Recipe: Winter (mystery) squash looks challenging, but results are versatile and delicious
Weird on the outside, delicious on the inside:
Crazy squash. (Photos: Debbie Arrington) |
It’s time to tackle the crazy squash.
The last of the fall harvest can linger for months. (That’s why pumpkins make such great decorations.) Hard-shelled squash will keep without refrigeration for weeks. That’s why they’re nicknamed “winter squash”; you can eat them “fresh” from October through March (or longer).
But some winter squash can be a formidable challenge. First, what is it? Like all members of the squash and pumpkin family, these plants can easily cross, creating mysterious hybrids.
That’s how I ended up with a bunch of crazy squash. From the outside, they looked sort of like banana squash, but not quite as big (thankfully). Maybe they had papaya squash or more likely butternut squash in their parentage; their size and shape reminded me of a football, only rounder. (A rugby ball, perhaps?)
Their insides, once cooked, tasted like pumpkin. So that made these squash crazy versatile, too. They can go savory or sweet.
So how do you approach a football-size mystery? First, wash the skin well, scrubbing off any accumulated grime. With a long sharp knife on a firm cutting surface, cut in half, then quarters. That makes it easier to scrape out the seeds.
After seeding, peel the skin and cut the flesh into 1-inch chunks. Those chunks can be steamed; they’ll be tender in about 20 to 30 minutes. The cooked flesh can be mashed and used in any pumpkin recipe such as pumpkin bread, soup or cookies.
Those chunks also make a great side dish on their own by simply roasting. They make a tasty (and vitamin-packed) accompaniment to hearty winter meals that’s crazy good for you, too. Who knew you could enjoy “garden-fresh” fresh squash in February?
Roasted crazy squash
Serves 4 to 6
Steam the chunks and mash to use in recipes
as you would with pumpkin. Or roast them. |
Ingredients:
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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