Squash for Breakfast

1 winter squash. I like sunshine or kabocha squash.

Cut the squash in half along the axis of your choice, and place the halves cut sides down on a baking pan, seeds and all, and bake at 350º F for about 40 minutes, until soft enough to push in from the outside. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Then scrape out the seeds and strings in the middle and set aside. Scrape the skin clean of squash flesh. Put the flesh in bowl and mash until smooth. Set aside the skin.

Squash Toast

For two slices

1 egg splash of cream splash of vanilla

1 tablespoon roasted, mashed squash pinches of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt 2 slices bread

1/2 tablespoon butter

Beat together the wet ingredients until smoothly mixed. Dredge the bread. If the bread is extra hard and crusty soak it for up to an hour. Saute the slices in butter, like you do with French toast.

Squash Fritters

1 to 4 slices of bacon, depending on how fatty it is. Enough to add about two tablespoons of oil to the pan squash seeds, somewhat cleaned but not meticulously spit-shined squash skin

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons roasted, mashed squash

1 tablespoon bread crumbs

1 tablespoon grated hard cheese like romano

1 clove garlic, grated pinches of salt and pepper

More oil as necessary

Fry the bacon until nicely browned. Remove the bacon and fry the seeds, spreading them out so no two are touching. Find room in the grease for some pieces of cleaned squash skin and set them down with exterior sides in the grease. Turn the heat down to low/medium and slowly fry the seeds and skin, turning when browned on one side.

Whilst the seeds and skins bubble in the oil, beat the eggs with the squash, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Remove the browned seeds and skins. If the pan is close to dry, add more oil. Turn the heat to above medium. When the oil starts to sizzle at the slightest provocation, pour 1/4 cup or so of the batter at a time into the oil, in dollops far enough apart from one another that they won’t touch. There should be enough oil in the pan that the dollops float atop a thin layer. After about ten minutes, flip them. When the other sides are brown, remove them from the pan and drain them on paper towels. Serve with hot sauce.