venta: (Default)
venta ([personal profile] venta) wrote2008-04-22 05:34 pm
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All his other wives came back, to share the Co-Op ham tea

I've just put a butternut squash into the oven to roast, so I can make... well, actually, I haven't decided yet what I'm going to make out of it. However, as I peeled its sticky label off I noticed that it was "the co-operative butternut squash".

Has anyone ever bought an uncooperative butternut squash ? Was it tricky getting it into the oven ?

[identity profile] valkyriekaren.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
No, but I did once injure myself on an aubergine.

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Ouch. I do know someone who managed to cut their finger on a butternut squash, but I thought of it as a vengeful vegetable rather than just awkward.

[identity profile] davefish.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
When asked about their hit song, "I predict a riot" the Kaiser Chiefs are known to occasionally lower their heads, and mutter darkly something about "That Squash Incident."

[identity profile] sushidog.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 04:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I almost always manage to slice the top off at least one knuckle when peeling squash, but I think that's more a matter of me being cack-handed than the squash being unco-operative.

Roasted squash is ace, especially with garlic and sage. I use it in a risotto, which is wonderful comfort-food (in fact, I seem to remember I owe you butternut squahs risotto next time you're in London!), or in soup, or just as a side vegetable. Yum.

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm experimenting today with roasting then peeling. I'm not convinced, but I've been assured it works and peeling then roasting is bloody hard work. I usually peel with a potato peeler, the better for not slicing tops of knuckles.

I'm in London pretty often, so just name your day :)

[identity profile] undyingking.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
When you've roasted (assuming it's in wedges), you can just scoop the flesh out like a melon -- no need to peel really.

[identity profile] ajntornj.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Umm. Why are you all peeling your squashes? We eat ours roasted with the skin on. It softens up nicely after 40mins in the oven.. And besides, everyone knows that all the goodness is (just) under the skin of vegetables... ;)

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
When scooping this evening (as suggested above) I did notice that the skin had gone soft. So... it's edible? It's so vinyl-like when uncooked that I'd just assumed it was one of those things (like bananas) where it's best avoided.

[identity profile] ajntornj.livejournal.com 2008-04-23 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
well, it hasn't killed me yet....

And tastes rather nice, in a horribly healthy non-meaty way.

I always wondered similarly about:

[identity profile] undyingking.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Cooperative Funeral Services

Re: I always wondered similarly about:

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
The Co-Op funeral place on Cowley Rd has an outrageously purple fascia. And - although I've no clear ideas about what a funeral parlour's fascia and colourscheme ought to be - it's clearly been misdesigned. I think anyone not paying attention would probably mistake it for an estate agent. It has that sort of brash, shouty "look at me!" quality that just doesn't really seem like the sort of thing you might want if you were going to arrange a funeral. The one in your picture seems much more appropriate.

Re: I always wondered similarly about:

[identity profile] undyingking.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Everywhere in Chelmsford is funereal, not just the funeral parlours.

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
In the end, I hit the roasted squash with a spoon until it became approximately sauce consistency, mixed in sundried tomatoes, diced cured French sausage, and roast red and yellow peppers and served it with noodles.

On reflection, the sausage was a mistake. Too strongly flavoured and too much of it, it just didn't fit in. The rest was promising, though, and bears further investigation.

The sauce would have been better thinned with wine or stock instead of milk, but I didn't have either of the former to hand and have a ridiculious excess of the latter.

[identity profile] leathellin.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
It's the cooperative chickens and lamb that worry me.
Cooperating with what exactly? :-)