One of the best money saving methods to frugal cooking is cooking in season. This seems like an obvious tip, I know. Yet, you would be surprised how many people don't realize that other than apples and citrus, most fruit in winter comes from south of the border. In the case of grapes from Australia, they come from really far south! Local organic farmers find it humorous when tourists drive out to the farms in winter and want to know why there isn't any produce for sale. Unfortunately, many people are far removed from the land and how fruits and vegetables are traditionally grown. Well this, ladies and gentlemen, is the fabulous season of winter squashes. The huge Sweet Meat Squash, in the picture, was given to us by a local farmer. This beauty looks like a big blue pumpkin and it's going into many of my pumpkin recipes. Best of all, I'm cooking it whole. Follow this process with traditional orange pumpkins too. This method is so easy.
After washing, stab your squash/pumpkin 8-12 times. I stab just far enough that I feel give from the hollow center without poking through to the other side.
Place your stabbed squash/pumpkin on a baking dish or pan and pop into a 350° oven. You may need to remove an oven rack to make enough room. Mine was so large that I had to place the rack on the lowest setting.
Bake your squash/pumpkin for an hour and a half or until a fork pokes in easily. I baked this one a little longer. Sweet Meat Squashes are pretty thick inside.
Cut the squash/pumpkin in half and let it cool. Scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff and place that mess in a bowl for later. Cut off the outer rind.
Finally, cube the cooked squash/pumpkin into small pieces and puree in a blender. I made 14 cups of puree from this Sweet Meat Squash and promptly made some muffins with 2 of them. The rest was bagged up and froze for later use. I separated out the seeds from the stringy mess bowl and roasted them in the oven for a late snack. Easy Peasy. Enjoy.
