Corncake Chorizo Stuffed Acorn Squash

Two perfectly beautiful, deep shiny green acorn squashes were in my CSA basket last week. In my book, that's a SURE sign of autumn! Why does the appearance of winter squash seem to be timed along with falling leaves and the resultant cleaning those suckers out of the pond? And mucking debris from the bottom of said pond when the pond water is freezing!
 
Shouldn't there be some sort of a special reward for voluntarily turning oneself into a human pond popsicle complete with shriveled, ice cold, blue hands from digging in the depths of fish, frogs and slime? There is. And it involves those gorgeous acorn squashes.
 
I was looking for a side dish to snuggle up to some nice steaks on our dinner plates one evening and you KNOW those lovely forest green squashes came to mind immediately. I could have baked them and served them salted, peppered and with brown sugar, but I was thinking something less sweet and more substantial. 

Sausage stuffed acorn squash is always is good choice, but a meat-stuffed squash didn't seem like a proper side dish for a steak - oh I know, some of you guys out there think meat makes a perfect side dish for meat. Nuh uh.  
Then I thought corn...which lead to thoughts of Mexican corncake and once again we were back to the too sweet problem. Buuuuuut...wait a minute....how about....chorizo? Salty, spicy chorizo made the perfect foil to sweet corncake to balance out the sweet, salty, spicy and savory notes perfectly. Problem solved. If only closing down the pond for the season could be that easy!

 Corncake Chorizo Stuffed Acorn Squash

• 2 acorn squashes, halved, seeds scraped out

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/3 cup masa harina, I prefer yellow
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups creamed corn (that's a 14.75 ounce can)
• 1/4 cup cornmeal, I prefer yellow
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 chorizo link, removed from casing, crumbled and browned well

Squash: Spray the inside of the cut squashes with vegetable or olive oil. Bake cut side down at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until a knife pierces easily, but not to a mushy mess, please! Remove from oven and let cool before filling and baking again.
 
Corncake: Beat the butter with the masa harina. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until completely incorporated.
 
Assembly: Fill the insides of the squash with the corncake mixture. (Leftover corncake mixture? Butter the insides of small ramekins, fill and bake alongside the squashes. You may need to remove the ramekins from the oven before the squash, so watch them carefully.) 

Sprinkle on the crumbled chorizo and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until the corncake is baked through. Remove from oven and enjoy!
 
NOTE: This would really make a lovely, light dinner on its own with a side salad or fresh veggies!