Alton Brown's Trick To Properly Cooked Stuffed Acorn Squash

Renowned Food Network kitchen science enthusiast Alton Brown has made it his mission to explain to everyday kitchen mortals how chemical and physical reactions relate to and affect food. He's made a robust career ranging from TV shows like "Good Eats" to cookbooks and even cooking show tours, where he demystifies foods and cooking techniques and breaks down how factors like heat affect cooking times, textures, and ultimately, taste. If you are looking to understand a dish, how to cook it to perfection, and why a given method works best, Alton Brown is the guy to seek out.

As early hints of cool weather creep onto the scene, squash starts to appear in markets and grocery stores, and a roasted and beautifully caramelized stuffed squash — like acorn squash — starts to beckon with magnetism. Brown stuffs his squash with ground pork, rice, pine nuts, oregano, thyme, and sage, making it main dish-worthy and then some — but stuffing squash can alter the texture of the squash flesh, often leeching out moisture and rendering it dry. He effortlessly solves this problem by placing a knob of butter in the bottom of the squash before stuffing it.

It takes less than a second to add a knob of butter inside the squash, but it makes all of the difference in the ultimate enjoyment of this weeknight show piece. The butter releases steam as it melts that permeates through the stuffing and into the squash flesh to keep every bite pulling you back in for more. Any butter will do, but you may want to experiment with the top-rated grocery store butter brands for the most luscious tasting results.

Proper heat makes all the difference in a stuffed squash dish — or any roasted vegetable dish, for that matter. Too little and you are left with crunchy, barely edible flesh. On the other hand, too much, too soon, and you risk a charred exterior and uncooked interior. To avoid these common roasted veggie mistakes, master the difference between broiling and baking and don't put your vegetables in a cold oven. If you enjoy Brown's rendition of stuffed squash but want to broaden your fall repertoire, hang onto the butter in the bottom tip, and try a stuffing twist with wild rice and walnuts.