Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hubbard Squash - Processing and Freezing

I took this big Hubbard Squash in the picture below:



I processed it for freezing in portions comparable to my pumpkin portions.

I cut it up (with some help from my dear husband), then I placed the pieces on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven and roasted them at 350 for about an hour or so.

Once they were really tender I removed the pieces from the oven and let them cool a while.

Then I cut the peelings off. I mashed the cooked squash and measured it out into 1 1/2 cup measures to freeze in freezer bags. As I do with the cooked pumpkin, I freeze in the 1 1/2 cup size because this is equal to one can of pumpkin or enough pumpkin for one pie or enough pumpkin for one batch of my pumpkin cookies, etc :)

My plan was to do a few different tests with this hubbard squash because I was really fascinated by the vegetable itself. Part of it that I had mashed, I added brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice to just as a taste test to see if it was comparable to pumpkin or sweet potatoes and it was, so it works for the sweet desserts made with the other winter veggies.

The next test was to add a bit of butter and salt and pepper to some mashed hubbard squash and the result was a taste that was very close to mashed potatoes. Pretty good and I will do that again with some that is stored up in the freezer.

I also left some of this squash out and didn't roast it. We cut it into very, very thin slices, then we rolled each slice in beaten egg, then flour and fried it like summer squash. The result? Delicious! We also tried it dipped in a tempura type batter and fried it, same result, delicious.

I have to say this huge vegetable is very versatile and goes a long way for the money to feed a large family of teens like I have. I paid $7 for the squash and I have enough stored up to make about a dozen different recipes and that's not counting what we ate during all the "taste tests", which was a lot.

So, as for the bars that Kathy asked about. Paula Deane (everyone knows who she is I think) had a recipe for some Pumpkin Bars that everyone raved about. I use that recipe replacing the pumpkin with my hubbard squash and replacing the all purpose flour with self rising flour, etc. Delicious :)

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