Squash

Two weeks ago at the Courthouse Farmers' Market, I came across a type of squash I had never seen before. They were large, round but fairly flat, and had a pale, dusty green color and smooth skin. The crate they were in was not labeled, and the girl tending the cash box didn't know what they were either. Of course I had to buy one. It sat on my kitchen counter for two and a half weeks, during which I found out that it was probably a Citation squash. Last night I finally decided to cook it. Lately, I've taken to roasting squashes and pumpkins in the oven after peeling and cutting them into cubes and tossing with some olive oil and salt.

This guy was an absolute bear to deal with. It was rock hard – I broke a sweat just trying to cut it in half with a regular chef's knife, and made a mental note to buy a cleaver. When I finally split it open, the kitchen filled with an intense aroma of cucumber. The inside was a bright, deep yellow and contained the largest seeds I've ever seen. The seeds, surrounded by the usual hairy stuff, were easy to scoop out, but peeling the thing was a nightmare. The skin was practically a shell – thick and completely inflexible. My three-dollar carrot peeler that usually does a fine job on butternuts, kabochas and small pumpkins was woefully inadequate for the task. After fifteen minutes of huffing, swearing and sore arms and fingers (having sprained an elbow at the gym earlier in the day didn't help), I finally had it mostly peeled. Cutting it up was marginally easier, and eventually I got the thing into the oven. It didn't take as long as I expected for it to cook, given how massive and hard it was – it was nicely browned and fork-tender after about 20 minutes. I left it in for a further five minutes for good measure – squash, along with eggplant, is about the only thing that is better to overcook than undercook. When I finally tasted it, it was out of this world. Succulently sweet, it had a texture closer to a sweet potato than a squash – soft but not mushy – and tasted of honey and flowers. It was absolutely delicious. J. and I ate a few pieces with salmon for dinner. Tonight, the rest is getting pureed with some butter and freshly-grated nutmeg.