Roasted Acorn Squash With Brown Sugar and Figs
First, I'll step out how to make the base of the squash.
Roasted Acorn Squash
1 medium acorn squash, cut in quarters
Drizzle of olive oil
Dash of salt
Few grinds of pepper
Sprinkle of dried rosemary
Acorn squash is not named after the acorn for really any other reason than it's shaped like one. I suppose the early botanists were tired that day and fresh out of clever ideas. (It's squash and looks like an acorn, hey, let's call it acorn squash. Brilliant. Write that down quickly.)
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| Mostly dark green, but some have a yellowish or orange splotch. |
Bust out the sharp knife - you're gonna need it. Squash has such a tough exterior to protect its inner deliciousness from predators. (I think perhaps I've been watching too many old TV shows with dinosaurs in them this week.) Cut it right down the middle.
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| Looks like the chambers of a heart to me. (Why yes I do look at life quite uniquely.) |
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| Acorn squash has a TON of soon to be yummy seeds, but not quite yet. |
Make sure the inside of each half is totally cleaned out, then cut each in half again to make quarters. (Or you could just do this in the two original halves. Your choice.)
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| Lots of surface area. |
Next thing was to add a little olive oil. I just drizzled it in the center and then rubbed it around to coat all the exposed flesh. You could also use a traditional pastry brush to do that quite easily if you have one handy.
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| The oil will help it brown up when it comes in contact with heat. |
I wish I had had fresh rosemary at home at the time. Alas, I had not. I wanted the flavor of rosemary, but knew that dried could be tough to chew. So I decided I would put the dried rosemary on the quarters, so it would flavor the squash while cooking, then I would scrape it off later. (I always feel this weird need to be fully honest with you.)
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| Yes, it's second best, but I used it anyway because I wanted the flavor. |
Sprinkle salt, pepper and then the dried rosemary on top of each quarter. Then into the oven on 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Just to get the roasting process started.
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| You're ready for the oven, round 1. |
On to the other part of the recipe.
Squash, while it can be slightly sweet, is not outrageously so... until you jack up the flavor like I did! Hello light brown sugar, you are very welcome here. (Though, you could use dark brown if you'd like, I just wanted a slightly milder flavor.)
Brown Sugar Paste and Figs
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/4 tsp sweet curry powder (Penzeys, of course)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste (Madagascar, the good stuff)
6 dried figs, diced
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| Light, dark, or anything in between, use what you like. |
When measuring out brown sugar of any kind, you just lightly pack it. It has a special consistency and needs a bit of extra TLC.
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| You know already this is going to be good with this flavor involved. |
With sugar, comes spice. Makes everything nice. (Says this little girl.) Cinnamon goes in.
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| Butter already in the bowl. |
This is where it gets exotic. Adding a few possibly unusual (to you) items: Vanilla bean paste and sweet curry powder.
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| I've grown to adore putting this couple together. They get along well. It's real love. |
Add both to the same bowl.
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| See all the little bean flecks? Love them! |
Take a spoon and mix it all together. You're going for a paste like consistency.
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| Like spackle, only tastes oh SO much better. |
I was thinking of other seasonal items and decided I wanted to add something equally matching in sweetness. Perhaps even chewy. Off to the pantry I went (meaning I stepped over two feet from where I was standing as I have a small kitchen) for some sort of dried fruit, as that was my inkling and I trust my gut. I spotted dried figs and my search was over immediately.
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| Oh yes, a great find! |
To prepare, just chop off the hard stem at the top...
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| One chop. |
...and then dice into smaller pieces. Small enough so the figs don't compete with the squash, yet large enough so the pieces are not lost. I like to be able to easily see what's in my meal.
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| Each fig ended up in about a dozen pieces. |
I removed the squash from the oven and because I used dried rosemary as mentioned before and I thought it would be a little tough to chew, so I scraped it out lightly with a spoon. A few stragglers were left behind, but no big deal. If it had been fresh rosemary instead, I would have left it all. (Shame on me for not having it at home, but I also like to show you how you can't let perfection stand in the way of trying.)
I put a quarter of the diced figs in each orange canoe. (Admit it, that's what they look like.)
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| Like little people going for a boat ride. |
On top of the figs, add the brown sugar paste mixture. A quarter of it in each wedge. Use less if you prefer it not quite as sweet. But I was going for broke this time!
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| Add as much or as little as you'd like. In for Round 2. |
Back in the oven it went for another 25 or so minutes. Focus returns to the seeds.
Clean off all squash gut remnants and rinse under water. Drain in a colander. Lay out to dry off slightly. Pat with a clean paper towel.
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| Just trying to get some of the water off. |
Put seeds into a bowl.
Toasted Squash Seeds
1 tsp of olive oil
2 tsps light brown sugar
1/4 tsp sweet curry powder
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
Dash of salt
Add all that into the seeds and mix them up. Should be like a syrup type of coating.
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| Make sure all are well-coated. |
Spread out evenly and slightly spaced out in as much of a single layer as possible on a foil-lined pan.
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| Try to give them some space. (It's not you, it's them.) |
For the last 10 minutes you are baking the squash, put the seeds in the oven on the other rack. Check them every few minutes to make sure they don't burn. Stir around half way through.
Special note: I heard a strange hissing noise, then what sounded like gun fire. At first I was concerned that my neighborhood had really gone downhill and was ready to drop to the floor for safety, but then I realized it was inside my oven. Some of the seeds will pop as the steam inside of them expands their shell. Do not call the police! You're okay!
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| Yeah, I'd say they are done. Note the golden brown color. |
Take the squash out of the oven, which should be fork tender. If not, put it back in until it is.
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| The paste has now melted and saturated the squash. |
Before I forget, when you take the toasted seeds out of the oven, put them on a plate until they cool and then when they harden, you can put them in a bowl. If you leave them on the foil, they will stick like the dickens! (Whatever that means.) Because the mixture you made for them gets all carmely and then hardens into a sweet coating, like a shell, which can affix them tightly to the foil, never to let it go. I will tell you this as well, and this is the most important thing: they taste like candy! I had a hard time not munching on some (all of them) before I plated my squash. I could eat a bucket of these! And once you make them, you'll feel the exact same way! (I would bag these and sell them, if I knew how.)
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| Wish I had these in my house every day! No wait, that might be a bad idea, because I'd eat them by the fist full! |
Toss a smattering of toasted seeds on a plate, add a wedge of squash and grab a spoon. Scoop out the squash to eat. The green rind will come off easily after roasting.
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| Yes, I did take out the red dotted Christmas plates just for this. |
So sweet and warm, with all the flavors you'd expect and yet a hint of something you wouldn't with the curry. I nearly put vanilla ice cream on it and called it a substitute for pie. Hmm, actually, that sounds like a great idea for next time!
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