It's mid January and time to start preserving the remaining Butternut Squash from last year's garden. Today we are going to prepare them for drying. We like to grow the Butternuts because they are so versatile. They can replace pumpkin in a pie, and make a thick rich soup. They keep a long time, and their smooth skin makes them easy to peel and prepare. Our plants have been very productive and these squash are unusually large..some weighing over 5 pounds. After peeling and removing the soft insides and seeds, they are cut into chunks that will fit into the mouth of the food processor. This batch will be shredded to use in making squash fritters. The food processor makes the job easy.
Like most vegetables eaten cooked, the squash is blanched in boiling water. After cooling in cold water, the squash is poured into the colander to drain, then arranged on the dehydrator trays, and left to dry overnight.
In the morning, it is put into wide mouth canning jars, sealed, and labeled.
Because we had more squash than space on the trays, we used the leftovers to make a batch of squash fritters for breakfast.
5 cups of shredded squash
2 eggs
2/3 cup of flour
some salt and pepper and oil for frying
Mixed all together and fried for 5 minutes per side.
Unlike potatoes, the squash fritters hardly absorb any oil when frying. We like them served plain, or with sour cream.