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.