Stuffed Butternut Squash

Tuesday December 4

The recipe is one of our favorite fall dishes, adapted from the (well-used and well-stained) 1961 edition of The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne, as originally cooked by Brian Carter. In fact, it's now so adapted that it bears no relation to the originals. So here is what we do now.

Halve a hard winter squash; this one was a butternut, but acorn works as well (if not better, since there's a bigger hole for the stuff). Scoop out and throw away the seeds, put both halves cut-side-up in a baking dish, and fill their hollows with a pat of butter and a few Tablespoons of bourbon (taste first to make sure bourbon is still fresh!) apiece. Pierce the inner squash flesh with a fork to allow the butter & bourbon to penetrate. Bake at the People's Temperature for 45 minutes or so, or until it's tender enough to pierce easily with a fork.

In the meantime, brown and crumble a half pound of bulk sausage in a skillet, along with a small chopped onion. If it's not already sage sausage, season as you like with sage, chopped fresh or dried, plus salt and pepper; if the sausage is mild, you can also add a kick with a pinch of cayenne or a sprinkle of crushed Italian red pepper. Throw in about a half cup of diced-up stale bread or croutons, and moisten with a little chicken broth and/or white wine, until it's the consistency of stuffing that you'd use for a turkey.

When the squash is done, spoon most of the bourbon from each half into the stuffing mixture, which you then stuff into (and on top of, if there's enough) each squash half. Top with a sort of streusel made by mixing about 2 Tablespoons of light brown sugar with a half teaspoon of dry mustard and a pinch of salt. Return to the oven and continue baking until the streusel is browned (about 10-15 minutes). Serve each half on a plate to each eager eater, and that's all you need.

There's nothing like trafe for the first night of Chanukah. Dessert was, appropriately, Graeter's chocolate chanukah gelt and more bourbon.