Acorn Squash Stuffed with Moroccan Spiced Beef

When I clipped this recipe out of the newspaper, I had never purchased an acorn squash before. It intimidated me. It sat in the refrigerator while I gathered the courage to try this recipe out. Since I was not sure about the acorn squash, I decided to purchase just one in lieu of the two indicated in the recipe. As it turns out, this was a wise decision.

I got all of the spices (the cumin and turmeric were new purchases as well) and heated them in the pan. I didn't see them change colors but the aroma from them increased with the heat so I figured I was set. Cutting open the acorn squash wasn't an issue, but after scooping out the seeds and "guts", they were on the small side. I mixed together the meat, onion and spices and scooped some into each side of the squash. Only about a third of the mixture fit into the two sides. I placed them in a ceramic baking dish with an inch of water in it and got it in the oven. This was a bit tricky since the squash didn't balance very well due to its uneven rind.

When I took them out of the oven an hour later, I was less than impressed (see the photo). The squash was still tough but the meat was drying out on the top. The meat under the top layer was okay, but it was kind of soggy. Essentially, this was inedible.

But all was not lost! I took the remaining meat mixture and put it in a skillet on the stove after the squash was in the oven. The spices smelled good as the meat cooked and they gave the onions a pretty yellow color. It tasted good too, and got the 2 year old clean plate award. Fortunately, this saved me for disaster, and ended up working with the other recipe I tried. So, to be continued next post!