Advice needed on getting sensible sized squashes

[Colin_M]

I love growing squashes, but most of the ones I end up with are pretty heavy (usually 10-12 inches diameter). A quarter of each fruit is more than enough for 2-3 people, which means the rest sits in the fridge & hogs space. I have tried dicing them and freezing them, but worry it affects the texture etc.

Is there a sensible way of getting a smaller-sized fruit, without picking early (which I assume would affect the ripening process and hence the flavour)? This year, I am growing:
- Crown Prince
- Marina di Chioggia
- Waltham Butternut (these generally behave themselves)

Any advice would be most welcome.

[Nature's Babe]

You could check out the real seed co, I seem to remember they had some smaller varieties. You could cook all of a larger one and freeze the surplus.
butternut especially makes a nice winter soup, add to chicken or veg stock
with some sauteed onion and curry powder / paste of choice, blitz and finnish with some chopped coriander. Delicious.

[alan refail]

Morning Colin

If you are growing Crown Prince and Marina di Chioggia they will have to grow to 10-12 inch diameter before they will ripen, and there's no point in picking before ripe.

As for smaller squashes, they do tend, in my experience to be bland and pale compared with the excellent flavour and texture of CP and MdC - and often too small unless you eat one each! Also I find they are very poor keepers. We tried freezing Crown Prince chunks this year, and they are certainly good for soups - full CP flavour.

[1066]

Hi
Crown Prince and Marina di Chioggia are large squash by nature, and picking early will just mean that they won't be ready or ripe. They do freeze ok. Either that or invite lots of family and friends round to eat!

For small squash maybe look at something like Blue Ballet, Blue Kuri, Pottimarron, Little gem rolet. All small, and good for 2 or 3 people.

But Crown Prince and Marina di Chioggia really are delicious and are difficult to beat in terms of flavour

[peter]

Bake whole with a roast, fridge the uneaten and use it over the following days as an addition to any stews, currries, sauces, etc. To use it quicker, base a large pot of soup on it I tend to smoked bacon & Crown Prince soup.

Forgot to say goes well in risotto and as the filling in ravioli & vegetable pasties.

[Colin_M]

Thank you to Peter, 1066, Alain, and NB for your suggestions.

I'm afraid I like these varieties more than the smaller ones and I guess there's no escaping their natural characteristics (eg. like hoping to get a giraffe that could fit in your living room). I was hoping there might be an approach where you could persuade the plants to produce more fruits, then they would naturally end up smaller. However I find our plants seem to limit themselves to just 2-3 fruits max per plant anyway, so there's no option for that.

With just two of us, working our way through a whole one sometimes leads to rebellious looks from my other half after a few days .
In the meantime, I have chopped the remaining one up into cubes and frozen them.

I'm ticked with Peter's idea of cooking the whole thing at once, though don't think I would get away with it!

[peter]

Cooked squash is easier to store as you can squash it.

I'll get me hat......

[Colin_M]

I'll get me hat......

No need Peter, there's a logic to it.

With something like a 12" Crown Prince, do you cook it whole without skinning? Can you tell us how (eg. baked in the oven, temp&time, peeled/unpeeled etc)? Do they cook evenly, or do you have to turn it over periodically?

Also, I have found a solution to having too much in one go. A friend loves squash but doesn't have enough garden to grow them. We've agreed to start sharing them, as 50% each is a more manageable prospect.

[1066]

So what we need is a breeder who will cross and breed a squash that has the best attributes of a Crown Prince with a smaller size squash !

[peter]

Colin, I think I posted my method before, but can't remember where,

Whole, not peeled.
Cut out a hexagonal plug around the stalk & gently lever it out, leaving a hole big enough to use a soupspoon through, into the centre, to scrape out all the seeds & stringy bits.
I stab vertically with a 3" vegetable knife then lever back & forth, push tip, pull haft, by moving my fist as if operating a joystick in one plane. Then out & repeat for next side of hexagon.
Also clean the removed plug.
Pour boiling water into the cavity and leave for ten minutes, then drain.
Put the plug back in the hole.
Break off the stem-stub.
Place holed side down on a baking tray and bake with the Sunday roast.
If it quickly blisters black the oven is too hot, move to a lower shelf, or lower the heat.
Aim is for a skewer to go through easily, then it is done.
Remove from oven, eighth it on the tray, using oven glove cradle an eighth, skin to hand, using a serving spoon remove the flesh to a serving dish, avoiding the green/black layer just next to the skin.

Important.
Must cook holed side down, as this allows excess water to get out.
Other way up the water pools, doesn't boil and the base does not cook at the same rate as the rest.
Essentially you steam the flesh in its own juices.

[Primrose]

Crown Prince is definitely one of our favourites too, but there are only two of us in this household and getting through one at a reasonable rate, or storing a half cut one is quite difficult. We mostly now settle for Sweet Dumpling, which is the size of a large grapefruit and has a cream skin with green stripes. The flesh is very sweet and tastes like baked chestnuts when it's roasted.