I bought a Spaghetti Squash from Walmart on Friday as I noted in my exciting Walmart post. The idea was to cook it up for Parker so he could get more yellow vegetables into his diet. Why Spaghetti Squash? Because I thought I recalled reading about Spaghetti Squash amidst my recent recipe forage, or maybe it was in one of those wonderful email lists to which I have subscribed. Anyway, now that I possess the beast, I can't find where I read about it.
I am therfore preparing the squash according to the baking directions found on this website: http://www.fabulousfoods.com/features/featuring/spagsquash.html. I've pierced the sucker with fork and knife. The fork didn't seem to work all that well. The skin is thick and the fork's tines don't seem to reach very deep. The knife led me to the title of this post. I haven't cut myself this morning, but I found myself becoming more and more fearful of the blade, so I gave up on the knife in short order. I haven't put the squash in the oven yet, and I haven't figured out which of the recipes I am going to try, but I'll keep you posted. What an adventure!
Update (1:12 pm):
The squash is out of the oven. It smelled wonderful while cooking--more like a dessert than I would have expected, slightly sweet and buttery, even with nothing added to it. It's been sitting in its dish for about 20-30 minutes now, but it's still too hot to the touch for me start working with it. It has shriveled slightly while cooling, and the skin feels thick to the touch. Parker and I may choose to take a walk instead of sitting around here waiting for the squash to cool.
Update (3:00 pm):
I really am a novice with this stuff. Around 2:30, once Parker was down for his nap, I cut open my squash and found out why it's called spaghetti.
The seeds were a challenge. I started by pulling the seeds out with my fingers because it didn't look like the type of network I could simply cut out with a knife; squishy, slimy and not very affective. The fork seemed like a more likely option. Still, there has to be an easier way to do this. These are not the kinds of things they ever think to tell you. The flesh came away easily once the seeds were removed, and I now have two quart sized bags of spaghetti squash to my credit.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with them.
5 comments:
Was the "sweet and buttery" how it tasted or how it smelled? What did you end up doing with it? Was it expensive?
I've always wanted to try spaghetti squash, but I don't know how to eat it.
"Sweet and buttery" was the smell. I don't have a lot of experience with squash, but to me the flesh simply tasted like--squash. I didn't get enough of it to know beyond that. I've got two quart size bags in my freezer now that aren't quite full.
It would have cost $.98 had the person at the checkout charged me correctly. Right now I'm favoring the Spaghetti Squash Alfredo option from the website posted above.
I haven't made it lately, but used to cook SS a lot. Here's what I did:
1. wash it, poke it with a sharp instrument
2. microwave it till the rind is soft
3. cut it open, microwave it face down on a plate till cooked
4. scrape the seeds and strings out with a spoon or fork
5. scrape the flesh out with a fork
6. eat it with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella, or with olive oil, salt and parmesan cheese, in place of the spaghetti
7. salvage and rinse some of the seeds in a colander
8. spray the seeds with pam oil spray on tin foil, dust with salt and chili powder, and toast in my toaster oven for a savory snack
Granted, this was before I had 3 kids! :) Writing about it makes me want to do it again, though.
I kept the strings, and discarded the seeds. Since I haven't tried to eat the squash yet (it's in my freezer) I'm wandering if those strings are going to haunt me later. Your recipe sounds delicious, Jamey, and thanks for the book.
I tried it yesterday and it was delicious with a little garlic salt, butter, and Parmesan cheese.
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