Dutch Oven Cooking

For a Personal Progress goal, I need to learn a new skill or talent, I decided to learn how to better cook in a dutch oven.  I already made 2 cherry chocolate cakes!  YUM!

Nathan told me that he wants more squash and in my mind I think acorn squash.  (What Nathan really meant is summer squash.)  While looking at my dutch oven recipe books, I saw a recipe for acorn squash that sounded like it could be good and easy to make.  All it involved was peeling and cutting up the squash, then baking it in the dutch oven.  Sounds easy, right?

I decided to try it tonight; I just reseasoned my dutch oven last night so it was ready to go.  I started the coals and planned on cutting and peeling the squash while the coals were heating up.  As I attempted to try to cut the squash, I at once realized this was not going to be easy.  If you have ever tried cutting into an acorn squash, you know what I mean and it didn't happen without Jim's help (ok, he cut most of it).   The outside layer of the acorn squash is very tough! 

Later, I went online to find out more about peeling, cutting, and cooking acorn squash.  One website said,  "Using a strong chef's knife, and perhaps a rubber mallet to help cut the acorn squash in half, lengthwise, from stem to end."  Strong chef's knife is an understatement!!  I'm guessing a rubber mallet would have been helpful!  Another website:  "Acorn squash is often cooked within its shell as its ribbed shape makes peeling virtually impossible."  I needed to peel the squash; yes, it was almost virtually impossible to peel!  It seemed as though I took off half of the meat, and I still couldn't get all the peel!

We finally cut and peeled the squash (the best we could) and baked it in the dutch oven.  The final product really wasn't too bad, but we decided to give the rest to the dogs.  There were too many itty-bitty pieces of hard peel (the part right under the green peel that we didn't know that we needed to remove) to make the squash enjoyable to eat.

I told Jim about an acorn squash recipe that involves just cutting the squash in half, baking it in the oven with butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup.  Now, that sounds good!!  I'll most likely get another squash and try it out.  I'll be sure to bring in the rubber mallet for Jim since he'll be the lucky one to cut the squash in half.  As for the dutch oven adventure, maybe next week it will be a roast!