Roasted Acorn Squash, 'Seared' Scallops, Oyster Mushrooms

Squash + Brown Sugar + Butter

Oyster Mushrooms

 Olive Oil + Saffron

The so-so picture. What!? I was hungry..

I'm not sure how I feel about this dish. I would say the final line was that it was good, but it could have been better. And really that's what I get for cooking when I am starving! Of course the tantalizing smells of the roasting acorn squash are wafting through my apartment making me so excited to eat I rushed the searing scallops and crispy bacon. :(.

I hear searing scallops is an art and clearly I didn't do it quite right. Still good though. They were in fact perfectly cooked and for that I am infinitely happy, but not seared. I was paranoid of over-cooking them which turns them to rubber. No good. The bacon could have been a little crispier too. I really want to make this again and do it right.

This recipe is a recreation of something I ate on vacation in the Olympic Peninsula. Also, this was just for me so it's fairly small.

1 Acorn Squash, cut in half, seeds and guts disposed of
3 slices of bacon
1/2 lb. of large scallops
2 tsp. saffron strands
handful of mushrooms (I used oyster)


Start the Acorn Squash. Mix brown sugar and butter in a bowl. Smear this amazing concoction in the acorn squash and grind salt and pepper on top. I cooked the squash at 400 for almost an hour. While it is cooking chop some bacon and some mushrooms. Cook the bacon in a large non-stick pan and get it greased up. Push the bacon to the side of the pan and add the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the side of the pan with the bacon. In a small bowl mix olive oil and saffron strands. Get your pan fairly hot, add the saffron olive oil and sear the scallops about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Since this recipe was not 100% successful I would totally look somewhere else for scallop searing instructions (like I will next time I make this).
When the scallops, mushrooms and bacon are done, pull the acorn squash out of the oven and stuff amazingness letting some of the stuffing fall out over the side. Like I do with half my meals, drizzle with EVOO, salt, pepper.