Yellow Lake Perch Fillets w/ Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash and...

Dinner Tonight: Yellow Lake Perch Fillets w/ Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash and Cut Green Beans

Another beautiful Fall Day out again, sunny and about 56 degrees! We have some cold weather moving in though by Wednesday and possible snow flurries for a couple of days also. Helped Mom with some yard work and had to repair a problem with their shower head. For dinner tonight I prepared Yellow Lake Perch Fillets w/ Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash and Cut Green Beans. I got a fantastic new side dish you have to check out, Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash!

I purchased the Yellow Lake Perch from our local Meijer. I like using Lake Perch, fries up a beautiful golden brown and like most fresh water fish has a fantastic taste. I rinsed the fillets in water and patted dry. I then seasoned them with Sea Salt and rolled the fillets in my favorite Breading Mix, Zatarain’s Crispy Southern Fish Fri. Pan fried them in Canola Oil, 3 minutes per side. They came out with a golden brown crust and delicious! My Mom says I get my love of Fish from my Great Grandfather. Mom said they always knew he was coming to visit because my Grandmother would always fry up a big batch of Fish and a cast iron skillet of Cornbread, and doesn’t get any better than that!

I seen a commercial where they showed a Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash recipe. It looked so good I had to try it! I had never had Butternut Squash, so it's time I give it a try. I found all kinds of recipes, on-line, for it and I decided to with the Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash. I'll need 6 pieces of Jennie - O Turkey Bacon, 5 cups peeled and cubed Butternut Squash, 1 cup Pecans, roughly chopped, ¼ cup Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Maple Syrup, 2-3 tablespoons Bacon Fat (rendered from cooking bacon), ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt. I used Turkey Bacon instead of the regular Bacon, Sugar Free Maple Syrup, and added the dash of Nutmeg. Which varies from the other recipes I found, I always try to cut calories and carbs from all recipes.




To prepare it I preheated oven to 350 degrees. Placed the Jennie - O Turkey strips of bacon on a foil lined baking sheet. Cooked the bacon for 20 minutes. The bacon should still be slightly soft (not crispy) when you pull it out of the oven. Removed from baking sheet to cool on a paper towel lined plate. Chopped the bacon into small pieces once cooled and placed the rendered bacon fat in a large bowl to use later. Add the cubed butternut squash, pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the large bowl with the bacon fat. Mix together to coat the squash well. Add pieces of bacon to the mixture and mix well. Add mixture to a 9×11 glass baking dish. Increased the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place dish in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on size of cubed butternut squash) or until squash is soft. It takes a little time and effort to prepare but well worth it! The Squash combined with everything is flat-out delicious! The Turkey Bacon, Pecans, and Syrup combine to make this dish the "Bomb". A  definite keeper recipe. I've joined the Butter Squash Nation. I also heated up a can of Del Monte Cut Green Beans and warmed a Pillsbury Crescent Round, leftover from last night's dinner. For dessert later a Jello Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Pudding Cup.









Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
6 pieces of Jennie - O Turkey Bacon
5 cups peeled and cubed Butternut Squash
1 cup Pecans, roughly chopped
¼ cup Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Maple Syrup
2-3 tablespoons Bacon Fat (rendered from cooking bacon)
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt



Instructions:
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place strips of bacon on a foil lined baking sheet
Cook bacon for 20 minutes. Bacon should still be slightly soft (not crispy) when you pull it out of the oven. Remove from baking sheet to cool on a paper towel lined plate. Chop bacon into small pieces once cooled. Place the rendered bacon fat in a large bowl.
* Add the cubed butternut squash, pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt to the large bowl with the bacon fat.
* Mix together to coat the squash well. Add pieces of bacon to the mixture and mix well.
* Add mixture to a 9×11 glass baking dish.
* Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
* Place dish in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on size of cubed butternut squash) or until squash is soft.
* Serve immediately.