Are there any soft spots? I would just cut it in half and make sure it's still firm. I clean out the seeds, put a pat of butter in the center with a splash of maple syrup. Place a little water in dish, cover with plastic wrap and pop in microwave for 10 min. or until fork tender.
I suppose I'm a bit late to be helpful to whoever asked this question, but when you are cooking something like an acorn squash in the microwave, there is no reason to cut it in half. Instead you can just poke a hole in it - or perhaps several (for the purpose of releasing steam as it cooks); in other words, treat it just as though it was a large potato. The whole point is that the squash is hard to cut, so why do it if you don't really need to. Generally, an item like that cooks in about 6 or so minutes to the pound, depending on its size. So, weigh it first. Then cook it to soften it, and, if you want to cut it, it will be much easier to do so
Like all winter squash and root vegetables, I like to roast it. But because they are so hard to peel - I like to cut in half, drizzle with oil and roast then it comes out of the shell with the sweetness of roasting.
Originally posted by lois a: I suppose I'm a bit late to be helpful to whoever asked this question, but when you are cooking something like an acorn squash in the microwave, there is no reason to cut it in half. Instead you can just poke a hole in it - or perhaps several (for the purpose of releasing steam as it cooks); in other words, treat it just as though it was a large potato. The whole point is that the squash is hard to cut, so why do it if you don't really need to. Generally, an item like that cooks in about 6 or so minutes to the pound, depending on its size. So, weigh it first. Then cook it to soften it, and, if you want to cut it, it will be much easier to do so
Not too late, that darn thing is still sitting on my counter top!!! Still hard, almost all orange instead of the orange/green it was when I bought it. One of these days hopefully...
