Winter Squash and Stuffing
You know, a great chef can take exotic, delicious, mouth-watering ingredients and make them into a fine, unforgettable gourmet meal.
But a very, very smart person (my sister) once told me that a great cook can use any ingredients - an onion and a few stale slices of bread, for example; and make a great meal, too. That is how I define the difference between chefs and cooks. A cook can make something out of anything.
I am, most definitely, a cook.
The main ingredients for supper last night were: Stale sandwich buns from the freezer, a slightly dried-out winter squash from my mother-in-law, leftover beef broth, and leftover browned and crumbled sausage.
This would have been enough to send many people racing to the corner grocery store or picking up the phone for take-out pizza. Not me. I just don’t do that sort of thing very often at all.
The final result was pretty good, although my husband made a couple of encouraging suggestions for improvement, which I have incorporated into the following recipe:
Winter Squash and Stuffing
serves 6-8
1 Butternut Squash
1 T. olive oil
salt
pepper
6-8 c. dried bread cubes
1/4 c. diced onion
1/4 c. diced celery
3 T. butter
1 can chicken broth
1 t. thyme
1/4 t. sage
1/2 lb. cooked and crumbled sausage
I used my crockpot for this, since I have discovered this is the best way to cook squash. In the past I have always cut open the squash, removed the seeds, and placed it cut side down in a pan of shallow water. This cooks in a 350 oven for about an hour or so. We have found this to end up a little on the soggy side.
Last night, I cut the squash open, removed the seeds, and drizzled olive oil on the insides. Added some salt and pepper and wrapped in foil. Then I placed both of these pieces in my crock pot with about 3/4 c. water in the bottom, turned it on high, and it was done in 3 hours.
For the stuffing, cheaters can go buy a box of Stove Top, follow the directions, and place it into their cooked squash, bake a few minutes and you’re ready to eat. For everyone else, saute the onion and pepper in butter until really soft. Next, place the bread crumbs, seasonings (add more salt and pepper), sausage, cooked onions and celery, and chicken broth all in a large bowl and toss. It should be somewhere between soggy and dry — moist but not wet enough to make the bread crumbs lose their shape.
You can take the foil off of the squash, put it back into the crock pot, and dump the stuffing on top of it. If you want to make a nicer presentation, carefully unwrap the squash (it’s soft and will tear easily), then spoon some stuffing into the empty cavity, place both sides into a baking dish, spoon stuffing all around it, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Either way, this makes a nice delicious meal that can easily be converted to meat-free for vegetarians.
October 12th, 2007