Squash is very expensive, since it tends to be sold by weight and they tend to be heavy, so I decided to cut back this year and go with an acorn squash for Thanksgiving. I haven't cooked one in years, and I looked around for a recipe, to make sure I got the time and temperature right. I typically eat my squash/sweet potatoes and pumpkin without sweetening them, but this recipe really caught my eye, since I enjoy using brown sugar in my cooking. I haven't tried the recipe yet, but it's pretty straightforward, I can't imagine it wouldn't work, although I do agree with one comment, which is to cut the squash inside in a criss cross pattern, so the butter and brown sugar can work their way inside, for more even flavoring. Here's the link, in case anyone else would like to try making it.
@Diane Lane My wife recommends her method highly: Microwave, of course! Cut in half, cook on High cut sides face down, about 7 or 8 minutes, then turn over, add brown sugar and butter, run 8 minutes more. Test firmness of flesh for "done-ness" with a fork. Frank
We usually cook potatoes and squash in the microwave also. It is expensive to use the oven, and not practical to use it in the summer anyway; so we steam veggies and microwave potatoes or winter squash when we have those.
@Yvonne Smith Finally! Someone agrees with my contention that given time, efficiency, convenience, and a number of other attributes, Microwaving has virtues unsurpassed. All ya gotta do, is allow yerself to get familiar with, and comfortable with, it's use. Steadfastly insisting, as my Wife's Microwave Cooking Class members always insisted: "You can't brown anything". "Sure, it's easy for you" (answered by, "Ma'am, I learned to do this by reading the book that came with the oven. If you can read, your results will be the same as mine".) Some were very open to "exploration" of these new techniques. Those were the forward-thinking gals I wished I had known a few of, earlier on! Brash, willing to take a chance on the possibility that something new was GOOD! My wife baked cakes (easy), poultry (relatively easy), various baked specialties, etc., during her conducting of the classes. She DID sell lots of microwave ovens, to be sure. In fact, the owner, Friedman's Microwave Ovens sent her to Hawaii (I accompanied, but paid my way) in 1985, to a Sharp Worldwide Microwave Convention. Sharp was then one of the leading makers of microwave ovens. May still be. We have a big Sharp Micro-Convection Oven sitting here, bought two years ago out of a garage sale, young couple moving to Colorado, had no clue what the oven's capabilities were, asked $35. We jumped on it! Micro-Convection allows the use of either heating means, individually, or applied together, as "Mixed Baking". Mix allows quick baking of roasts, poultry, chops, steaks, and the like, while also subjecting the food to convection heat, bringing about the seared, brown appearance so desirable of meats. Convect allows the baking of cakes, pies, casseroles, meats, anything you might do in your "kitchen stove oven", while generating a lot less heat in the room. The only time microwaving failed us was in 1983, when confined to living 26 miles northeast of Show Low, AZ, up in the woods, off the grid, no electric power, phone, or water, we endeavored to cook everything on our woodburning Elmira cookstove. On Thanksgiving Day, she pulled an 18 lb.Turkey out of it's oven roasted to absolute perfection, heated only by wood! Frank
I bake potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn on the cob in the microwave. Other than that, I mainly use it to heat up leftovers. I prefer to cook in the oven, on the stove, or via other means, such as a slow cooker or griddle. I never adapted to using the microwave for cooking, and I don't like to use it for heating water, either. I use a kettle for that, or lacking a kettle, a pan, on the stove. I don't worry much about the energy of using the oven, because I typically use it when the house is cool/cold, so it's basically a source of heat, as well as a way to cook. Someday, I would like to have a wood stove that I could cook on top of, since that would also serve a double purpose. The recipe was a pretty good one, but I would start off with 30 minutes, instead of 45. The edges of the squash got slightly singed, but it came out delicious.
I'm adding acorn squash to my holiday menus from now on. I think it was somewhat richer than butternut, which is what I usually tend to cook for Thanksgiving. Since it's smaller, it was also a little less expensive, which I can appreciate. I packed a container of leftovers for the freezer, and I know I'm going to enjoy pulling that out after the holidays have passed, when I get a yearning for something healthy and delicious.
I like all kinds of squash, but the butternut is my favorite. It just seems to have a rich and buttery flavor. The acorn squash is probably a perfect size for 1-2 people though, and we often get those, too. I like mine with brown sugar and cinnamon, but Bobby likes his plain, or with butter or gravy when we have that, so I always just cook the squash in the microwave, and then we both fix them like we want them. Now that I am low-carb, I eat a lot less squash, and use the sugar-free sweetener or syrup instead of real brown sugar. This year, I bought fresh cranberries, cooked them with some apple and orange that had been chopped in the food processor, and then added sugar-free jello. It was a bit tarter than canned cranberries, but it tasted good, and I like the extra flavors of orange and apple mixed in with the cranberry.
I like butternut and buttercup, and love the yellow squash dish they have at Black Eyed Pea. I need to find the copycat recipe I had before. One of these days, I need to hook up my old computer again and copy my recipes and pictures off of the hard drive. I like the other squashes too, but some are so big and expensive that I haven't had them in quite a while. I've never had squash with gravy intentionally, although some gravy has probably gotten on my squash in the past. I'm not one to put fences between my food items, unlike my siblings. I really liked this with the brown sugar. I've made brown sugar glazed carrots before and enjoyed those, but I think I really like it with the butter on the squash. I'm glad I scored the squash, so the butter and brown sugar seeped down throughout it.