Pork and Winter Squash for an Autumn Evening

 Today I experimented with a pork roast and it turned out really well. I "butterflied" the roast as shown on the right. 


I then made stuffing with the following ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup craisins (craisins are dried cranberries) 
1 egg
sprig of basil
2 tablespoons of butter
1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt
pepper
2 cups of cornbread stuffing (cornbread crumbs in a bag)
1 cup of chicken broth.


I sauteed the onion, bell pepper, and celery in the olive oil. I then added broth and butter. When the onion, bell pepper, and celery were tender, I transferred them to a bowl and added the rest of the ingredients. I mixed them well, then put a layer of the stuffing on one side of the meat as shown on the right.

I folded the meat over the stuffing, placed 4 strips of bacon on top and tied it with cooking twine. I cooked it for an hour and thirty five minutes in a 375 degree oven. For the last thirty five minutes, the squash was in the oven with the meat.

I wanted to bake some squash to accompany the pork roast, and I already had some that I needed to use. I also had some leftover stuffing. I cut the squash in half and scooped out the seeds. I then sprinkled ground nutmeg and cloves, and brown sugar in the squash cavity. I then filled the rest of the squash cavity with stuffing, and placed a small piece of bacon on top.

I put the squash in the oven with the pork roast. The pork roast had already been cooking for one hour, so I added the squash on the rack below the roast and cooked them both at 375 degrees for thirty five minutes. The cooked version is shown on the left.


I used a squash called an eight-ball squash, which looks like a pool ball. It does not have much flesh after I removed the seeds. It seems almost like a mix between a summer and winter squash. I think this recipe would would better with an acorn or butternut squash, since they have more flesh once the seeds are removed.

You can see the final roast on the right. Yours will probably look better than mine because I am a novice in using cooking twine!




This was part of a nice hearty meal for an autumn evening. Here in Texas, it is still warm. Some of the trees are just now beginning to change colors and most of the trees will stay green throughout the winter.

I have been enjoying the delight of seeing large patches of pretty yellow flowers on my way to and from work each day. The wildflowers in Texas seem wilder and and more unruly than the wildflowers I am used to in East. 


Some are on tall stalks that dance with the wind, flaunting their colors to the world. 


Others are scattered among the utilitarian grasses poking their colorful heads above the crowd and smiling on the world. 


One day I had to stop and photograph some of the flowers.

The flowers formed a welcoming brigade as I ventured down a path leading to a creek. 

Acorn Squash, Sweet Potatoes, and Pork Roast

Today we had a meal that took advantage of the wonderful autumn produce that we found in the grocery store. You can see the pork roast in the lower part of the plate, the sweet potato/cranberry casserole on the right, and the stuffed acorn squash on top. The flavor combinations worked well together in spite of the missing green vegetable and salad.

Pork and Apple Compote

The pork roast cooked slowly in the oven separately while I prepared the other dishes. 

For the Apple Compote, I used gala and tentation apples because I already had some. Granny Smith or Rome apples would work just as well. I peeled and cored the apples, then cut them into small cubes. Since only three people were eating, I used three apples, juice of one lemon, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. I cooked the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat for about 30 minutes. The compote was done when the apples were nice and tender. I poured the apple compote over the meat to serve as shown in the picture above on the right.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I used the following ingredients:

• 3 acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 
  

First I cleaned the seeds and spread them out on a foil-lined baking sheet. I put them in the oven and heated them for about 20 minutes at 250 degrees F to toast them. When they became brown, I removed them and set them aside to cool.

1. I then preheated the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. I filled a baking pan with about 1/2 inch of water and placed the squash halves in the pans with the cut sides down. I baked the squash for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender.
3. While the squash baked, I heated the oil in a skillet over medium heat. I put the onions and celery in the skillet, and cooked until tender. Then I stirred in the sausage and thyme.I stirred until everything was evenly brown.
4. When the squash was tended I removed it from the oven. I then carefully scraped the pulp from the rinds to keep the rinds intact. I set the rinds aside. 
5. I placed the pulp in a bowl, and mashed it with a potato masher. I then mixed in the cooked sausage mixture, egg, bread crumbs, raisins, and pecans. When thoroughly mixed, I scooped the mixture into the reserved rinds and set the stuffed squash in baking dishes.
6. I baked them for about 25 minutes in the 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, until they were thoroughly heated. The picture above shows the finished product. Beside the stuffed squash are the roasted pumpkin seeds.

Sweet Potato and Cranberry

The sweet potatoes and cranberries were fabulous in the grocery store, so I wanted a recipe to use them both. I found a great recipe using the following ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups granola cereal
• 
  
• I peeled the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. In a large saucepan, I covered the sweet potatoes with water; and brought it to a boil. I then reduced the heat, and covered and simmered the sweet potatoes for about 30 minutes or until they were tender. I drained and cooled them. 
• 
  
• In a bowl, I combined cranberries, sugar, orange juice and salt. I greased an 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking dish and but half of the cranberry mixture on the bottom of the dish. I then made a layer on top using half of the sweet potatoes. I added another layer of the cranberry mixture and another layer of sweet potatoes. I dotted the top with butter and covered and baked the it at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until the cranberries were tender. I uncovered the mixture and sprinkled granola on top. I returned the uncovered dish to the oven for 10 minutes to toast the granola.

Everyone enjoyed this meal, and I suggest that you try it. If you do, let me know what you think of it!