Acorn Squash: 2 down, 7 to go!

Last night, I used ingredients I had in my pantry and freezer to make a great stuffed acorn squash recipe that I happened upon while browsing the Internet. While it's a Martha Stewart recipe originally, it was reproduced on a blog, called The Bitten Word. I thought I'd give credit to the blog, as I appreciate when readers do for me, but also a nod to Martha, herself! I gathered the ingredients together in the order in which I'd be using them, so first things first: get the squash in the oven. I cut the two squashes in half, cleaned the insides of seeds and gook (yup, gook - that's what I called it!) and also sliced a bit off the bottoms in order to allow them to sit flat in my casserole dish.

After preheating the oven to 400 degrees, I placed the squashes in a casserole dish, cut side down and allowed them to cook for 35 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, I gathered the spices that would be used to season the ground beef that I cooked in a dutch oven on the stove. Some cinnamon, some nutmeg and some coarse salt added great Moroccan flavors to the meat.

While the beef browned, I minced 4 cloves of garlic, and diced an onion. Once the beef had been cooking for about 7 minutes, and no more pink was visible, I removed it from the pot, reserving as much liquid as possible. The onions were added to the pot for about 7 minutes, allowing them to cook until translucent. During the last 30 seconds, add the garlic and allow it to become fragrant.

At this point, I added the Bulgar wheat, and some more coarse salt to the pot, along with 2 cups of water, and brought it all to a boil. Once boiling, I brought the heat down to medium low, covered the pot, and allowed the mixture to simmer for 15 minutes. It should then be removed from the heat and allowed to rest for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork. While this simmered, I gathered my last three ingredients - pine nuts, parsley, and some currants. The original recipe calls for golden raisins, but as a substitute, I used currants because I had those on hand.

Once I had fluffed the Bulgar wheat mixture with a fork, I added the above ingredients along with the ground beef, and some of the squash scooped out of the halves that have been cooking in the oven. Once everything is all mixed together, it's time to fill our acorn squash cups with filling. I scooped a few tablespoons of the mixture into each half, until they were all overflowing with stuffing.

After another 15 minutes or so in the oven, the squash should be ready to eat! Look for a bit of browning over the top of the stuffing. Be careful, the center is hotter than the top sometimes but this is a very hearty way to eat squash. It was very tasty. If I did it again, I would rub some nutmeg and cinnamon on the inside of the squash before cooking them, and add a bit more seasoning to the stuffing mixture. It was a bit on the bland side for my palate, but I would love to experiment with some extra spices to give it a bit more bite! The leftovers will make a great lunch for work, though!