September 1, 2019

Honeynut Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing

By Derek Bissonnette

Feature Image by Derek Bissonnette

This delicious recipe for a crowd is from the kitchen of Belfast Co-op.

Print Recipe

Makes

servings

Ingredients

8 Honeynut Squash
½ cup butter
¾ cup plus 4 teaspoons maple syrup
Salt and pepper
1 cup pecans halved
2 cups wild blend rice raw
3 cups water
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ cup celery finely diced
½ cup scallions thinly sliced on the base

Instructions

Preheat convection oven to 350°.
Cut each squash in half and remove seeds. Melt butter with maple syrup in a small sauce pan. Place squash halves on a parchment-lined sheet pan and brush with butter and maple mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in oven until squash is very soft and edges are browning. A knife will easily pierce the flesh. Remove squash from oven, brush again with butter and maple mixture and cool.
Toast pecans on an unlined half sheet pan for 4¬5 minutes.
Steam the rice with water until all the water is absorbed and rice grains are cooked through with some tooth left. Put cranberries on top and cool.
Whisk together olive oil and cider vinegar and pour over rice and cranberries. Drizzle over the remaining maple syrup. Add celery, scallion rings, and pecans. Mix it all together.
Using an appropriate-sized scoop for the size of the squash, usually 3¼-ounces , fill the squash cavities with rice mixture. Arrange on a platter.

About the author

Derek Bissonnette

When Derek Bissonnette was 16 he landed his first kitchen gig, at a bakery in Searsport, Maine. He went on to study baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 2000. He got hired as the pastry chef at Kennebunk’s estimable White Barn Inn, jumped to the renowned Inn at Little Washington in rural Virginia, and then joined the kitchen at an elegant English countryside hotel, The Summer Lodge Country House Hotel and Spa. In 2009, he returned to Maine and the White Barn. In 2015, he was promoted to executive chef. After Bissonnette took over the White Barn kitchen, he started toting a camera to work to create a visual record of dishes he and his staff came up with. Photography clicked with him. “Making food look great is something I’ve always strived for,” he says. “To do that through a fresh medium was exciting.” In 2017, he gave up his apron to pursue photography full time. Shortly after leaving the White Barn, Derek partnered with Cider Mill Press and Countryman Press to create five cook books: The Ultimate Books of Soups and Stews: Signed by the author Dumplings: Over 100 Recipes from the Heart of China to the Coasts of Italy The Maine Farm Table Cookbook: Signed by the author Soups: Over 100 Soups, Stews and Chowders On Board: Inspiration Ideas and Recipes for Exceptional Entertaining