Last spring I planted some seeds that I'd saved from a previous garden, not knowing what would grow. When these squashes first began appearing in my pumpkin patch, they looked a bit like oversized Delicata squash. A few years ago I grew both Delicata squash and Howden pumpkins. They must've crossed in one of the squashes or pumpkins that I harvested that year. And then this year they gave me their cross-pollinated babies.
I have 3 of these squash in total. Each is about 10 inches long and about 6 or 7 inches in diameter at the widest point.
When cut it open I could see they're not super dark orange and not nearly as stringy as a pumpkin. But they do look a little pale, don't they?
You can kind of see that there are not a lot of strings inside as you might find in pumpkins. The way the flesh felt when cutting it made it seem somewhat heavy in water.
I scooped out both halves and discovered a lot of seeds. At this point, I'm still wondering how this will taste.
After baking, the flesh looks somewhat watery. Before this photo I spooned out a few tablespoons of juice and set aside. I could have baked the squash longer, but it was getting close to dinner time.
I scooped out enough cooked squash for the evening's meal. As far as taste goes, it was bland. The texture was okay, though. Not smooth and buttery like a butternut squash, more like that of cooked pumpkin. I doctored up the flavor with nutmeg, cinnamon, butter, salt, and leftover pancake syrup. My family seemed to like it a lot. But I think that was all of the "doctoring" I did that they were responding to.
I have a little more than half leftover from this first squash. I think I'll turn it into a soup for tomorrow night's dinner.
It's not the best squash I've ever had, not even in the top 50%. But it is food, I don't like to waste, and I'm grateful to have plenty. I can turn the other 2 of these guys into something delicious, I'm sure of that.
What would you do with squash that was bland and on the watery side?
I don't like to waste food either especially now days with the cost of everything so I would probably do as you do and make soup,muffins,quick breads and pancakes with it.
ReplyDeleteHi friend,
DeleteI think this squash would be good (and easy to do) in muffins. You're right, with the high cost of everything, I feel better if I use what I've been provided with.
Years ago I had a pumpkin that was just as you described. It was free so after cooking it and tasting very blah, I did toss it. I couldn't even think what to use it in. It was very watery and just was off putting and I knew any way I would try to "fix" it, no one would eat it so I felt justified in pitching it. Sometimes you just have to take the loss! Other than that, I do not like food waste either. Mostly there is a way to doctor something up. Last night I had one cooked chicken breast and one cooked chicken leg and few chicken scraps so I made a saucy chicken with homemade taco seasoning and put it over almost stale tortilla chips, shredded cheese, make some rice and served with salsa and sour cream. It was delicious! I will eat that tonight if there are any left after hubby has a lunch.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
DeleteYou made a really great save with the chicken, stale chips and other toppings. That sounds like it was delicious! I would devour that in a minute. Good job!
I would probably make soup with the squash.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteSoup is a great way to "hide" bland flavors. Alice's comment above on her chicken save made me think this squash might be good in a Mexican-inspired soup, adding cumin, chili powder, and oregano for seasonings, and some cooked black beans, corn, and diced peppers. I'm going to keep this in mind for the next one of these squash that I bake. Thank you!