The current Blog Bites challenge is a bloggy potluck -- what fun! This is my Blog Bites entry, but the challenge runs until Christmas (December 25), so I'm going to try to get a few more in. What are you going to cook for the Blog Bites Potluck?
I had a few butternut squashes (squeeshes? squashii?) hanging around my kitchen after a pretty decent sale last week. Not wanting to lose them to the blackhole of "groceries I bought on sale and never used", I took to the interwebs to find something interesting to do with them. And along came Eat, Live, Run with just the thing I was looking for -- Butternut Squash Butter! I'll let Jenna's blog speak for itself on the recipe. What I will say is that this stuff is easy to put together, delicious, and a nice change from the usual apple or pumpkin butter.
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| * Slice squash and pile up on a pan to roast at 400* for about 45 minutes * |
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| * Puree peeled, roasted squash, sugar, spices, and lemon juice then heat until it looks too delicious to pass up. * |
** UPDATED **
This post originally talked about how I tried to can my butternut butter. However, the more I've read about it and thought about it, this seems dangerous and irresponsible. I don't want to give anyone the idea that it's okay, because I just don't know. Here is the reason that I'm scared to can squash butters. So ... I suggest you definitely make the butter, but make an amount that you can eat or freeze for later. You don't want to have to put on anyone's tombstone "He died of butternut butter." Verdict? absolutely delicious. I highly recommend this recipe, but I suggest you make a more reasonable amount so as not to have to worry about the extra six cups.
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| * Toast loves butternut butter * |
Ooh, butternut butter sounds intriguing. Is there a risk of botulism if you store the jars in the fridge? We made jam for christmas last year and made sure to keep it chilled as much as possible so it didn't go mouldy, because our preserving skills were not up to scratch. No one died, luckily!
ReplyDeleteYour butternut butter reminds me of all the unique flavours of "nectar" they have in Brazil, which is really just jam. They have awesome flavours like butternut coconut http://www.flickr.com/photos/jillpyle/4349046807/in/set-72157623410909000/
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could make coconut butter? Probably too expensive because they only grow in tropical places. Hmmm... what about apricot or peach?
Try my cranberry apple butter!
ReplyDeleteWow- I am SO impressed by your canning skills! Great job! Thanks for a fantastic entry :)
ReplyDeleteI'd say that even with the long processing time, your butternut butter is not safe. Here's why:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foodinjars.com/2010/10/canning-101-why-pumpkin-butter-cant-be-canned/
Yeah, it may have been in there for a while, but even a little extra lemon juice won't get the acidity high enough, and the temperature won't be adequate to kill the botulism spores. I'd say freeze the jars after spooning some out to allow for freezing expansion. Seriously. Or make pumpkin bread out of that--a big batch--and freeze that. But don't can it.
Kat -- Yeah, I got nervous about it pretty quickly and put all of it in the fridge. I gave some jars away and told everyone to keep it refrigerated and eat it quickly. Apparently that message didn't quite get through to Derek, though, so I'm trying to get his grandparents to throw away the jar he gave them ... In the future I'll just avoid canning squashes all together!
ReplyDeleteButternut butter sounds delicious! That's crazy about the canning! I had no idea that it wasn't recommended.
ReplyDelete