Experiments, Experiments, Experiments

So here's the thing. So many people, chefs and home cooks alike, have found new ways to make things by experimenting. Whether it is because you fell upon an ingredient you didn't know what to do with or because you've been too busy to go to the grocery and shop and you were starving and had to make do with what was in the cabinet.

I usually fall under the category of, I found a new ingredient and didn't know what to do with it.

Last week after having a great afternoon with friends in between classes, I stopped at Newhard Farm's Cornshed and picked up some corn, a cantaloupe, some fresh beets and a hubbard squash. Not sure what I planned on doing with the squash, it has been sitting on the counter for a week now waiting for some divine intervention.

This divine intervention came in the form of my friend Jaime K from "Save the Kales" whose advice was to just roast it and figure out what do with it later.

This advice put me in a little research mode...from the reading I've been doing, hubbard squashes are supposed to be these enormous squash. The best way to open them is to put them in a bag and drop them on the ground so that they break. If I would have known that, I may not have bought the one I have and would have waited to find such a behemoth because the idea of dropping it on the ground to open it kind of intrigues me.

Since I did not know this tidbit of information I bought the one in front of me, it is all of about the size of a softball. We will not be feeding the masses with this, however if it all turns out the way I want it to I will at least have a nice side dish with lunch today when my sister-in-law comes over.

The squash is currently in the oven roasting till tender, which should hopefully only take about 45 minutes since it is so tiny.

Once it comes out of the oven, the plan is to peel it, mash it and mix it with a little butter, brown sugar, chopped pineapple and mango and then top it with some walnuts to give it a little crunch. Hmm, it no longer really sounds like a side dish, so much as dessert. That's fine, one can never have too many options for dessert.

The end plan changed a bit, as some ingredients were left out, but the result was amazing!!! I will definitely be buying a large hubbard squash and possibly making this for Thanksgiving.

The final recipe:

1 hubbard squash, gutted and roasted until tender (ours yielded about 1 cup of squash)
1 heaping tsp. brown sugar (next time I will use raw honey)
1/2 of a rip mango, peeled and diced
1 tblsp. chopped walnuts

After gutting and roasting the hubbard squash, I scooped out the inside into a bowl and combined with brown sugar and mango. I mixed and mashed it together until I felt it was the right texture. I then returned the filling to one half of the hubbard squash shell (this won't work with a behemoth), topped it with the chopped walnuts and returned it to the oven to reheat, about 15 minutes.

You could easily add a little cinnamon to this (I'm allergic, so I tend to not do a lot of cinnamon) and possibly serve it with a dollop of fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you wished, however in it is current state all of my new meat indifferent/restricted friends could come to dinner and pig out with me. I also think it would be good if you added a little shredded coconut to give another texture.

Either way, it was fantastic! My sister-in-law Sherri and I shared it and were really happy with it. It is her idea that we make it for Thanksgiving this year.

Come back tomorrow, I will be regaling the importance of red beets as I give into yet another craving for them while the crops are fresh.

Hugs,
dina