Sunday 26 October 2008

Royal Foody Joust - Squash Fritters

This month's Foodie Joust challenge was set by Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy after she nailed the October joust with an amazing gorgonzola, pear and fennel tart.

And her three ingredients for this challenge were acorn squash, orange and sage.

This took a lot of thinking about! I couldn't remember even seeing acorn squash before, let alone eating one (although it turns out they stock them next to the butternuts in the supermarket, so I clearly wasn't looking too hard before!).

I had a few ideas but I couldn't really figure out how to marry up the orange and the sage. In the end I decided to make a squash fritter and flavour it with orange zest and dried sage.

In Italy you get a nut meringue biscuit called brutti ma buoni - which means "ugly but good". I decided that it was a pretty good description of my very delicious but not beautiful fritters!

Squash Fritters "Brutti ma buoni"

1 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed
slosh of olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp dried sage
Finely grated zest of an orange
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 eggs
salt & pepper
oil for frying

Bake the squash in a 180C oven for 1/2 hour or until a fork pierces it easily & allow to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh out into a bowl and mash with a fork to a rough puree.

Sautee the onion in the olive oil until translucent, then add the sage and stir a minute more to get the oils coming out of the dried sage. Allow to cool and then add to the squash along with all the other ingredients. Shallow fry spoonfuls of the mixture on both sides until well cooked. Makes about 10 fritters.
The first night we had these with some delicious wild boar and apple sausages, and a simple tomato mozzarella salad. The sweetness of the squash with the earthiness of the sage and the highnotes of orange zest were just perfect with the meaty sausages.

The next night we reheated the leftover fritters and had them with venison haunch steaks and an edamame bean salad, and again they were a great accompaniment. I think they would reach new highs with pan-fried duck breasts, or as a breakfast dish with some thick slabs of crisp bacon. So. Not pretty, but very, very good!

17 comments:

Esi said...

These look great! I love seeing what people come up with for the Joust.

kat said...

yum, I bet those were fantastic! I love acorn squash so I'd love the flavor of these.

maybelle's mom said...

oh, they look so delicious.

Snooky doodle said...

thanks for visiting my blog. :) I bet these fritters were delicious. Fritters aren t meant to look nice but they taste yummy :) I ve never tried pumpkin fritters befoe its time i try them

Heather said...

That looks and sounds gorgeous. I love acorn squash, and that boar sausage is giving me the vapors.

Peter M said...

This is creative and it works for me. This month's Joust is a tough one. Good luck!

Laurie said...

You eat the coolest meats! Your fritters sound great. I've been playing around with those ingredients for the Joust for a week and my husband is starting to roll his eyes at all the acorn squash we've been eating. Good thing he likes it.

Your wine dinner sounds like so much fun.

Dee said...

Good call on the challenge! I think it's almost impossible to make pretty fritters, but who cares when they taste amazing :) I'm also drooling over your wild boar and apple sausage.

Sam said...

I'm never really sure what to do with squash so I'll make a note of this recipe. They look really good!

We Are Never Full said...

fabulous! i'm always amazed at all these creative (and tasty) ways to make things for the joust. great job!

Darius T. Williams said...

Ahh - the versatility of the squash. Looks great!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Foodycat, thanks for stopping by my blog. You can eat the sugar skulls if you like ( my daughter does), but it's way too much sugar for me. An alternative would be to make mini skulls. Wilton has skull shaped candy molds that you could use as well. Maybe flavor the sugar with a little vodka?! Oh well, just an idea.

These Squash Fitters look delicious. It would be a great side dish for Thanksgiving dinner. I love the photo of the roasting squash. You're good my friend.

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Foodycat, please come by blog. I've roped you into a fun, quick and easy foodie challenge.

puppymomma said...

Those fritters look absolutely delicious! I love the flavor combinations too.

Good luck with the Joust!!!!

Rachel said...

Brutti ma buoni are some of my favorite things to eat!

Deb in Hawaii said...

I realized I never stopped by to say how good these look! Great job with the ingredients!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Thanks everyone! You are all very kind! Have you seen the other entries? Pretty AND delicious!

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