Gabrielle Myers Writer, Chef, and Teacher
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Too Many Seeds, A New Poetry Collection
  • Hive-Mind, a memoir
  • Farm to Fork Column Articles in Inside Sacramento
  • Photographs for Sale
  • YouTube Channel
  • Gluten and Dairy Free Recipe Blog
  • "A Sensory Journey," Learn About My Farm-to-Fork and Writing Journey
  • Video Poem "Lidded," from Too Many Seeds
  • "Live as the Tomatillo Reaches for Life on a Hot July Day," in Edible East Bay, Fall 2022
  • Two Poems in Edible East Bay, Spring 2022
  • A Review of Too Many Seeds!
  • Interview on Too Many Seeds on The Spark with Stephanie James
  • A Review of Too Many Seeds, Tweetspeak Poetry
  • "Food for Thought," a Q & A on Too Many Seeds
  • "Dried Bits," in Borderlands, Texas Poetry Review
  • "Vessels" and "Lost Amantes Saltan" in pacificREVIEW, Spring 2020
  • Video Poem: On Ayako's Pa Amb Tomaquet
  • Video Poem: Quality Control
  • A Review of Hive-Mind and a Recipe
  • Interview on Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour!
  • An Interview on Too Many Seeds, Author2Author
  • An Interview on Too Many Seeds, BITEradiome
  • Video Poem: Sonnet #69
  • A Video Reading from Hive-Mind
  • Video: On Poetry and Cooking
  • An Interview on Shirleymaclaine.com
  • Selection from Hive-Mind
  • Selection from Hive-Mind
  • "Early Fall's Failed Elegy," in Catamaran, Summer 2018
  • After Grass Against Sea, by Edward Weston, in Catamaran Fall 2020
  • "For Girls Who Walk Alone to the Bus Stop," in Connecticut River Review, Fall 2018
  • "Lover" & "We're There and Here," in Koan, Paragon Press, Summer 2018
  • "Fall," in The Adirondack Review
  • "The First Rain of Fall," in Fourteen Hills, 2010
  • The Art of Tomato Breeding
  • An Interview with Wendy from WINA in Charlottesville
  • Paul Canales: Building Community
  • Interview on Intuitive Ink Radio Show
  • Eat with Health in Mind
  • On Radio MD
  • An Interview with Allison Dunne from 51%
  • An Interview
  • “AN OCTOROON”: A DARING COMEDY ON SLAVERY, AT BERKELEY REP
  • An Interview with Robert Sharpe of BITEradio.me
  • Amazon Author Page
  • How to Use Your Daily Commute to Flourish
  • "Sonnet #69" in MadHat Lit
  • "I Am a Figure of Speech," Wallace Stevens Journal, Spring 2015
  • ‘Spread Like a Veil Upon a Rock’: Septimus and the Trench Poets of World War I in English
  • "Lament for My Sister at Harvest" in Damselfly Press
  • "Woman," "Pleasant Valley," and "Laura" in the Solitary Plover
  • "Prom Night" in Work Literary Magazine
  • "To Bukowski" in The Evergreen Review
  • YouTube Video of "The First Rain of Fall" (published in Fourteen Hills, Fall 2009)
  • YouTube Video of "Sonnet #69"
  • YouTube Video of "Bird"
  • YouTube Video of "Last Night in the Castro"
  • Linktree Page
  • Contact

Acorn Squash with Pasture-Raised Pork, Amaranth, and Chipotle

12/20/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
*An earlier version of this recipe appeared in Natural Solutions' Fall 2016 issue

Serves 4 

In this recipe, soft squash’s tender sweetness and diced Pink Lady’s firm bite of acid play against pastured pork stuffing’s spicy smoke and tang. By creating a mix of sweet, acidic, firm, and soft, any filled vegetable recipe can sing. Since stuffable vegetables usually contain high-levels of natural sugar and have mild flavor, you should pair them with intensely flavored fillings that contain bright, aromatic ingredients with a range of textures and tastes.
       The amaranth adds another texture element and acts to absorb the unctuous juice that releases from squash and ground pork as they cook. While white quinoa, millet or brown rice can be substituted for the amaranth in this recipe, the texture of the filling will be different. The small seeds of the amaranth deftly bind with the pork and apple and readily take in the chipotle’s spice and lemon zest’s fragrance. 
       If you long for a summer comfort dish, try this filling in roasted zucchini or a hollowed red bell pepper. You will not need to roast the bell pepper before hand: just fill it and bake for about 12-14 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then serve. For the zucchini, you will want to use a large, mature zucchini. After cutting the zucchini in half, trimming the ends, and removing the seeds and center flesh, lightly salt and roast it for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then add the filling and cook it for another 10 minutes.
 
2 acorn squash, washed, cut in half, insides and seeds removed
½ cup cooked amaranth*
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup diced yellow onion
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (use the dry powder, if possible)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ pound of ground pasture-raised pork
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest     
½ cup diced Pink Lady apple (or a similar variety)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper   
1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped
 
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Rub the insides of the washed, halved, and cleaned squash with olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt inside, and turn the squash over so that the insides are facing down on a heavy-bottom baking dish.
3. Cook the squash for between 30-35 minutes, or until the backsides are slightly soft. When the squash are just cooked through, pull them from the oven and set them aside to cool (still face down).
4. While the squash are cooking, prepare the amaranth*:
                   1. Put ¼ cup amaranth, ¾ cup water, and a generous pinch of salt in a small pan.
                   2. Bring the liquid up to a boil and immediately turn the heat to low so that the liquid simmers.
                   3. Cook the amaranth uncovered for about 20 minutes, and remove it from the heat.
                   4. Set the amaranth aside with the lid removed.
5. Place the olive oil in a large sauté pan, turn the heat on medium-low, and add the onions, garlic, and a teaspoon of salt. Cook the onions until they are translucent.
6. Add the pork, red pepper flakes, chipotle, and black pepper. Continue to cook the mixture on medium-low heat.
7. When the pork is just about cooked through, add the ½ cup cooked amaranth and lemon zest, and stir until all of the ingredients are mixed.
8. In about a minute, turn the heat off, set the pan aside, add the diced apple and sage, and stir. 
9. Check the pork-amaranth filling for seasoning. You want the filling to be intense and robustly seasoned so that it can stand up to the sweetness of the squash.
10. With a spoon, put the filling in each squash. Aim for a round top that rises just over the edge of the squash.
11. Place the pan in the oven, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the filling is a golden brown.
12. Serve the stuffed squash with a sprinkle of parsley over the top. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author l

    Gabrielle Myers

    RSS Feed

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from quinn.anya, ConstantinWied