and the squash doesn’t get dried out.
3 Coat the inside of each half with 1/2 a Tbsp of butter. Add a dash of salt if you are using unsalted butter. Add a Tbsp of brown sugar to the cavity of each half. Dribble on a teaspoon of maple syrup to each half.
4 Bake in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until the squash is very soft and the tops are browned. Do not undercook. When finished, remove from oven and let cool a little before serving. Spoon any buttery sugar sauce that has not already been absorbed by the squash over the exposed areas.
Yield: Serves 2 to 4, depending on how much squash you like to eat.
Related articles
- When Summer meets Autumn: Zucchini Bread Pancakes & Maple-Roasted Acorn Squash (foodflavorfascination.wordpress.com)
- Acorn Squash Ravioli (livinglavidalinda.wordpress.com)
- Honey-Roasted Acorn Squash Rings (brunchnbiblestudy.wordpress.com)
- Acorn Squash Plus Filling #2 (recipegluadys.wordpress.com)
Eat My Words 
Once again, Tara had it when she was younger but I can understand her not remembering.
I love Acorn Squash. I never had it with maple syrup before. Just with brown sugar and butter. You can also microwave it and it turns out pretty good. Nothing beats it baked though. You should try banana squash. That is pretty delish too. Spaghetti squash though? Not so much.
LikeLike
I’ve actually had spaghetti squash before, and I think I liked it (though this was a long time ago). The maple syrup perfectly complemented the brown sugar and butter, giving the whole squash a caramel-like flavor that was delicious. This would make an excellent side dish at Thanksgiving!
LikeLike
Spaghetti squash is just that. Stringy, like spaghetti. I guess the texture was too weird for me. Even with butter, salt and pepper and I can’t remember if I put brown sugar on it, it just didn’t taste good.
LikeLike
Pingback: Tackling Winter Squash~Daily Dish Magazine