FraidKnot
Washing Up
I'm thinking of doing this to accompany my Thanksgiving dinner. My parents are 13 hours away, my brother is busy with finishing building details on his new house and selling his old house. I don't normally have company so here's my solo thoughts. I'll be roasting a Cornish game hen since I'm not a huge fan of turkey. And I have a lovely buttercup squash. I also have a nice acorn squash. (Both will keep just fine in this cool weather until Thanksgiving.)
I love cornbread dressing. Here in the southern U.S. the distinction is "dressing" is cooked outside the bird, "stuffing" is... well, it's stuffed inside
Hmmm, but what if you scoop the stuffing into split, seeded squash halves and bake it? That's my thought for this year.
So I'm thinking, make some nice vegetable stock (or a rich chicken stock if I feel like making some from the necks, backs & wings I have in my freezer). Heat the stock, add dried, crumbled cornbread (Pepperidge Farms cornbread stuffing crumbs work just fine) and 1/2 cup melted butter. Saute some onion, celery, garlic in just a little butter and throw that in. (Speaking of "mixes", Pictsweet (a freezer brand) makes a miripoix you can buy already prepped if you so desire.) Toss in some dried herbs - sage, of course, thyme, maybe a little tarragon; salt & pepper. I love wild rice so I'd cook some and add maybe 1/4 cup of it and perhaps some chopped pecans to give it a little toothiness. For non-vegetarians (and I'm not one) you can always add 1/4 c. of nicely spiced cooked bulk sausage.
Spoon this mixture into the split, seeded squash halves. Bake at 325F for at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour, until the squash is fork tender and the stuffing is nicely browned on top.
Fraidy
I love cornbread dressing. Here in the southern U.S. the distinction is "dressing" is cooked outside the bird, "stuffing" is... well, it's stuffed inside
Hmmm, but what if you scoop the stuffing into split, seeded squash halves and bake it? That's my thought for this year.
So I'm thinking, make some nice vegetable stock (or a rich chicken stock if I feel like making some from the necks, backs & wings I have in my freezer). Heat the stock, add dried, crumbled cornbread (Pepperidge Farms cornbread stuffing crumbs work just fine) and 1/2 cup melted butter. Saute some onion, celery, garlic in just a little butter and throw that in. (Speaking of "mixes", Pictsweet (a freezer brand) makes a miripoix you can buy already prepped if you so desire.) Toss in some dried herbs - sage, of course, thyme, maybe a little tarragon; salt & pepper. I love wild rice so I'd cook some and add maybe 1/4 cup of it and perhaps some chopped pecans to give it a little toothiness. For non-vegetarians (and I'm not one) you can always add 1/4 c. of nicely spiced cooked bulk sausage.
Spoon this mixture into the split, seeded squash halves. Bake at 325F for at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour, until the squash is fork tender and the stuffing is nicely browned on top.
Fraidy
