Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Butter and Herbs

Usually a sweet and earthy acorn squash warms souls on cool winter evenings. But I enjoy the rich flavors year-round. I find the tender squash, scraped into the oozy melted butter, hard to resist the other nine months of the year.

(Printable recipe)

Ingredients

· One acorn squash

· About 1 C  water

· 4 T butter

· 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

· 6-8 sage leaves, chopped

· Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400°.

Using a large chef’s knife, carefully cut the squash in half. Squash often resist easy cutting, and their shape makes them prone to rolling about. I usually ask my husband to tackle this task.

Scoop out the seeds. I use my favorite kitchen multi-tasker: a grapefruit spoon. Even if you don’t eat grapefruit, the spoon’s serrated edge quickly and neatly scoops seeds from melons, squash, and cucumbers.

 

Carefully slice a small divot off the base of each half of the squash, so they don’t roll around in your baking dish (or on your dinner plate). Don’t cut off too much, or you’ll puncture the inner hollow, and all the yummy butter and herbs will run out into your baking dish!

 

Pour the water into a casserole or baking dish. Place the squash halves in the dish face down. The water should come up the sides of the squash about ¼ inch. Bake for 30 minutes.

 

I snipped this rosemary and sage right from my container garden. If you don’t grow your own, many grocery stores carry fresh herbs.

 

While the squash bakes, melt the butter in a skillet. Stirring frequently, cook the butter until the foam subsides and you see some browning. “Brown butter” (or buerre noisette) is simply butter cooked until the milk solids start to turn brown. It concentrates the flavor by burning off most of the water and creates a warm, nutty flavor (also delicious on other vegetables and fish). Stir in the rosemary sprig and the sage. Set aside.

 

Remove the squash from the oven and place the dish on a trivet. Using tongs, turn the squash so the cut side faces up. Be careful! That water in the base of the dish is hot, and you do not want to splash yourself. Brush the squash with the brown butter/herb mixture.

 

Let the extra butter and herbs drain down into the scooped-out portion. Bake it in the oven for another 30 minutes.

 

When done, remove rosemary leaves and stems. When plating, don’t spill any of the butter and sage—it’s too tasy to waste!

 

 

The Ultimate in Local Sourcing: Growing Your Own!

Please don't run away! It's not that difficult, and nearly everyone (yard or not) can grow at least a few herbs. Hear me out. Gardening doesn't have to be burdensome.

Nothing tastes as fresh as just-snipped oregano, sage, and fennel frond in a homemade Italian tomato sauce. Or some basil and tomato to make a caprese (along with some fresh mozzarella).

A traditional "yard garden" requires a flat, sunny space with well-drained soil. I have a large backyard, and this describes exactly nowhere in it. I plan to install a raised-bed garden, but first a) a loathed mesquite tree must be removed and b) I have to enlist the cooperation of my non-gardener husband. So I garden the next best way-in containers.

My current herb crop includes oregano, sage, parsley (flat and curly leaf), rosemary, basil, thyme, and mint. I planted my fall harvest of peppers (both sweet and hot) and tomatoes a few weeks ago, and today, butternut squash and cucumbers went into the ground. I also have a lemon tree, a lime bush, two olive trees, and a fig tree (unfortunately these last two have yet to produce any fruit).

Yes, keeping a garden going in Texas in sweltering August is a challenge. Water every morning before the heat has kicked in. (Local watering restrictions do not apply when you hand-water.) Having said that, I have had years where everything burned up after days and days of 100+ degree weather.

San Antonio sits in gardening zone 8b (as defined by the USDA), which means we have a nearly nine month growing season (last freeze: March 1-10; first freeze: November 21-30). You can plant spring crops, harvest them, then plant another crop to harvest in the fall. Some herbs will last over the winter, if you cover them during a freeze.

I highly recommend the book "Texas Fruit and Vegetable Gardening" by Greg Grant. He tells you which vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees grow well in Texas (squash, green beans) and which don't (cherries, English peas).

My friend Lynn also gardens. Her current kick is growing vegetables from kitchen scraps; she has celery and garlic, among other things. (Her Pinterest page has hints and photos. Click twice on the photo for instructions.)

Some of her other hints:

• If you start seeing white spots on your squash leaves, it's powdery mildew; you need to treat them right away or you'll lose the plants. You can buy a fungicide or use some home remedies such as spraying with watered down milk or baking soda.
• If the summer is too hot for your peppers to make, just ignore the plants and they will yield when it cools down a bit.

My favorite nursery is Hill Country African Violets and Nursery (about 12 miles north of Loop 1604 on IH10; exit Boerne Stage Rd, exit number 543). In season, two of their twelve greenhouses contain seedlings for herbs and vegetables. Their selection is much better than Lowe's or Home Depot, and their prices are great. (I bought four four-inch herb pots, and two six-packs of vegetable seedlings for $12.) They carry a full range of gardening supplies.

I encourage you to purchase a few pots and try your hand at oregano or squash or peppers. With just a little attention, you'll reap tasty rewards.